[Jekyl87]

Originally Posted by a023624a

Friends, has someone witnessed gold dawn color ? If so, do you recommend it over desert myst ? Do you have pics of gold dawn ? TIA

I haven't heard of Golden Dawn and it's not there in the brochure on their website too. Are you sure you're not confusing the two names for the same color (desert myst)?

[a023624a]

Originally Posted by Jekyl87

I haven't heard of Golden Dawn and it's not there in the brochure on their website too. Are you sure you're not confusing the two names for the same color (desert myst)?

You’re right, it’s not on the brochure. But it indeed was an option a few days back. Anyhow, that color is no more an element of confusion, hence my question stands invalid.

[driver641]

Originally Posted by enthukutlet

There are videos surfacing of the XEV 9E's airbags not deploying on accidents.

While there's not enough data to comment on if the airbags should have deployed or not, I am certain with this much power on tap, and these EVs being reasonably mass market cars, it's really going to be dangerous.

I really wish M&M should offer a much more safer mode, "Everyday" is still crazily fast. They should not encourage people to try Race mode on test drives as well. And with the BE 6 - it's going to be more notorius for road rage than the KTM Dukes . Maybe there should be a regulation that enforces cars to use only a certain mode in the City which limits both acceleration and top speed.

[Ayush_atish]

Originally Posted by driver641

While there's not enough data to comment on if the airbags should have deployed or not, I am certain with this much power on tap, and these EVs being reasonably mass market cars, it's really going to be dangerous.

I really wish M&M should offer a much more safer mode, "Everyday" is still crazily fast. They should not encourage people to try Race mode on test drives as well. And with the BE 6 - it's going to be more notorius for road rage than the KTM Dukes . Maybe there should be a regulation that enforces cars to use only a certain mode in the City which limits both acceleration and top speed.

I think it's the hype of the car and how Mahindra has presented the car to the audience that people want to try these things on the car.

During my test drive session people were wanting to try Groove Me and auto park too much. I see that almost everyone wants to try the car and Sports mode hype is way too much. People are not understanding the might of this car and how powerful this machine is.

Airbag not deploying can be due to various reasons but yes hopefully Mahindra has noted it..

I just doubt that should I be the first lot owner or wait this hype out...

[ottocycle]

I did a quick test drive of XEV 9e yesterday in Hyderabad. I was passing the showroom nearby our house and saw the car parked there. Enquired them for test drive availability and was able to do it without any queue. Due to shortage of time, I limited my drive to around 6kms.

The test drive was on busy patch of the road. Hence, I changed the mode in range extender mode. Even in the range extender mode, the car's acceleration was pretty good. It was able to reach 50kph speed almost immediately. Wife was sitting in back seat and complained of the pushing back to seats feeling many a times. I would say the car felt like it needs careful controlling in the city traffic. Tested regen breaking as well, however it was very uncomfortable for the passengers due to acceleration and deceleration cycles.

The bonnet was easily visible from the driving position. I liked the turn indicator camera feeds, as it was pretty useful for changing lanes in the traffic.

The headup display was good and to me it's a good useful feature, however, many a times, it felt too bright on eyes. Seems like it has some auto brightness adjust setting and in sunlight, it becomes a little too bright making it uncomfortable on eyes.

The biggest drawback for me was the rear visibility. It felt like the rear view has been abruptly chopped. This IMO is something, I don't want to compromise on.

Wife raised issue was boot space, although the bootspace was pretty large, but due to the slopping roof line and raised boot floor, it felt very narrow. Perhaps, XEV7e would be the ideal car for us.

[SLK]

Originally Posted by ottocycle

Even in the range extender mode, the car's acceleration was pretty good. It was able to reach 50kph speed almost immediately. Wife was sitting in back seat and complained of the pushing back to seats feeling many a times. I would say the car felt like it needs careful controlling in the city traffic.

Originally Posted by Ayush_atish

I see that almost everyone wants to try the car and Sports mode hype is way too much. People are not understanding the might of this car and how powerful this machine is.

