[joe_1011]

Unpopular Opinion: I liked the drive of the XEV 9E way better than the BE 6. The higher stance, response, road presence, and feeling of stability were much better in the XEV.

I felt a bit too cramped up in the BE6, with the seating position to be 'neither there, nor here'. It is not as low as a sedan or performance car but not as high as an SUV. Kind of felt an identity crisis.

I had added my preference for the BE6, but moved to the XEV right after seeing the vehicles and the drive.

However, there was one glitch I faced - The one-pedal-driving toggle was showing on/off on the screen but was not actually switching. While on the on-pedal mode, I tried turning it off. I showed off on the screen but was not actually turned off.

Mahindra staff said 'it's because it is the beta vehicle' but I'm curious how many others faced the same 'beta vehicle' issues. Anyone else?

[driver641]

Saw the XEV 9e in black! Looks amazing on the road. Why Mahindra? Why! Why would you not launch the XEV 9e in black? Even 400 and 3XO have so many colour choices. And an SUV that's not in black?

If someone from Mahindra are reading this, do note this is brutal! Please consider making the black option available for booking by Feb 14.

[DIY410]

Originally Posted by driver641

Saw the XEV 9e in black! Looks amazing on the road. Why Mahindra? Why!
Why would you not launch the XEV 9e in black?

If someone from Mahindra are reading this, do note this is brutal!

Black sucks the range out of EV in summer when AC is running. We saw how much of a range drop was reported on this forum last summer from Tata Ev to Ioniq 5. Those who had the largest drop had one thing in common it was black or blue color with the lowest SRI (Solar Reflective Index).

[ferrarirules]

172 kms long test drive in XEV 9e

On this Republic day, I was part of a drive which was conducted by Motoroctane in partnership with Mahindra. The drive was from Grand Hyatt in Gurugram to Mcdonald's on Delhi Mumbai expressway and back to Hyatt.

The drive was to experience both the cars BE6 and XEV 9E as BE6 were lesser in number. Not everyone got to drive the BE 6.

Occupants of the car - My brother and I went for drive with our better halves and kids. So we were 4 adults and two kids (9 and 3 years old) in the car.

The car - XEV 9E - Exterior looks are much more traditional as compared to its sister BE 6. The car grows on you. Interior is class ahead in comfort and space. Only one challenge - White interior will require a lot of maintenance.

Coming to the drive - Leg 1 - The drive was from Grand Hyatt to Mcdonald's on DME. Brother and me shared driving duties for the 86 km run. I drove in the city and he drove on the expressway.

City drive as driver-

1. The whole drive was done in everyday mode. There is enough acceleration in this mode to shove you back in the seat. 100 arrives in no time. No need for Sport or boost mode at all.
2. The steering is nimble. You don't feel the bulk of the car in traffic.
3. Switching on the turn indicators displays the left or right camera on the instrument cluster which is a boon for heavy traffic situations.
4. Drive assist shows, assists and warns in case of tight situations.
5. Cabin did get warm with the glass roof shade open but once the shade was closed, the cabin became comfortable again. The shade is thick not the thin fabric used in a lot of cars.
6. Suspension was sorted, the road undulations were easily masked

Highway drive as a passenger -

1. When this car was launched, I said "Three screens, Why?". After this drive I say "Three screens, Wow!!". My reasons for it are 1.The passenger doesn't need to bend over to the centre to operate the screen. 2. No interruption of the maps running on Android auto 3. The audio quality was better when playing via the car's inbuilt apps vs playing audio over Bluetooth/Android auto
2. Overall comfort for all the passengers was good. The ladies of the house did even quote - "Oh!! We are beyond 100, didn't even realize"
3. The NVH levels of the cabin are next level. No road or wind noise at high speeds, limited outside noise.
4. The function control knob in the center and the buttons around it help you access the major functionality like ac temp, audio volume and much more in a jiffy. You don't need to use the touch screen.
5. The sound system will give a lot of home theatre systems a run for their money. Listened to 8D and 4D music, Dolby ATMOS didn't disappoint at all.

SOC Consumption - SOC consumed for 86 kms as this drive included some convoy shots and idling as well. The car took 20% to reach Mcdonald's.

