[samabhi]

I got a call from Mahindra Reva, Lavelle Road yesterday about the new promotion offer that is currently being offered for a limited set of cars (35 in total). They are offering the base model T01 with all the features of the premium T2 model which includes the Infotainment, Reverse Camera, EPS, etc. These are factory fitted and the only difference is that it still comes with 12 Cells which offers a max range of 80 Kms. The premium model with 16 cells currently offers the range at 100Kms and now to be increased to 120 Kms. All this at an on-road price of 4.4L. To be frank I was really shocked to know about such a huge discount and it seems its not being offered by other dealers but directly by Mahindra Reva Showroom on Lavelle Road, Bangalore. I was also assured these are not part of stock clearance, but made to order. I quickly requested for a test drive today and the executive obliged with my request, got the car to my office directly this afternoon.

I had a chance to test drive the latest e2o which is equipped with Power Steering. This is my first test drive and spent a good amount of time with the car in different conditions including pouring rain conditions.

My observations :

- The power steering is a breeze and helps a great deal especially while parking in tight spaces.
- Seating is spacious and adequate enough for 4 full sized adults.
- Silent electric motor and a boon to drive with the automatic transmission in bumper to bumper Bangalore traffic conditions.
- AC is chilling, but found it to be noisy with the blower setting at level 2.
- At some point, with the heavy rain, there was formation of fog all over the front window and it didnt get cleared even with the heater ON. The executive told me that the defogger is only at the rear. I might have missed the trick to use the right setting to clear it up.
- The test car has already 5k KMS on its ODO and there were quiet a few places with lot of rattles. The experience is not the best to be described, but at the same time its not bad either.
- Suspension is pretty bad and really bouncy. I felt my 1st gen i10 is way better which is other wise known to be very bouncy.
- Ground Clearance is standard at 180MM for all the models as against 168MM for the previous base model T01. The executive told me that this was due to the battery position underneath the seats.
- I felt the wiper & indicator stalks are not of good quality and didnt feel like they will last long.
- Worst of all, I was terribly disappointed with the braking. In the 2 hours, that I spent with the car, I could never get used to it at all. This is going to be the key factor that would influence my decision making in buying the car.


Would I go ahead and buy this car, considering the huge discounted price? I was almost certain before the test drive, however the test drive left me with mixed feelings. This is going to be the second car in the family and will be primarily used by my wife. She was fine with the test drive and is very neutral about the decision. I am exploring the company leased option, but there are few issues with it as the GFHE (GoodBye Fuel Hello Electric) Scheme mandates that the battery should be under Mahindra's ownership which makes it difficult for company leased cars.

Also this promotion offer will last only till the stock lasts and should be booked before Sep 10th. For the price its being offered, its a very good deal and 80Kms range should not be a limitation for City Drive. Its a LOT in reality. If anyone in Bangalore is interested to buy the e2o, please contact the Mahindra Reva Showroom at Lavelle Road directly.

[Rehaan]

Wow, 4.4 Lakh on-road Bangalore will all that? Sounds like a neat deal to me.

Originally Posted by samabhi

- Worst of all, I was terribly disappointed with the braking. In the 2 hours, that I spent with the car, I could never get used to it at all. This is going to be the key factor that would influence my decision making in buying the car.

I'm amazed they still haven't fixed this!! Here's my explanation of it in the review:

Originally Posted by Rehaan

The e2o has disc brakes at the front, and there is a vacuum-assisted brake booster present. These are "Power Brakes" - just like every other car on the market. But wait, those systems use the vacuum generated by the internal combustion engine to operate the booster. How does the electric e2o do it? Turns out, this was the problem. There was a small motorized vacuum generator that would spin up every time it felt there wasn't enough vacuum available. This resulted in a huge and sudden power-assist to the booster, which caused the unpredictable braking behavior. How can we be sure? Well, I unplugged the electric vacuum generator and it fixed the problem (Obviously not a solution, since the brake pedal becomes extremely hard to press without the vacuum assist).

I think the car should be set up to prime the electric vaccuum pump every time the driver takes his foot off the accelerator. Sure it might use a tiny amount of more electricity - but its a worthy sacrifice for something as critical as braking!!

cya
R

[samabhi]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

I think the car should be set up to prime the electric vaccuum pump every time the driver takes his foot off the accelerator. Sure it might use a tiny amount of more electricity - but its a worthy sacrifice for something as critical as braking!!

cya
R

Thanks to your detailed Rehaan, I explained the executive about this braking behaviour. Mahindra Reva is aware of it, but the executive has no clue whether this will be fixed in near future. The current braking setup is definitely not confident inspiring and I see it as one of the biggest safety concerns. At times I felt like I was rear ending the vehicle in front of me.

Moreover, is this something that one can get it rectified or modified in aftermarket?

[HolyDiver]

Hi Samabhi,

Is it 4.4 on road all inclusive? I recall a few months back they were running a scheme where one pays 4.99 downpayment and then pays 2.6k every month for 5 years as battery rental.

[pachchu]

I got a similar call today for 3.4L for the T01 model inclusive of taxes, registration, insurance, etc PLUS 2599/- per month for next 5 years as 'energy fee' for the battery. The (80KMs range) battery is owned and maintained by Reva. The additional discount is since I am an existing Reva-i customer.

They have a decent trade-in offer for my old Reva-i too (30,000 KMs done).

I'm tempted! I'm OK with 80KMs range (my commute is 25KMs daily). Only question I have is, what does a 120KMs range car buy that is not in 80Kms range car?

Originally Posted by HolyDiver

Hi Samabhi,

Is it 4.4 on road all inclusive? I recall a few months back they were running a scheme where one pays 4.99 downpayment and then pays 2.6k every month for 5 years as battery rental.

