[norhog]

The range mentioned, how will it be different with say on a rainy hot and humid day.
The AC will be running so will be the headlights and wipers.

Surely that will sap into the range of the vehicle.

Another thing I see in EVs, including TESLA and others are a plethora of LCD screens.
Will it not be wise to have simple buttons or switches and the LCD screen will sap some power.

Just will like the opinion of the members on this.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by norhog

The range mentioned, how will it be different with say on a rainy hot and humid day.
The AC will be running so will be the headlights and wipers.

Surely that will sap into the range of the vehicle.

Another thing I see in EVs, including TESLA and others are a plethora of LCD screens.
Will it not be wise to have simple buttons or switches and the LCD screen will sap some power.

Just will like the opinion of the members on this.

In the larger scheme of things, the consumption by screen(s) would be minuscule. A few 10's of watts in a car having KW's of power. Having more buttons especially in an EV is a terrible idea because then you have hard wired stuff. For e.g being a purely touch screen driven interface, Tesla can change it at will and change they did. They introduced a number of new features after the cars were launched and the only reason they could do that was because the interface is purely touch screen driven. Just this week they change the entire UI comprehensively and it looks much better. I dont think it will be possible with buttons.

[saikarthik]

I don't understand how these projects get approval and funding in Mahindra R&D! That too considering a well respected management chairing the business case reviews.

1. KUV is a failed platform (atleast in India - South Africa still sees 3 digit monthly sales), so the KUV brand will still be a bad omen,
2. The styling (proportion/stance) didn't impress in 2015, and after a refresh it still failed to create respect: must learn from Amaze facelift,
3. 147 km with a ton of **** (conditions apply) will result in real world range that is not practical,
4. It might work as a replacement to E20 plus, but might not appeal new buyers,
5. Already M&M is working on eXUV300, so could have allocated resources and money to make it a better product.


Nexon EV selling in triple digit monthly, is a sign that people are willing to pay if range is good with little stretch to their budget.

I don't understand why M&M is turning a blind eye towards all the past learnings, this will be a big blow and its too late to recover. May be the only way Mahindra can comeback like Tata motors did is like when the market kicks some sense (and its already happening from past year).

[Cessna182]

Contrary to the public opinion, I actually like this car. A Taxi runs about 150 to 200 km in India. Bangalore and similar cities with an airport far away are an exception. If a driver could use fast charge on this for 1 hour and drive 200+ a day, it will be a saviour in terms of fuel costs. Think about it- a Dzire costs almost 10 lakhs on the road. Here is an EV that costs a bit less. In terms of space, most people would add a roof carrier for commercial routes.

On the other hand, I don't get why companies are not installing basic fast charge stops in most cities. It costs less than 2 lakhs to install a basic fast charge port. It would give a lot of confidence to owners to have these in place.

Also, leasing programs are more important for such EVs than for normal cars. Why not give a pay per month option that's affordable? Even the city folks would love to keep this as their daily transport. If a 9 lakh car has a life of 15 years with very minimal maintenance, a 10 K emi will be enough for both the company and the bank to earn a profit. That's Rs. 350 a day approximately. Most people spend more on their Uber/Bus combos.

The constraint it seems is the financing. Banks won't discriminate an EV from a normal car. Hence, companies will account for it the same way.

[saikarthik]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

On the other hand, I don't get why companies are not installing basic fast charge stops in most cities. It costs less than 2 lakhs to install a basic fast charge port. It would give a lot of confidence to owners to have these in place.

Also, leasing programs are more important for such EVs than for normal cars. Why not give a pay per month option that's affordable?

Yes, there are fast charging stations in few cities (Bangalore has 3 stations of 3kW for E20 that I know of) but not in enough numbers.
Remember when Tata motors launched Nexon EV, they revealed their plan on fast charging infrastructure and other -citing Tata Universe? Thats the way any EV should be sold, as a complete mobility solution atleast in initial stages. This will surely induce confidence and increased potential customers base.

And regarding the leasing - Tata has lease option for Nexon EV, Mahindra will surely have lease option, since practically they were among the first to enter subscription model in India.
Currently I guess with this vehicle they are targeting the fleet owners like Lithium Urban(already has 1000 Mahindra EVs), BluSmart , also Mahindra Glyd (it's own EV fleet launched in Mumbai Last year).

