[370Z]

Good car, but exterior design is unaesthetic :( Car looks plasticky, bulbous and disproportional - massive "radiator" grille, bulbous front bumper and wheel arches, plasticky bits at the rear. Compare this to simple and elegant lines of Tata Nano!

[crazydave]

Great review indeed! As good as an official review in my opinion. Will wait of course to see what the official review has to say different/add more information.

1. From your photos and description of getting into the back seat, definitely looks like its a car thats best suited for a wealthy professional or DINK family. Rear seat is best used for maybe, child seat (thanks to ISOFIX points - why dont more Indian cars make this mandatory??), or for large grocery bags
2. Absolutely love the HU, hope this trickles down/up(??) to the XUV and other Mahindra vehicles in the future. Quality of exterior/interior looks fine but I'm a bit worried about the quality of the ABS plastic panels. I dont know if they are of a different spec than the previous Reva, but I've seen several old Reva's that were parked in the sun and had faded body panels!! Hope this wont be the case with the new-gen
3. Great move by Mahindra on getting free charging points up. Would you know what the range and time for a quick charge is at one of these stations? And if there is any information on where/how these statons have been placed? Do we have any information on how for a charging station would be on an average?
4. Also interesting to note the ReVive feature. It basically means that Mahindra is providing a larger battery than expected, but providing a conservative mileage estimate to customers so that people don't get stranded by pushing the car to the limit. And if they do, there is some "reserve" to ensure that they get to a charging point. Good move by Mahindra!
5. Any information on the length of the charging cable provided by Mahindra? Does one need a 15A socket or is a 5A one adequate? What is the cost of setting up a charging station and would Mahindra be interested in setting it up in or around residential areas like Gurgaon's Golf Course Road for example?

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by hkollar

How is the touch interface? Is it capacitive and smooth?

Didn't get enough time with the car to try it out.

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

But how many charging points are available in other cities?
Would I be right in assuming that the battery life will reduce even if the vehicle is not used?

The dealer's representative did not know.

The FOMS has a Vacation Mode just to prevent this - you have a fully charged battery when you want to drive. Otherwise the battery would run down to some extent due to the central locking system and other paraphernalia remaining activated when parked.

Originally Posted by Enigmatic

...that largely depends on the central government providing enough subsidies.

It is still not known when the Central Govt. subsidies will be rolled out - but it is expected to be soon.

Originally Posted by Batfreak

This is a different car and thus needs to be seen with a different perspective all together. Sadly there are no truly comparable vehicles in this niche which in turn pips the car in front of the petrol or diesel premium hatchbacks.

Comparable cars like the Nissan Leaf are not being allowed into India specifically because there is no indigenous content.

Originally Posted by 370Z

...bulbous front bumper and wheel arches...

I thought the front end looks quite good.

Originally Posted by crazydave

Would you know what the range and time for a quick charge is at one of these stations? And if there is any information on where/how these statons have been placed? Do we have any information on how for a charging station would be on an average?

The quick charge system is not introduced yet. Charging stations are designed to be within less than 8km of any point in the city.

Any information on the length of the charging cable provided by Mahindra? Does one need a 15A socket or is a 5A one adequate? What is the cost of setting up a charging station and would Mahindra be interested in setting it up in or around residential areas like Gurgaon's Golf Course Road for example?

All it needs is a 15A plug point. A cable adequate to connect to your 15A socket on the first floor will be provided free of cost. No idea about costs of setting up a charging station.

Originally Posted by ilangop

The brake system is vacuum booster assisted hydraulic. Many of us would be aware that vacuum for the booster operation is available from the inatke manifold in a petrol engine & an engine operated vacuum pump (driven by the camshaft like in Fiat Multijet or placed behind the alternator like in a Tata Sumo). As there is no engine here, an electric vacuum pump is used. You should be able to hear the pump coming into operation when you depress the brake pedal fully a couple of times.
The part circled in red in the attached picture is the Vacuum pump, For now it is supplied by Hella.

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

[SDP]

Slightly OT on this thread, but the other e2o thread seems to have been closed.

Please check out the following news:

http://www.rushlane.com/mahindra-rev...t-1272939.html

Apparently Dr Goenka has admitted that the booking numbers have been disappointing. Too early to say, but may be first nail in the coffin.

[misquitas]

Great first-drive report of the Mahindra e2o.

Originally Posted by SDP

Apparently Dr Goenka has admitted that the booking numbers have been disappointing. Too early to say, but may be first nail in the coffin.

This could be due to the below reason:

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

The Mahindra e2o is available in Delhi for Rs.6.24 lakhs OTR. This includes a subsidy from the Delhi government. Elsewhere in the country, Mahindra has priced the e2o at Rs.7.73 lakhs ex-showroom.

A whopping ex-showroom price of Rs 7.73 lakh may make e2o affordable only to the Ambanis or Tatas or well, the Mahindras themselves.

Why couldn't Mahindra have introduced 2 or 3 models and have the e2o more affordable to masses. For example, the present model could have been the fully-loaded TOP variant.

The BASE model could have been without the following features:

* ICE with 4 JBL speakers and 2 tweeters.
* Electrically operated ORVMs
* Reverse camera
* AC
* The infotainment system with 6.2" touchscreen
* An inbuilt GPS navigation system
* The iPod and USB ports as well as the 12v charger socket.
* Electrically operated windows

The MID model could have had some of the above features (like AC).