Originally Posted by driver641

I really wish M&M should offer a much more safer mode, "Everyday" is still crazily fast. They should not encourage people to try Race mode on test drives as well.

Yes, quite powerful, but not dangerous, I'd say. I only drove the everyday mode, was able to goto triple digit speeds too but it was marginally faster than say Octavia. One cretainly does need to behave in traffic but that's true for any car with 150+bhp.

Problem is widespread that very few drivers know how to handle speed and most panic! But that's for other threads.

[dthyaga]

Originally Posted by Bonemechanic

If they are adding a 7/11 KW charger in the ex-showroom price, naturally the insurance premium will go upward.Does this insurance cover any damage to the charger?

I had raised the concern of the Charger price being included in the Ex showroom price and I got a call from Mahindra explaining that the charger is also covered as part of the Insurance for any damages. It is supposedly an add-on in the insurance coverage. But it still does not justify adding the charger to the Ex show room price. They are argiung that it is part of the vehicle and hence considered as part of the Ex-showroom price. I argued how an external charger can be considered as part of the vehicle for which he had no convincing answer. But it looks like they are just bundling their charger with the vehicle and using lame excuses to sell their charger.

[Ashah]

I have unofficially booked the Pack 3 Tango Red with 19 inchers. Was wondering if the upgrade to 20 inch would be worthy considering the multi link dampening ? Also any idea on what would be the expected price jump?

[dthyaga]

Originally Posted by newenergy

I got a call from Mahindra about the same and I clearly stated that if any extra cost is added to ex-showroom then the on-road price is heavily impacted. Why can't we keep things simple and let an accessory be an accessory. They told me that they have received similar queries from other users and they will discuss this with management. So those who are seriously considering getting BE/XEV please do write to their customer support and hope for the best.

I have raised the same concern and sent out an email to them, I got a call from mahindra and had almost a 1 hour argument with the person. It seems they are more keen to sell their charger bundled, i told them you can always sell it as an accessory and their worry was if that is done then people will not buy their chargers. Do note that the Exicom 11KW charger on Amazon costs around 39.5K without any offers(You can get it for around 38K if you have an Amazon Credit card with 5% cash back). This is probably why they dont want to make the charger optional. I also told him why dont they consider to keep the charger outside the Ex - showroom price atleast the TCS and road tax would not apply on it to which he just responded will check with Management and get back. Do note that he mentioned the charger prices includes 15m of cable plus the installation charges which makes it even more absurd to include in the Ex - showroom price.
In Bangalore the tax threshold for EVs is 25L after which 10% road tax applies which makes this all the more painful especially if the Ex showroom is just under 25L for some of the pack options.

[dthyaga]

Originally Posted by newenergy

The Mahindra website now kind of forces you to select a charger (7.3 kW or 11 kW) and that is added to ex-showroom price which is absurd. For the people like me who lives in an apartment can not install this as our society does not allow 7kW charger installation. I am trying to convince them for a simple 16A plug. But the way Mahindra is bundling and charging extra is concerning. Why an accessory be added to ex-showroom? I have wrote to their customer care regarding this.

Attachment 2720234

I tried to convince the Mahindra guy for the same after I sent out an email to the customer care similar to your post, to provide the 3.3KW charger and make the 7 and 11KW optional, but he argued that the 3.3KW charger included with the car is not suitable for longer charging sessions as it might take more than 24hrs to charge a 79KW battery pack. Ya sure it will take time, but will cause an issue? Anyone already owing a EV with 3.3KW charger charger can comment on that.

Also when i raised about many apartments not allowing 7KW chargers, his response was in such scenarios they will throttle down the 7KW charger to work like a 3.3KW charger at the time of installation but you still need to purchase the charger bundled with the car.

[vamsi_k_b]

I randomly came across this car in a mall, and it looked beautiful! At 6'4", I was worried I wouldn't fit in the driver's seat. I was wrong! Adjusting the seat and steering was easy, and it was perfect.