[DarthVeda]

Originally Posted by Cessna182

Contrary to the public opinion, I actually like this car. A Taxi runs about 150 to 200 km in India. Bangalore and similar cities with an airport far away are an exception. If a driver could use fast charge on this for 1 hour and drive 200+ a day, it will be a saviour in terms of fuel costs. .

Yes, EVs are great for fleet. However, this particular vehicle won't be able to do more than 120km for sure, and imagine standing idle two to three times a day to do FC. You have to remember, the final 10% won't be useable by a taxi driver, as he has to worry about getting stranded with the passengers and won't take the risk, and while doing FC, it won't go to full 100% in short time, it's 90 to 10 SOC is what you are looking, that makes the range useable for a taxi to be less than 100km.

Originally Posted by saikarthik

Yes, there are fast charging stations in few cities (Bangalore has 3 stations of 3kW for E20 that I know of) but not in enough numbers.

BESCOM has 12 FC around the city.

[HrB]

For people like me whose daily driving requirement is hardly 10-12 km, such a vehicle makes total sense. But when I spend a good 8-9 lakhs on a vehicle with limited driving range, I would at least want the car to have killer looks. The eKUV doesn't have that.

[Stribog]

Mahindra had a huge lead in domestic EV tech as it acquired REVA.

It has then squandered that lead as visible by this nonsensical product.

This car will make sense ONLY as a car to drop kids to school, go to the stores / gym and the mall that's 5km from your place. Anything more and it will run out of juice.

Even with this minimal running it would need a recharge overnight every day

Would be lucky if it sold a 1,000 units

[swarnava.ch]

Originally Posted by Stribog

Mahindra had a huge lead in domestic EV tech as it acquired REVA.

It has then squandered that lead as visible by this nonsensical product.

This is a very important point that you made Stribog. Reva came with great technical platform however Reva was also tied up with its own car models. We have not seen it percolate to any of the better designs from Mahindra and perhaps one critical reason being that there are no better or heart stopping Hatches in Mahindra stable where they could simply plonk the Electric platform / Battery /Motor system and get it electrified quickly – sort of the mass market appeal car.

Originally Posted by HrB

For people like me whose daily driving requirement is hardly 10-12 km, such a vehicle makes total sense. But when I spend a good 8-9 lakhs on a vehicle with limited driving range, I would at least want the car to have killer looks. The eKUV doesn't have that.

Absolutely agree with you here HrB.

Originally Posted by DarthVeda

BESCOM has 12 FC around the city.

And in addition to that all Mahindra / Tata KHT showrooms have Fast chargers, Malls and Public charging utilities are there.
Just install Ather app and you will get locations with availability I your area in Bangalore. So this point of charging options for at least cities like Bangalore does not work anymore.

Originally Posted by saikarthik

1. KUV is a failed platform (atleast in India - South Africa still sees 3 digit monthly sales), so the KUV brand will still be a bad omen,
2. The styling (proportion/stance) didn't impress in 2015, and after a refresh it still failed to create respect: must learn from Amaze facelift,
3. 147 km with a ton of **** (conditions apply) will result in real world range that is not practical,
4. It might work as a replacement to E20 plus, but might not appeal new buyers,
5. Already M&M is working on eXUV300, so could have allocated resources and money to make it a better product.

Again valid points and absolutely agreed here.

Now some small things I would like to from my thoughts. I am a Ex E2O owner and some points from my own thread again:
1. Mahindra was hit hard with new Safety requirements that came along with 2 Airbags and other design challenges which virtually killed the Reva – E2O Plus completely. Mahindra could have prepared upfront ?
2. Mahindra lacks mass-market hatches even though they have a good electric platform. Tie-up with Maruti or Tata should have been explored.
3. I strongly feel there is a good market for a 10 – 12 Lakhs segment (Hatch) with 250 Kms range Electric car even today.
4. eXUV300 would have been an good option but don’t see any updates there post the Auto Expo. Besides when this happens, I fear the prices will go up till 15 to 18 lakhs as its already a bit premium and anything below 350kms range the market will not accept so it has to be an able competitor for Nexon EV.