Start SOC - 88%, End SOC - 68% - Distance covered - 86 kms - 15 kms city and 71 kms highway/expressway (100/120 kmph speed limit)

Multiple BE6 and XEV 9e at one location. The cars were head turners on expressway or the stop location. There was crowd gathering around the cars.

Leg 2 - The drive was from Mcdonald's back to Grand Hyatt. As we had the same car, we really got the understand the car deeper. This time I took the highway drive and my brother took the city drive.

Highway drive as driver -.

1. As the drive back was not a convoy, we got to drive the cars with adaptive cruise set to 119 kmph . Adaptive cruise worked like dream. Car used regen to slow down when it encountered traffic.
2. The AR HUD is such a convenience. It shows to direction instruction with arrow guidance, it shows a white bar when it following another car, it shows yellow glow on the left or right if someone is in your blind spot. It turns the lane marking yellow solid line, if you are straying out of lane. It identified and displayed speed limits.
3. We had turned all the ADAS features. Lane keep assist worked like a charm (Please note: LKA won't make sharp turns). Blind spot detection and deterrence to not change lanes if some car was overtaking from either side worked really well at high speeds.
4. We had set the AEB to lowest setting, so it was not aggressive at all and didn't seem dangerous
5. The steering was weighted and had adequate feedback for all the assist like lane keep assist, blind spot avoidance and more.
6. Suspension was sorted at high speed as well.

City drive as passenger

1. Nothing specific to call out already covered before. Just comfort and NVH levels of the car were amazing

SOC consumption - SOC consumed for 86 kms as this drive was pedal to the metal sorts but driving within legal speed limits

Start SOC - 67%, End SOC - 41% - Distance covered - 86 kms - 15 kms city and 71 kms highway/expressway (100/120 kmph speed limit)

Missed taking the instrument cluster photos.

Summary -

1. One hell of a test drive - Driving 172 kms in a day makes really experience the nitty gritty of the car. Thanks to Motoroctance and Mahindra to give such an opportunity.
2. Fit and finish of the car was top notch. Paint quality was super as good as European brands. All the tech in the car worked. There was a minor glitch in the software average energy consumption showed was wrong. Mahindra North India sales head present at the event assured that Mahindra was working on ironing out all software bugs identified in the extensive test drives being conducted all over the country.
3. The car used 47% battery to cover 172 kms. This imputes a range of around 360-380 kms when driven on expressway at expressway speed limits. This number will go much higher on highways with lower speed limits and also when the car is driven not "test driven".
4. The charging speed and the current charging setup on the highways will ensure your stops are short and quick.
5. At 30.5 lakhs, this car is undoubtedly the best EV available in market. This can compete with cars two segments above still come out as a winner.
6. Finally, It felt nice to see an Indian manufacturer bringing a product with features which were limited to European Marquees till date.

Disclaimer - The event was organized by Motoroctane in partnership with Mahindra. I am not associated to Motoroctane and Mahindra in anyway.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

172 kms long test drive in XEV 9e

[left]Occupants of the car - My brother and I went for drive with our better halves and kids. So we were 4 adults and two kids (9 and 3 years old) in the car.

Disclaimer - The event was organized by Motoroctane in partnership with Mahindra. I am not associated to Motoroctane and Mahindra in anyway.

Nice drive and comprehensive report, great to see. But I dont see how Mahindra and MotorOctane is okay to put 6 people (4 adults + 2 kids ) in a highway drive of nearly 200 kms. The car is indeed 5 star rated but this is not safe for them to approve.

[abhinavj01]

Goa seems to be getting a step-motherly treatment, still waiting for test drives. Cars came in last monday, but waiting "service clearance"

[Ayush_atish]

Guys 2 unbiased questions to my fellow friends and enthusiast

1) Do you in anyways think this car will beat BYD in terms of reliability and after sale service experience and long term sustainability.
2) As I assume that this will be a mass market EV, does Mahindra have enough experience / efficiency to deal with niggles which in my opinion will be there for sure.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by Ayush_atish

1) Do you in anyways think this car will beat BYD in terms of reliability and after sale service experience and long term sustainability.