[dthyaga]

Originally Posted by Ashah

I have unoffically booked the Pack 3 Tango Red with 19 inchers. Was wondering if the upgrade to 20 inch would be worthy considering the multi link dampening ? Also any idea on what would be the expected price jump?

I wouldnt go for the 20 inch as it will have a 20/30KM impact on the vehicle range.

[benew]

I was keen on BE6 and went to the India Garage showroom at Mahadevapura, Bangalore to take one more TD with my spouse. She drove it hesitantly because she was unsure to drive this thing with alien looking, all this unfamilier tech and screens around - she was okay for us to go ahead with the pre-booking of BE6. I had asked for a 9E TD just to a tick the box to not have regrets later, never bothered to give it any consideration because I was sold on BE6 for the design and shorter length. She absolutely loved 9E the back seat, head room and driving posture in and she now wants this, I agreed as it's sensible and went ahead with the prebooking formalities. On my drive back, I realized all my excitement vanished and I didn't care much about the booking anymore.

The Pack 2 Exshowroom price the Sales Exec gave me was 24.90L and obvioulsy it doesn't include the charger cost and therefore won't attract 10% sales tax. It would be suicidel for MM sales function to allow some marginal profit to dent the sales of pack2 and pack3 select of BE6. If the policy environment changes in KA budget or if MM chooses to do anything silly with charger cost adding to ex-showroom - I will cancel this idea of purchase altogether and wait for more options as I really don't need another car.

[dthyaga]

Originally Posted by benew

The Pack 2 Exshowroom price the Sales Exec gave me was 24.90L and obvioulsy it doesn't include the charger cost and therefore won't attract 10% sales tax. It would be suicidel for MM sales function to allow some marginal profit to dent the sales of pack2 and pack3 select of BE6. If the policy environment changes in KA budget or if MM chooses to do anything silly with charger cost adding to ex-showroom - I will cancel this idea of purchase altogether and wait for more options as I really don't need another car.

The charger price will be included in the Ex-Showroon price and you will have to pay the 10% tax. I have checked direclty with Mahindra after complaining on this with their customer care and they have confirmed on this. I had a 1 hour fight with Mahindra representative couple of days back over this and he mentioned as of now this is the case. They have reported this matter to the management and I dont think there is any change as of now unfortunately.

[JoseTheScorpion]

Wanted to share my experience on the Test drive of the XEV 9E.

THE CAUSE

Last week, I was a little upset with some personal reasons. To refresh my mind, body and soul, I quickly asked my self the million dollar question, "WHAT WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY AGAIN?". This question can be a tough one to answer, for many, but I feel lucky that I always know what I want and when I want it, off course I mean in the petrol-head mindset, please don't mis-understand .

THE TARGET

I was very much impressed by the launch event of the XEV 9E and BE 6.





But with Mahindra's open challenge to all the electric car manufacturers, in the world, to bring all these mind-blowing features in one car which costs the same and is as safe as them, was a little over the line.

Well, not a good idea to challenge the whole world, when you do have lingering issues going on with your current products. (I am a Scorpio-N owner), so I am not stating this comment without any background.

Some say that Mahindra is the fastest growing car company in India, and I will not defy that, it surely looks like, as it is the best SUV manufacturer in India, in my mind already.

THE GOOD NEWS

Now coming to my curious mind wanting to drive their latest offering. I personally like the 9E more than the 6 as it looks more bulky and has a sleeper look. I started calling the Mahindra showrooms near my house in Hyderabad and couldn't believe my luck, that the closest Mahindra showroom did have a 9E display as well as test drive vehicle.

I suddenly felt the Adrenalin rush kicking in and raced towards the showroom in my Hornet(Scorpio-N) driving like I had the inner conscious of Michael Schumacher. The feeling to experiencing something new both as a product and technology wise, was something out of this world. For people like here in India, these EVs are the closest we can get to experiencing the insane pickup of a Tesla.

