[volkman10]

Maruti Suzuki eVX testing begins in India. Likely to be launched by late 2024.

The electric SUV was on test in Gurgaon, near the company plant. New eVX will be built on a platform derived from Toyota’s 40PL electric skateboard architecture, internally known as 27PL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...l=SpeedShifter

[JunkyardHunter]

If Maruti doesn't overprice it like MG did with the Comet, they have another winner on their hands. Also, 550km of range seems wayyyyy too good to be true.

[pheru8b]

550 km range, Maruti reliability, and (hopefully) a Maruti-esque price will reignite the ev segment in India. It can also make India an ev design, development, manufacture and export hub. All things told, a very positive development, and would be good for India's auto sector.

[GTO]

Maruti better take the lead or at least offer EV powertrains that are on par with other players. It's not the case with their 1.5L NA petrol engine & 4-speed torque converter which feel weak compared to the competition's turbo-petrols & faster gearboxes. Maruti wasn't even able to bring to market a BS6 version of its brilliant diesel motor. They got the Hybrid in the Grand Vitara (thanks to Toyota), but it is a rather unrefined & dull hybrid experience (the City's Hybrid is far superior).

With EVs, it's easier to achieve parity. Maruti shouldn't be left behind once again with conservative specs & lacklustre power delivery. You can be late to the party, yet arrive with a bang!

The guys at Maruti need to stop thinking "cheap". Even the Indian customer has long dumped "cheap" from their buying criteria. It requires a huge cultural change at the company which is used to saving a buck in every aspect of the cars they make.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by GTO

The guys at Maruti need to stop thinking "cheap". Even the Indian customer has long dumped "cheap" from their buying criteria. It requires a huge cultural change at the company which is used to saving a buck in every aspect of the cars they make.

Nothing wrong in also bringing their "cheap" thinking to EV. Part of the reason EVs are not taking of as they should is lack of cheap options. We need players to bring EVs in all segments and spice up the competition. I do not like the current situation where as far as cheap(er) EVs are concerned there is only one game in town from the house of TATA.

[Shresth_EV]

Originally Posted by JunkyardHunter

Also, 550km of range seems wayyyyy too good to be true.

Depends on the test cycle. EPA? WLTP? NEDC? ARAI?

It sounds much less impressive when you realise that Kona EV 39.2kWh used to be 289km on WLTP but 452km on ARAI

Nexon EV LR and XUV400 lie in same bracket as well (~450km ARAI) which comes to 350km WLTP when extrapolated to 550km without any weight adjustment factor (60kWh battery) since BYD atto3 is 420km/521km WLTP/ARAI with this battery size.

Ioniq 5 RWD LR sold in india as the only trim is 504km/631km on EPA/ARAI

[speedmiester]

That's good news, hopefully Maruti can launch this at a good price.

Maruti should also focus on adding to the charging infra space within their dealer and service centres. This will truly increase EV penetration to remote areas as well.

[The Rationalist]

Those who are expecting it to be priced <₹10 lakh will be disappointed. It's impossible to price this one at par with Tiago. This is Nexon segment and will be priced above ₹15 lakh for sure. There are only about 10 cars that have all the variants priced <₹10 lakh on road. In another 5 years it will be less than 5 cars. ₹6 lakh is the now the old ₹3 lakh, we need to accept the reality of inflation. By the time this one arrives ₹7 lakh will be the old ₹6 lakh

[GoBabyGo]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

Nothing wrong in also bringing their "cheap" thinking to EV. Part of the reason EVs are not taking of as they should is lack of cheap options. We need players to bring EVs in all segments and spice up the competition. I do not like the current situation where as far as cheap(er) EVs are concerned there is only one game in town from the house of TATA.

Hi electric_eel - I agree with you. I would love to see Wagon-R EV at a starting price of Rs.7.99 lacs (Lxi) for 19.2 kWh battery pack with realistic range of around 180km.

Maruti has reputation of being reliable, efficient & easy to maintain and with their pan India reach, if they hurry up their EV adoption, they will be leaders in EV in no time. Although I don't know of their current production capacity vs monthly sales numbers, but I am sure they can easily produce about 10000 EVs per month.

[INDIAFIRST]

Originally Posted by GTO

They got the Hybrid in the Grand Vitara (thanks to Toyota), but it is a rather unrefined & dull hybrid experience (the City's Hybrid is far superior).

GTO: Refer to my post # 705 on Grand Vitara Review thread.

Please suggest between Honda City eHEV V trim OTR 22.2 L & Grand Vitara Alpha OTR 22.30

Use case: Strong hybrid. Monthly driving 4000 km including 50% on well-surfaced highways. Features not too important. Safety ride, handling & refinement are crucial. Thus I don’t need ventilated seats /sunroof & gizmos like extra speakers"

Could you please elaborate on how City Hybrid is superior to Toyota's strong hybrid.

