[Auto_guy_101]

Similar to a lot of you, I have also been keenly eyeing the EV space in India for a while now. I have always been an EV fan and feel the technology and competition has matured to a point where it makes sense to buy an EV today and not necessarily be paying an "early adopter premium".

1. Firstly, why EV:

• They are just great for the city.
• Future proofed from policy changes.
• They are so economical (compared to conventional ICE cars) both to run and to maintain. There doesn't seem to be any indication of petrol prices going down and diesels are becoming an extinct category.
• Going green (yes, you could argue that our electricity comes from burning fuel in some places, but say you have some solar installation at home or something similar)
• Great power and torque which makes them easier to drive, especially in the city

Given all these points, it's very clear that a small EV makes the most sense for the city user. This is where the problems start.

2. Here's my unique case for an EV:

I have the luxury of spending half a month in my hometown of Kochi (WFH) and the other half in Bangalore, going to office in person. Due to a lot of travel related nitty gritty's, I have been driving this route. I've found the train/ Air/ bus + cab option not so viable thanks to limited cab availability for my route of just 6km from office to home (in Blr), and find the only other reliable option - Bluesmart cabs after their offer removal, a little too pricey (280 for a 6km ride). Driving to and from Bangalore has allowed me to explore different routes and be slightly adventurous.

A small EV makes the perfect second car to any household. However, for people in a unique situation like me, if you spend sometime in a different city some 8-10 hours away and plan to get an EV as your second car, you'd be in for a shock. Let's say I use my Kushaq for this long drive and maintain my "EV" in Kochi (where my running is pretty limited). Then, I waste a lot of fuel in Bangalore traffic. Let's say I do the reverse - then I need an EV capable of a 500 km trip and the smaller cars just need too many charging stops (3-4 fast charges with hardly 150km between charges).

Option 3 for me is to maintain my "EV" in Bangalore which will limit the running of both my cars. Most of the miles on my Kushaq are from these long trips. I might as well book Blusmarts.

3. The EV parameters:
Major Factors:

• Range & Cost of EV
• Driveability and some fun factor (I'm coming from a Kushaq and anything under 100 bhp/ 200 Nm torque will seem regrettable)
• Some connected car tech
• Ease of ingress/ egress for a senior citizen

Minor Factors: Some usable boot

4. What do I mean by a pricing ladder?

Pricing ladders are common. Apple is often blamed for implementing a really good one, enabling customers to spend their maximum. In India, we think of pricing ladders a little differently in the automotive space, like:

- Hyundai or Suzuki, that have vehicles in their portfolio to cater to a very wide audience. They also have intelligent variants, such that should a given car not fit the needs or budget of the customer, they have another car that fits.

- Tata and Mahindra that have so many variants. Tata is the King here, ensuring you'd get the next best thing to being able to fully configure your car.

- The Luxury brands are not so far behind, with BMW being a prime example.

But the EV pricing ladder is very different, at least in the sub 30 Lakh range. It's primarily a linear function of range + power + size vs price with some features sprinkled across (like masala).


In this space, the pricing ladder has different brands, all with their pros and cons criss-crossing around price, with very few brands offering variants that significantly hike the car price over the base variant.

Unfortunately, the customer looses out the most here. It is very difficult to identify the best VFM offering here. Additional requirements like mine, where a long range variant makes sense are just going to make things a lot worse.

5. Price Ladder vs size
Remember a small EV is best for the city. But then a large EV has more range and a practical boot space. As EV's are so far free from the 4-meter or 1500cc rules or even the "SUV tax" slab, this makes the on road price of say a larger Nexon more tempting than a punch, or a larger ZS base variant more tempting than a Nexon (the Windsor gives VFM a new meaning). But then an Atto 3 or XEV 9e are no longer small cars and might become cumbersome for the city.

On top of all that, a lot of EV base variants come feature loaded today. For one, the automatic drive (which often commands a premium on ICE vehicles) and some kind of screen are a given. Perhaps connected car tech gets better with higher variant - no, I would still prefer to have an iPad mounted on my car and connected to the in built speakers for my navigation, calls and music needs (this also would mean not using the screen to control the car which is a good thing).

As I write this, I feel this is exactly the thought process someone at Mahindra had while designing the BE 6e.

I look forward to updating this price ladder once the BE 6e variant prices are out, and will hopefully be ending this thread sometime next year with an EV in my shed.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by Auto_guy_101

Similar to a lot of you, I have also been keenly eyeing the EV space in India for a while now. I have always been an EV fan and feel the technology and competition has matured to a point where it makes sense to buy an EV today and not necessarily be paying an "early adopter premium".

Little confused on this post of yours. Does this belong more to the what car section where you are seeking inputs of other BHPians?