Going to a Mahindra Showroom feels like home, and the moment I parked Hornet, I was able to see this beauty (XEV 9E) in silver, standing in front of the showroom. I was already on top of the world with thoughts of photos, Videos, driving it and what not going already in my mind.

I entered the showroom, expecting it to be a fish market with the craze of this vehicle and was surprised to see not even a single customer. There were cars and there were staff all sitting and having some arguments / meeting. After a few seconds, I had to wave at someone to cater to my needs.

THE BAD NEWS

As soon as the person came near me, I was ready to handover my license in anticipation of a test drive. The moment I asked him for the XEV 9E test drive, his expression was almost as if I had asked for both his kidneys. "No, no, no sir, we are not giving test drives". I had a big question mark on my face, which he obviously noticed and quickly pointed me to the Showroom Manager, who seemed to be the big boss out there. (kind of like Mogambo, and all the sales guys were looking at him in fear).

I slowly approached him, and the moment I said 9E, he was like, "no sir, the car is not launched yet, so we are not giving test drives". Before I could say anything, he pointed me to another person, stating he will take care of all your queries and he simply went away with a grumpy face.

Meanwhile, me saying to myself, " No worries, Jose, I think the call centre girl of this showroom, clearly didn't know about the test drive status. Let's stay positive".

THE INSULT

I was planning to take some pics on the way out, but just as a formality, I mentioned that I would like to take some photos, as I am planning to post a blog on Team-bhp and a vlog on my Youtube channel. Again, I heard a louder "NO sir", the car is not launched yet. My positive mood and Adrenalin rush was quickly turning into a Volcanic lava, thinking, what is the point of calling and coming to the showroom to see this resistance bigger than the one shown by the people in ZION (Matrix Movie).

The car was standing on the street, and God knows how many people would have already clicked pics of it passing by, and hundreds of photos and videos are already on the internet. I was still remained calm and quiet, didn't want to argue, as I was only feeling bad for the lost opportunity. I was ready to exit the showroom, but then came the beamer question from the sales rep, "so sir what is the name of your youtube channel?" I shared the details and I still can't forget the smug face and the statement he made, "sir 200 odd subscribers se kya hoga? (what good is your channel with such less subscribers).

This somehow made me feel insulted and hurt. I wanted to reply to him, clarifying that I love cars, and to follow my passion, I have taken up the you tubing path. But then thought, why make the effort of clarifying something to a stranger, who clearly seems like someone who doesn't even care about his own career. I just smiled at him and left the showroom. Still, feeling insulted and hurt, I didn't want to drive right away. I felt that sharing this episode to my Scorpio-N brothers would at least give me some relief.

INSULT 2.0

I wrote the whole episode in brief in our Scorpio-N owners whatsapp group, and surely my brothers could understand my pain. Well, after around 10 mins, I cooled down after seeing some responses from my fellow brothers. I was almost ready to go, when the same sales guy, came from behind and stated with a smile, "sir, this is Scorpio-N, the one on the right is XEV 9E".

MY COUNTER

I had to reply. This was the moment, he crossed the line. I simply stated, "Boss, this is my car and I already know that I own a Scorpio-N." Suddenly, his smug face became an apologetic face. He mentioned that he can give me the test drive on the next day or in the weekend. My only question was, the car is available, there is no customer in the showroom, why can't the test drive be given now. I got weird response, that this is not our car, it is from Mahindra and we need to return it, bla, bla. Anyway, I was already furious and didn't want to spend another second there.

HOW THE TABLES TURN

As I was trying to get in my car, the guy got a call from someone and shockingly, I was told that now the test drive is available, with the tagline "ONLY FOR YOU SIR". I am now completely clueless, on what these sales guys are up to. Obviously, I had driven to the showroom for a test drive and though not in the best of moods, I didn't want to decline the test drive offer. The sales guy was now a different person, answering to all my queries sweetly and without any sarcasm.