If Mahindra had 2-3 variants of the e2o, the price of the BASE variant could easily have been dropped by Rs 50,000 - Rs 75,000, thereby making it slightly more affordable to those (including the environment-conscious citizens) keen to buy the e2o, but who are repelled by the exorbitant cost.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by dkaile

It's a great working concept but whose time is yet to come.

Originally Posted by SDP

Apparently Dr Goenka has admitted that the booking numbers have been disappointing. Too early to say, but may be first nail in the coffin.

Originally Posted by misquitas

This could be due to...

An analysis of why it is not to be expected that people would queue up to buy the e2o: Why the economics of Mahindra Reva e2o doesn’t work.

[premjit]

Nice first impression considering the short time you spent with the car. But honestly, I think its early days to expect the GoI to incentivize EV's in a big way would make an impact on sales. Considering the high Cost of Production coupled with the recurring 5 yearly capex on replacement of the power pack as well as the image of a small dandy car, it is pointless to expect large scale adoption even with an incentive in the region of say 2 lacs. While value conscious, the average Indian car buyer is image conscious and would prefer to put his/ her money down for a Wagon R, rather than a Reva. The lack of infrastructure (as pointed out time and again) and in the First post article clearly adds to the unviability of the product.

I for one am impressed with Maini mainly, and Goenka later for the gumption to build this vehicle. Its appealing (to me), has decent interiors and a snazzy HU plus the Eco Friendly footprint which is good for the image. I am sure quite a few Bhpians would have the same views.

[PSOPS]

Nice review and am sure the days are not far when most of the vars would be either a Hybrid / Electric cars. Aldready Mahindra has announced that Verito would also be available in Electric.

But dose anyone have an Idea of what would be the cost per kms for running the car. I am looking especially for What cost would be incurred per month in running for 2500-3000 Kms .

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by misquitas

The BASE model could have been without the following features:

* ICE with 4 JBL speakers and 2 tweeters.
* Electrically operated ORVMs
* Reverse camera
* AC
* The infotainment system with 6.2" touchscreen
* An inbuilt GPS navigation system
* The iPod and USB ports as well as the 12v charger socket.
* Electrically operated windows

The MID model could have had some of the above features (like AC).

The website says that there is a base (T0) model, which doesn't have some features of the higher T2 model.

Basically the only thing that has been removed is the head unit (and everything that goes with it, like GPS, speakers, reverse camera, ipod & usb). So thats almost everything in your list except electric mirrors/windows and AC.

Price difference is about Rs 34,000/-

cya
R

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by PSOPS

But dose anyone have an Idea of what would be the cost per kms for running the car. I am looking especially for What cost would be incurred per month in running for 2500-3000 Kms .

I was told that if the e2o runs 80 km daily, the jump in domestic electricity bill is expected to be in the range of Rs.1500-2000 per month. Which should work out to about 70-80 paise per km.

I am sceptical about the 3000-km-per-month bit. Running 100 km daily would probably mean the car needs to be charged twice daily - once at home and once at your destination.

My daily home-work-home run is 145 km. If my employer allowed me free charging at my workplace, I'd probably buy this! Unfortunately, that won't happen.

[mercedised]

A nice review, thanks for that. A question that comes in my mind is would the battery last for 100 kms approx. when the car is driven at 80 Kmph continuously and why did'nt they provide solar charging for emergency? What would be extra cost? Adding solar cells or even a wind mill () would not cost more than the battery does.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by mercedised

A question that comes in my mind is would the battery last for 100 kms approx. when the car is driven at 80 Kmph continuously

100 km is the max range under test conditions, without AC or other electricals running. I was told to expect a more realistic 70-80km with the AC on, at speeds not exceeding 50 km/h. The official Team-BHP test should throw up a better assessment of the car's range.

Originally Posted by mercedised

why did'nt they provide solar charging for emergency?

Solar panel on the roof is planned for the future, but there are technical issues at present about installing the same - providing sufficient density of photovoltaic cells on the roof to charge the battery in a reasonable time leads to a massive cost increase.

Originally Posted by mercedised

Adding solar cells ... would not cost more than the battery does.

Yes, the cost can run up to as much or more than the battery pack!

[Sutripta]

Hi,
AC Ok. What about heater.

Latest CMVR rules, if I understand correctly, require demisting arrangements, and standard compliant OBDs. How does this fare.

ABS panels? Not FRP?

Is the brake booster a standard product? Is the vacuum pump motor shut off once reqd degree of vacuum has been drawn?

Any details of the regenerative braking?

Will Flipkart be selling these?

Regards
Sutripta

[Mpower]

Apparently Dr Goenka has admitted that the booking numbers have been disappointing. Too early to say, but may be first nail in the coffin.

As with its predecessor the Reva (G-wiz), the major market for this car will be the city of London.

The car was extremely well received there although sales were initially driven by the congestion waiver, it did later capture the imagination of a niche group and has almost created a cult like following.

Originally Posted by mercedised

A nice review, thanks for that. A question that comes in my mind is would the battery last for 100 kms approx. when the car is driven at 80 Kmph continuously and why did'nt they provide solar charging for emergency? What would be extra cost? Adding solar cells or even a wind mill () would not cost more than the battery does.

Discussed here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post3078290