I see for BE6E for range you have put in a question mark and also for the price of top variant of higher battery pack. But for XEV9E you have mentioned 29.9 for the price and range as 8.

If you are assuming a 8L price increase between the XEV9e base and top variants, you could assume same for BE6E and come up at 26.9L for its top variant. Considering you have quoted a 8 for range of XEV, a 8 or 8.1 for BE6E should also be put for BE6e considering similar battery packs of both cars.

[darkgamer]

Originally Posted by Auto_guy_101

Similar to a lot of you, I have also been keenly eyeing the EV space in India for a while now.

....

I look forward to updating this price ladder once the BE 6e variant prices are out, and will hopefully be ending this thread sometime next year with an EV in my shed.

A couple of corrections here:

1. The XEV 9E top model price isn't out yet, unless you have some insider information about the 29.9 lakh price. IMO it'll cost 27.9.
2. Why is the range for XEV 8 while for the atto 3 is 9? The Atto 3 has a 60kwh battery and WLTP range of 420km, while the XEV has an 80kwh battery and an WLTP range of 530km.

[Auto_guy_101]

Originally Posted by darkgamer

A couple of corrections here:

1. The XEV 9E top model price isn't out yet, unless you have some insider information about the 29.9 lakh price. IMO it'll cost 27.9.

Sorry, my bad. The Autocar channel had quoted an estimated 29 L for the top variant. I missed the estimated part.

Originally Posted by darkgamer

A couple of corrections here:

1. Why is the range for XEV 8 while for the atto 3 is 9? The Atto 3 has a 60kwh battery and WLTP range of 420km, while the XEV has an 80kwh battery and an WLTP range of 530km.

Again, my bad with the XEV pricing. The Atto 3 prices are from websites. It would not be an overstatement to call the Atto 3 somewhat overpriced at this point. Their base variant is just 50 KWh.

[Auto_guy_101]

Originally Posted by 07CR

Little confused on this post of yours. Does this belong more to the what car section where you are seeking inputs of other BHPians?

At this point, no. However, I'm hoping 2025 will bring down the long range capable EV's prices. I'm making this post as someone who's been on the fence about an EV for a very long time and the BE 6e is the first one that comes close to addressing my needs.

We could be looking at a very different pricing ladder, or even a very different tax scheme on EV's in the next FY. I'm just hoping Mahindra and the Taxmen don't kill a lot of EV dreams

Should all things work out in favor of EV's and potential buyers, yes, come next Feb/ March, I will be seeking advice from fellow BHPians on which car.

[antz.bin]

Given the minimal price difference between the MR and LR versions of Tatas, I don't see any sense why the smaller battery pack Tata should even exist. These were created in an era when battery prices were much higher. That era is now behind us now that the extra battery capacity between MR and LR can be purchased for less than the price of an iPhone.

If we discount the MR Tatas, the pricing ladders will be much shorter and more logical.

% increase over base:
Tiago LR - 15%
Punch LR - 12.6%
Nexon 45 - 23% (45kWh battery is now available from the base trim of Nexon.EV)
Curvv 55 - 14.2%

There is no logical reason why the top-end ZS is 6.77 lakh more expensive than the base.
Similar situation in case of the 9-lakh rupee price difference for the Atto 3 trims (both 36%). No wonder those cars are struggling for sales.

Similarly, I would expect the top end BE 6E 59 within 15-20% of the base 59. 2 lakhs extra for the upgraded battery across trims. The assumption here is that both battery capacities are using different motors. The difference in power outputs is more due to the power draw the batteries can support so there is nothing additional apart from the 2 lakhs. This brings us to the following prices:

Base BE 6E 59 - 18.9 lakh
Top BE 6E 59 ~ 22.5 lakh
Top BE 6E 79 ~ 24.5 lakh

Base XEV 9E 59 - 21.9 lakh
Top XEV 9E 59 - 26 lakh
Top XEV 9E 79 - 28 lakh

This relatively low price-delta is possible on EVs today (compared to ICE cars) purely because most base EVs are already well equipped AND the GST component of the increased price is just 5%, not 50.

[darkgamer]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

GST component of the increased price is just 5%, not 50.

As we speak, some sarkari babu is definitely looking to 'rationalize' this 5% GST to something like 28%.

There are already rumours of EVs below 40 lacs to be taxed at 18% and above 40 lacs to be taxed at 28%

[wooka]

Originally Posted by darkgamer

As we speak, some sarkari babu is definitely looking to 'rationalize' this 5% GST to something like 28%.

There are already rumours of EVs below 40 lacs to be taxed at 18% and above 40 lacs to be taxed at 28%

Say nice things!

Back to the thread, MnM has invested significantly and they have a habit of milking their top models. I'll wait to see what's up.