Though no one has claimed, but I am sure one of my Scorpio-N brothers from the whatsapp group, must have called the showroom it seems causing the sudden change.

Phew! Enough of ranting, apologies for that. I also want to share that most of the Mahindra showrooms I have visited are very good with a knowledgeable team and people with brains. This was an exception.

Coming to the XEV 9E test drive.

I was not allowed to click any photos or videos, so I guess, everyone reading this blog will have to rely on your imaginative senses

Exterior

• It does look very attractive from the front and the rear, also very bulky, which I kind of liked.
• the paint quality and the panel gaps looks much better than the current products of Mahindra
• Piano black everywhere, similar to the Curvv, but looks much bigger than the Curvv, atleast a segment above.
• I was amazed at the ground clearance specially from the rear. If a sedan was to bang the XEV 9E from the rear, it will certainly go underneeth the XEV, because of the angle.
• I didn't like the alloy wheels, they seemed too "aero stressed" in terms of design
• The LED lights in the front are good, but the ones at the rear, I feel were not bright enough for a sunny day.
• Overall design was pleasing to my eye and certainly different from almost all the electric cars around. OUT OF THE BOX for sure.
• The new Mahindra logo is fab

Interior

• First thing I noticed was that it was very different from the XUV700, I was expecting similar screens/buttons seats
• They tried to re-invent the wheel by changing the power windows buttons, which is surely something, they shouldn't have wasted time on.
• Also, the 3rd screen is a waste if you ask me. Many people travel alone to office and home, and surely this car will be purchased mainly by office goers.
• The steering wheel was also not to my liking. The one in the current range of products is perfect I feel. Anyway, all in the name of bling.
• the seats are comfy, but a lot of piano black in the cabin as well, which was a finger print magnet.
• I didn't check out the rear seats, but seemed to be very spacious
• Frunk and boot are humongous
• White interiors look plush, even more than XUV700

Performance

• Boy oh boy! the best part of XEV is its performance. loads of it.
• Even though the 0-100 figures are around 7 seconds, it feels much faster, possibly because of the bulk of the vehicle.
• Used the boost mode twice and the effect was very evident and dramatic
• I have driven the BYD Seal mid variant(5second 0-100) and it didn't feel this fast.
• 380NM of electric torque is delivered much more efficiently compared to the 380NM of ICE torque in my petrol Scorpio-N

Tech

• You can clap inside the car and it will echo it in different ways hall, stadium, closed room etc effects. Nice gadget to impress but might not be useful.
• The gear lever is classy, electric brake and some parts are shared with 700. But look very premium
• 3rd screen is basically for passenger but the driver can still see everything - youtube,netflix,amazon,shopping..all stuff
• Really loved the sound system - class above, easily the best I have experienced. Even better than the 10 speaker system in my audi Q5(2010).
• power seat controls are also from the XUV700, but do look Merc style.
• I feel there are too many things inside those 3 screens. It will take at least a full day to check each configuration/feature/option
• ADAS LEVEL 2.5 is what the sales guy told me, so it is the most advanced, better than even the XUV700 ADAS L2
• Dances like a Tesla
• Drives "out of" and "into" the parking spot on its own, using only the remote key inputs - first one for an Indian car

Likes

• Everything outside, inside, tech, performance
• Very smooth, not much outside sound seeping in, road, tyre etc. unlike the Windsor/nexon ev
• Spacious cabin, boot, frunk. Specially thigh support in EVs is bad, not in this one.
• Massive presence Looks very huge in flesh.

Dislikes

• hmm, still some niggles are there like the car was not able to move to Drive mode, in the second or third attempt it did move.
• The echo effect also was not working at first. A power off and power on of the car helped in fixing it.
• Showroom Sales team is clueless on all the features.

My review

I think it is surely the best premium EV car in India at this time. With its gizmos and tech, it has even left the BYD and MG behind. I feel it will be a great hit, but only time will tell on the reliability if its tech and the niggling issues which crop up in few Mahindra's.