[shyampsunder]

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

Hi electric_eel - I agree with you. I would love to see Wagon-R EV at a starting price of Rs.7.99 lacs (Lxi) for 19.2 kWh battery pack with realistic range of around 180km.

Maruti has reputation of being reliable, efficient & easy to maintain and with their pan India reach, if they hurry up their EV adoption, they will be leaders in EV in no time. Although I don't know of their current production capacity vs monthly sales numbers, but I am sure they can easily produce about 10000 EVs per month.

That was what they were trying to achieve with the electric WagonR but the reason they didn't launch was the cost.

To price it well, Maruti needs to commit to a large quantity of batteries like how Tata has done but that needs conviction on EVs. The top leadership mirrors Japanese thinking and doesn't see EVs doing well.

The new battery plant that they are constructing may help. With even their Japanese masters struggling with EV technology, I don't see Maruti succeeding with its EVs as of now. Happy to be proven wrong.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by GoBabyGo

Hi electric_eel - I agree with you. I would love to see Wagon-R EV at a starting price of Rs.7.99 lacs (Lxi) for 19.2 kWh battery pack with realistic range of around 180km.

There is no scenario in which a 19kwh battery gives a realistic range of 180kms. This kind of range requires a 25-28kw battery. 19kwh will mean approx 130-150km in real world conditions. All experience points to approx 7km of actual driving per kwh. Pls keep expectations realistic.

[DarthVeda]

And keep in mind, Wagon R, is the exact opposite of what should be aerodynamic efficient vehicle.
I think you can get 8km/kwh if you drive in less traffic and are light footed.

[GoBabyGo]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

There is no scenario in which a 19kwh battery gives a realistic range of 180kms. This kind of range requires a 25-28kw battery. 19kwh will mean approx 130-150km in real world conditions. All experience points to approx 7km of actual driving per kwh. Pls keep expectations realistic.

Hi Shreyans - I am not expert and mostly assume n EVs range. When I assumed 180km range from Wagon-R EV my assumption was that it will be lighter by 150kgs compared to Tiago EV which can easily give 160km range (from 100% to 10%) in city and Wagon-R EV, if it is lighter by 150 kg can optimistically give 180km range in city drive with 19.2kWh battery pack.

[guptad42]

The examples of big carmakers like VW, Ford, GM, Renault, Nissan etc show us that genuine experience in designing and building good EVs is very important. None of the traditional biggies including Toyota have the technology or manufacturing to beat Tesla and the Chinese EV makers so far.

There are 3 things in Toyota’s favour:
1. Toyota has taken the right call to come in with a ground-up pure EV and not convert an old petrol model. Converted EV models had an opportunity, and that window will close completely by 2024 - 2025.
2. Toyota does have amazing product engineering expertise.
3. Toyota has invested in external startups with promising battery chemistry (but these are at least 3-4 years away from large scale production. And LFP and Sodium battery makers have kept on improving their product at a fast pace).

Toyota’s main challenge: they have been very successful at making petrol cars for decades. It takes years to unlearn the decades of success in petrol car making before you can learn to make a good EV. Traditional manufacturing culture and strict department-based company structure is not well suited to fast, iterative agile product mindset required for EVs. Look at the very capable VW as an example.

Toyota Suzuki will eventually get it right in EVs if they don’t go too slow, but they need a few years to get competitive. So, please don’t keep high expectations from first 2 models made by Toyota Suzuki themselves.

Neither Suzuki not Toyota has ever built a successful pure battery electric model. Toyota does not have a single dedicated EV manufacturing line anywhere in the world! The BZ4 and BZ3 don’t count as successful Toyota made EVs. First, they could not compete in the market as the range, charging and features were all inferior. Secondly, the tech is not Toyota’s (The core EV tech was all from BYD’s previous generation). Thirdly, they are not even made by Toyota. They are made by a JV of a Chinese JV of Toyota.

They will need to do something disruptive to compete with EVs in the short term. There are some possibilities.
1. Suzuki’s venture with Inmotive for a 2speed EV transmission could help achieve a higher highway range at low cost, but I am not sure the junior partner Suzuki will be allowed to have such a big say by Toyota in core EV engineering.
2. LFP battery prices have fallen 50% in 2023 alone. Tata Motors is probably eating it up as additional margin. If Toyota Suzuki can get a good deal on batteries by committing to a large volume, they can beat both Nexon and Tiago in pricing per 100km of range by a significant margin. It will need a small hatch with a 27-30KWH* battery, and a Creta sized car with a 50KWH battery.
3. If the range is good due to #1 or #2 (dare we hope for both ), Suzuki can do a massive media splash claiming real world range and paint competition claimed figures as fake range. Think of a 'Sach me kitna deti hai?' campaign based on top reviewer's range tests in city and highway conditions.

*EVs are still too new for most Indian buyers and the 20KWH battery size will not produce Suzuki style mass volumes due to range anxiety. The economics are easier for the bigger car because GST is much higher on bigger cars and EVs have the same 5% GST for all sizes.