The Mahindra e-KUV100 that debuted at the Auto Expo
2018 was spotted undergoing road testing recently. The
pure electric car is slated for launch in India in mid-2019. The e-KUV100 is one of the three
new EVs for the passenger vehicle market Mahindra Electric plans in the
mid-term future. The model at Auto Expo 2018 employs a 40 PS electric motor. The company had revealed at the event that its battery provides
a range of over 140 km and is chargeable up to 80% capacity using optional fast
charging in less than an hour.
The e-KUV100 uses a
low-voltage (72V) Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP or LiFePO4) battery pack, and it
can attain a top speed of 100 km/h. There’s no word on the capacity of the
battery pack yet.
The pure electric variant of Mahindra’s entry-level
SUV will have a slightly different design. It likely won’t feature grille
openings as there’s no need for extensive powertrain cooling. Unlike the
ICE-powered variant, it may have projector headlamps. The unique features may
include blue exterior accents, cabin pre-cooling, location tracking, remote
diagnostics and driving pattern and battery status monitoring as well.
The Mahindra e-KUV100’s prices may start close to
INR 10 lakh (ex-showroom). Following this model is the Mahindra e-S201 in the
first quarter of 2020 (January-March 2019). After that, a pure electric sedan
will follow, possibly a replacement for the Mahindra eVerito.
