Pawan Goenka, managing director, Mahindra and Mahindra confirmed that the launch of the e-KUV100 will take place by the middle of 2019 and the electric version of the upcoming S201 compact crossover will arrive by 2020.
We have already seen the e-KUV at the 2018 Auto Expo. It will reportedly be powered by the same powertrain as the eVerito. So it means, there will be a 30kW AC induction motor which will be fed the juice from a lithium-ion battery pack. Mahindra is eyeing an electric range of around 140kilometres with a facility of fast charging.
Appearance wise, the electrified KUV had a new grille sans any air-intake. There were blue accents seen all around the car including fog-lamps and wheels. The cabin, however, was unchanged compared to the standard car. When it arrives, the e-KUV100 is expected to be offered with a host of connectivity option in the same vein as modern day electric cars. So it might come with remote operations with mobile connectivity et al.
The e-KUV100 will be the third pure electric vehicle from Mahindra’s stable after the eVerito and e2o Plus. The Indian-bred carmaker is already developing electric powertrains so we could expect future electric Mahindras to have high-density batteries along with longer range and even better on-road performance.
Meanwhile, nothing concrete can be said about the electric S201. Ahead of its arrival in the first or second quarter of 2020, Mahindra will reveal the standard version of the S201 as a sub-four metre SUV. It will rival against the likes of the Maruti Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport and Tata Nexon. A production-ready test mule of the S201 has been spotted on many occasions already, so we expect it to be launched in the market sometime in the first half of 2019. More details will be revealed in the coming days.