[adityadeva]

Range anxiety in ev is a big deterent. Add to that a design and a model that failed to take off.

What Mahindra can do is invest in infrastructure for ev Charging and a promise to the customer of an upgrade of the battery pack in case they come up with a higher capacity battery pack for the same model in near future (this is a brand building exercise.).

Once the customer gets an assurance that the company is committed, they will have a better sales. Ofcourse the initial sales will be office commuters.

They can reduce the cost of sales by doing online only sales instead through a dealership network. A front office to help customers go through registration formalities and straight to home delivery should make the car cheaper. As selling through dealership increases the cost of vehicle. What they need is a company operated service centre and cosmetic repairs can be shared with body shop of existing ice service centres as such repair costs can be shared with them.

Any vehicle of this size with an onroad price of 8-9lakhs and a practical range of 200 kms will dramatically change city customers and cabbies.

[volkman10]

Mahindra eKUV on test:

The eKUV100 looks extremely similar to the regular KUV100 from behind. The only thing that differentiates the eKUV100 from the KUV100 is the chrome padding below the Mahindra logo on the tailgate, sporting the ‘+’ and ‘–‘ signs

The eKUV100 can also be seen sporting a K8 badging instead of an eKUV badging. This could be a variant of the upcoming electric car.

Link

[Venkatesh]

Mahindra eKUV100 spied testing in Bangalore









Source

[Venkatesh]

Production-spec Mahindra eKUV100 spied ahead of 2022 launch.







Source

[CEF_Beasts]

Some specifications of the eKUV100

Shows 110kms range at 85% charge.





https://www.rushlane.com/upcoming-ma...-12407069.html

[ManneAtWheelz]

Mahindra KUV100 electric launch in 2022 – Before Tata Punch EV

Mahindra eKUV100 has been spied testing on multiple occasions – It gets the same exterior design as its ICE powered sibling



Mahindra was considered as a pioneer by many, when it came to electric car segment. They had on offer cars like e2O and later e2O Plus, when there were hardly any rivals. Unfortunately, these cars never delivered sales performance as per expectations. Some were of the opinion that sales were not there, as there was no demand.

But that has changed now. With the buzz around EVs gaining momentum, Mahindra is planning launch of multiple new products in the coming years. At the last Auto Expo, Mahindra showcased three pre-production concept EVs. One of them was eKUV100 which is a battery-powered version of KUV100 Nxt.

Mahindra eKUV100 Launch Details
Speculations regarding launch of the KUV100 electric have been around since it was showcased. A few months back, the company even teased the electric cross hatch on its official website for a brief period. Later, reports indicated that Mahindra had scrapped plans for the electric KUV100 for now and that it could be launched as a dedicated EV for the fleet segment. However, latest report from ET Auto reveals that the entry-level electric crossover is in its final stages of development and testing and will be hitting markets by the end of this year. It is likely to precede the upcoming XUV300 Electric which is expected to be launched somewhere at the start of 2023.



Expected Price & Range
At the time of its unveiling at 2020 Auto Expo, Mahindra had pegged the starting launch price of eKUV100 at Rs 8.25 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) including the FAME incentives. However, that might be difficult to achieve considering the rise in input costs over the past few months due to multiple factors. That said, Mahindra would still want to price it below Rs 10 lakh mark which will make it a perfect rival to Tata Tigor EV which is currently the most affordable electric car in India. We expect the upcoming Mahindra KUV100 Electric to offer a range of around 250 kms on a single charge. Upon launch, it will rival the upcoming electric versions of Punch, Kwid, etc.

Mahindra’s Electric Mobilty Plans
Mahindra has been active in the commercial segment of EVs with three-wheelers and smaller LCVs like Treo and eAlfa. Last year, Mahindra & Mahindra strengthened its electric mobility operations by establishing two separate EV verticals namely Last Mile mobility (LMM) and Electric Vehicle Tech Centre. The company also announced a fresh capital investment of over Rs 3000 crores in LMM and launch of new electric SUV platform – Born Electric Vision. Mahindra has teased three new electric SUVs under the of Born Electric Vision platform on social media. These will be making their maiden appearances in July this year.

Source: Rushlane