Will it beat BYD in terms of reliability may be "No". Reason - they are using BYD cells but making their own battery pack so there will always be a learning curve. Having said that following are the points which go in their favour -
1. They will be able to provide better customer service as the pack is made locally so quicker turnaround time. For BYD, the whole car is imported so any pack replacement will require an import from china which takes time.
2. As the cells are the best available in the world, the reliability should be better than other EVs on sale in India today.
3. They are confident of their implementation, hence they opened up their implementation up to each component level to every one in the world. No manufacturer does that.
4. They even showcased their EV and battery manufacturing plants. Their battery plant is state of the art "Industry 4.0" implementation with 98% automation. That speaks a lot about their seriousness on getting this right the first time.
5. These huge amount of test drives being done are helping them gather data and kind of do beta testing in real world environment.

2) As I assume that this will be a mass market EV, does Mahindra have enough experience / efficiency to deal with niggles which in my opinion will be there for sure.

Based on my conversation with the North India Sales head, the difference they are trying to bring with Mahindra electric is that there is no separation between sales and service organization. The Sales head is leading both the teams so there will be synergies between the two teams. Mahindra Electric (known as MEAL) is going to depute their own people at dealership to handle the EV customers

We provided them feedback that after sales will be key for these cars. They acknowledged and confirmed that they were working towards a seamless experience. Rest "the proof is in the pudding" only time will tell how well they deliver on all the promises.

[Jekyl87]

Query to all finance experts. How soon would we be able to see impact of today' announcements by the FM about making battery raw materials and tools etc on cheaper EVs in market? Will it have any substantial impact to consumers or not?

[Ayush_atish]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

Will it beat BYD in terms of reliability may be "No". Reason - they are using BYD cells but making their own battery pack so there will always be a learning curve. Having said that following are the points which go in their favour -

Well thank you for your reply. This really helps in decision making however would also like to know as I am not clear on the warranty and guarantee levels of separate components in the car apart from battery.

For example screens, wiring and other components. If anyone has any information on these kindly please help me. When it comes to car buying I really want to get it right. I have heard that BYD is offering complete 7 year warranty on entire car. I don't know if it's true.

[sdeepak29]

Originally Posted by joe_1011

Unpopular Opinion: I liked the drive of the XEV 9E way better than the BE 6. The higher stance, response, road presence, and feeling of stability were much better in the XEV.

I encountered a similar issue during the test drive, where the *braking effect* in one-pedal drive mode was inconsistent. I reported this issue (and a few others) post TD to Mahindra CC.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by Jekyl87

Query to all finance experts.

I am not an expert but the policy will apply only after 1 April 2025, and looking at the long supply chain it may take 6-7 months to get the new batteries with lower duty. The biggest question is, will the OEM pass on this benefit to customers?

Originally Posted by Ayush_atish

Guys 2 unbiased questions to my fellow friends and enthusiast

1) Do you in anyways think this car will beat BYD in terms of reliability and after sale service experience and long term sustainability.
2) As I assume that this will be a mass market EV, does Mahindra have enough experience / efficiency to deal with niggles which in my opinion will be there for sure.

I think the answer to both questions is NO. Mahindra is still ironing out issues in their new ICE launches, the EVs are all together a different ball game. EVs are much simpler component-wise yet very complex to diagnose in software side.

[SLK]

Originally Posted by joe_1011

However, there was one glitch I faced - The one-pedal-driving toggle was showing on/off on the screen but was not actually switching. While on the on-pedal mode, I tried turning it off. I showed off on the screen but was not actually turned off.

Are you sure the car was not already at the max regen mode? That may have affected the feel.

[a023624a]

Originally Posted by SLK

Are you sure the car was not already at the max regen mode? That may have affected the feel.

In xev, I found behavior of regen level 3 very close to that of one pedal mode. I also feel that may have been the case with what @joe_1011 experienced

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by driver641

Why would you not launch the XEV 9e in black?

Mahindra will use that demand to upsell in the future with a 'Black Edition'.
I'm sure many such are already thought out and will trickle down slowly to inject interest when demand slacks.