[samabhi]

Originally Posted by HolyDiver

Hi Samabhi,

Is it 4.4 on road all inclusive? I recall a few months back they were running a scheme where one pays 4.99 downpayment and then pays 2.6k every month for 5 years as battery rental.

No 4.4L is excluding the battery cost. We still need to pay Rs 2599 for 60 months with battery leased to Mahindra. We can also buy it directly without the battery lease and the same discount of 1.32L is applicable. The On-road cost is ~ 6.27L as the addition of battery cost without the lease will result in increase of Road Tax and VAT. Also it turns out this is not with only Mahindra Reva outlet but with every authorised dealer. I only cross checked with Sireesh Motors, Madiwala.

Originally Posted by pachchu

I got a similar call today for 3.4L for the T01 model inclusive of taxes, registration, insurance, etc PLUS 2599/- per month for next 5 years as 'energy fee' for the battery. The (80KMs range) battery is owned and maintained by Reva. The additional discount is since I am an existing Reva-i customer.

They have a decent trade-in offer for my old Reva-i too (30,000 KMs done).

It seems Mahindra sold quiet a few cars with this promotion offers in the last few weeks for existing Reva customers.

I'm tempted! I'm OK with 80KMs range (my commute is 25KMs daily). Only question I have is, what does a 120KMs range car buy that is not in 80Kms range car?

Nothing. Just the additional range. As I mentioned in my post, its just those few additional Cells 12 vs 16.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by samabhi

Moreover, is this something that one can get it rectified or modified in aftermarket?

Well from what i can tell its simple electrical stuff.

HOWEVER, one rule i have is to never DIY or modify CRITICAL systems in the car - of which the braking system is #1 on the list.

(Only exception would be if there is a well established and trusted brand offering an aftermarket package).

cya
R

[PreethamB]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Well from what i can tell its simple electrical stuff.

HOWEVER, one rule i have is to never DIY or modify CRITICAL systems in the car - of which the braking system is #1 on the list.

(Only exception would be if there is a well established and trusted brand offering an aftermarket package).

cya
R

This car is equipped with regenerative braking. Could this be partly responsible for the perceived lack of braking?

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by PreethamB

This car is equipped with regenerative braking. Could this be partly responsible for the perceived lack of braking?

Nope, it isn't due to the regenerative braking. Read the "Braking" sub-section of the review on the first page, it will explain things.

cya
R

[pachchu]

Correction from Mahindra-Reva sales today - it's 4.4L (+ 2590x60). Some call-center guy is calling and giving wrong information about 3.4L offer. And it is not exclusive to existing Reva-i owners. The offer is for all.

If anybody else has booked at 3.4L, let us know.

Originally Posted by pachchu

I got a similar call today for 3.4L for the T01 model inclusive of taxes, registration, insurance, etc PLUS 2599/- per month for next 5 years as 'energy fee' for the battery.

[samabhi]

Against all odds, I finally went ahead and booked a Spanish Red Mahindra E2O T0 Model. Its equipped with Power Steering, all the features of T2 model and the range is limited to 80 Kms. This definitely was not an easy decision to make considering the price of the car and its limitations.

I took the company lease option which includes the battery cost too. Delivery is planned early next month, as I am travelling on a business trip and will be back only after two weeks. Otherwise Sireesh Motors, Madiwala committed the delivery within 10 days.

[kaviprem]

I am also seriously thinking about this for my Home-Office commute.

Rehaan
Thanks for the spread sheet, I modified it to take Nano costing and see how it looks like, take a look at it.
Also, I updated with the new scheme of battery leasing option, hence, the OTR comes down drastically, but the annual maintenance cost goes up for battery.

Spread sheet attached for reference/changes as well.

Prem.

[samabhi]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

I am also seriously thinking about this for my Home-Office commute.

Rehaan
Thanks for the spread sheet, I modified it to take Nano costing and see how it looks like, take a look at it.
Also, I updated with the new scheme of battery leasing option, hence, the OTR comes down drastically, but the annual maintenance cost goes up for battery.

Spread sheet attached for reference/changes as well.

Prem.

At this current price being offered, it definitely is not a value for money proposition. There are even cheaper options available interms of Tata Nano AMT.

This would take more time even to be considered a Cost Savings option when compared to other automatic Hatchbacks available in the market.

If cost is the only deciding factor besides automatic transmission, then definitely e2o is not the best option available in the market today. However the ease of use and maintenance, electricity driven are the key factors to be considered by anyone to choose e2o.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by samabhi

At this current price being offered, it definitely is not a value for money proposition. There are even cheaper options available interms of Tata Nano AMT.

This would take more time even to be considered a Cost Savings option when compared to other automatic Hatchbacks available in the market.

If cost is the only deciding factor besides automatic transmission, then definitely e2o is not the best option available in the market today. However the ease of use and maintenance, electricity driven are the key factors to be considered by anyone to choose e2o.

Well,I don't agree with you completely. There is no Nano AMT available now and is not going to be minimum for another year or eighteen months from now.
There is no hatchback AT under 7 lakhs if I am right. So, e2o definitely has some amount of value considering feature additions from the premium to the base variant.
With the ever increasing petrol and diesel price,I am sure the comparison table will look even worse for non-electric AT's. I understand electricity charges can also go up, but not at the pace of regular fuels,I believe.

Just my thoughts, let me know if I have missed out any.
Thanks again for the contact,I still need to make the final decision though

Prem.

[Holyghost]

I am considering Celerio AMT or e2o for city use. I can wait for another year if Mahindra plans to launch 4 door version by 2015. I am also hoping govt push for EVs to bring prices down.