Electric Cars in India- Market analysis and comparison

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Electric Cars Comparison- Mahindra Electric, Hyundai and Tata Motor

Electric Cars in India are there only in few numbers as the Indian electric vehicle market is in the nascent stage. Its also true that every week or day an electric two-wheeler/three-wheeler or four-wheelers are launched in the same countries but the majority of movement is there in two-wheelers market. But it is also true that electric cars in India getting popular day by day. As present so many options are available for the electric two-wheeler buyers in India but only limited options are available if you are looking for an electric car for personal or commercial use. We will do the detailed comparison between those cars which are first movers in electric car Indian market and all those are on sale right now.

Till now only Mahindra, Tata and Hyundai have launched their electric car in the Indian market and many other manufacturers are still on the way to bat on electric cars. Currently we have 4 electric cars in India-

• Mahindra e20 plus
• Tata Tigor Electric
• Mahindra eVarito
• Hyundai Kona Electric

Even though we can not compare a sedan to an SUV and to a cross-over with a hatch-back directly but the DNA of these all are same and all are having electric drive so we can compare those on the basis of performance and features offered.

Mahindra Electric

Mahindra is the 1st car manufacturer and selling its electric car under the brand name “Mahindra Electric”. The brand acquired the Reva Electric Car manufacturing company in 2010. Currently it offers Mahindra e2O Plus an electric hatchback and an electric sedan eVarito.

Mahindra e2O Plus

This 4 seater hatch back comes with all the basic/necessary features like Power steering, Power windows, Battery charging indicators, Air conditioning. It also offers different driving modes – Eco and Boost. In Boost mode you can drive it to its maximum speed of 80kmph.

Mahindra eVarito

First time showcased in Delhi Auto-expo 2014 since then Mahindra geared-up for production of an electric version of Mahindra Varito. Meru, Ola and Uber deployed Mahindra eVarito on a large scale after its launch. Recently Blu-Smart car rental company also started a business with Mahindra eVarito in Delhi NCR and Mumbai. This electric sedan performs well and its battery also offers good value of money because market research and ownership experience witness that its battery easily can go upto 7 to 8 years. Pluginindia team has driven shared a very detailed review for the Mahindra eVarito which you can read through the specified link- Mahindra eVarito C2 review.

Hyundai Kona Electric

Only a few months back only Hyundai launched its new product Hyundai Kona Electric in the Indian market with lots of features and technology. Still, we can say that there is no real rival of Hyundai Kona in Indian market because Indian have only a few choices in EVs segment.

Kona EV technology

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South Korea Car Manufacturer brand is known in India for it’s quality and product reliability for a long time. And now Hyundai has a car-like – Hyundai Tuscon, Santa Fe, Elantra, Verna, Santro, i20 and Grand i10 on offer. But a few months back only Hyundai launched its new product Hyundai Kona Electric in the Indian market with lots of features and technology. Still, we can say that there is no rival of Hyundai Kona in Indian market because Indian have only a few choices and other available EVs have a huge difference in price as compared with the Hyundai Kona Electric.

Hyundai Kona ground reality:

Hyundai Kona gives the approx. 324 km range in city if driven at the average speed of 17kmph and on highway this figure goes further down and we get around 295km of battery range. AC 7.2kW wall box Charging (0-100%)- Approx. 06h 10min. 2.8kW portable charger fitted into 15amp 3pin socket (0-100%): 19 hrs. DC Charging (0-80%)- Approx. 57 min.

DC fast charger will be available in 11 cities at Hyundai dealership. Hyundai has tied up with Indian Oil that will setup the fast dc charger station across the 04 cities- Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. Hyundai Kona needed 40 units of electricity to full charge. So, you can calculate the cost of charging by multiplying the per unit of electricity cost at your location.

Hyundai Kona Speciality

Kona will cost at least 5 to 7 times less than any petrol or diesel car. Hyundai Kona price revised a few months back and it is currently priced at 23.72L [ex-showroom, India]. Customer will also get the tax exemption of 1.5L for the interest paid. Hyundai Kona comes with 03 years or unlimited km standard warranty and 08 years or 1,60,000km battery warranty. most importantly the Battery life is 12 to 13 years or 2000 cycles. Which is enough for 9 lack km. Service cost will also be low because of an EVs have very fewer parts as compared to any petrol or diesel car. No worry about the changing of air filter, oil filter or engine oil. Just servicing will be done to check the wear or tear of brake systems and wheel alignment.

Tata Tigor EV

Company launched Tigor EV in 2018 but then it was only available for the car rental companies (Zoom Car, Blu Smart, Ola) and Indian government bodies. Now recently Tata Motors launched a new improved version of Tata Tigor Electric having extened battery range of 213 km. Earlier Tigor range was only 142 km. With the gradeability of 9.8 degree and maximum power of 30kW at 4500 rpm it also has 105 Nm of torque at 2500 rpm.

Subsidies on EVs in Delhi

Delhi government provides DPCC incentives on buying EVs for commercial purpose and this is add-on to the subsidy provided by the Indian government under the FAME-II scheme.

The buying cost or say on-road price of Tata Tigor is different for the commercial buyer and individual person. FAME-II scheme for 4 wheelers are only applicable for the commercial buyers and Delhi government offers DPCC incentive also on buying electric vehcile for commercial purpose in Delhi. So, the onroad price are-

Model	Delhi (Ex. Showroom)	Other Cities (Ex. Showroom)
Tigor XE+	Rs. 9,44,175/-	Rs. 10,44,175/-
Tigor XM+	Rs. 9,60,868/-	Rs. 10,60,869/-
Tigor XT+	Rs. 9,75,868/-	Rs. 10,75,869/-

For individual or personal use:

Model	Delhi (Ex. Showroom)	Other Cities (Ex. Showroom)
Tigor XE+	Rs. 13,09 Lakh	Rs. 12,59 Lakh
Tigor XM+	Rs. 13,26 Lakh	Rs. 12,76 Lakh
Tigor XT+	Rs. 13,41Lakh	Rs. 12,91 Lakh

Upcoming electric cars in India

Manufacturers from all over the world have eyes on Indian market has lot of potential for electric car market to grow. Specially Chinese car brand MG testing its electric cars in India.

MG ZS EV

MG has decided to bring its first electric car in India via the CKD route (completely knocked down). This initially debuted in China in 2018 and now already available in the UK, Australia and Thailand. For your information SAIC Motors (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), a Chinese company owns the British Car Brand MG currently.

Maruti Wagon R Electric

Mahindra eKUV 100

Updates from other car manufacturers

Mahindra has also lined up XUV 300 electric version for future. With that Tata Motors has two electric cars – Naxon EV and Altroz EV under testing. Naxon EV will be rival of MG electric car and Hyundai Kona electric with aggressive launch price. Tata Altroz is also expected to launch under the price segment of 13 Lakh to 15 Lakh. While Renault has also plan to launched Kwid EV in same year. Talking about the Ford, Ford Apire was one of the favourite cars in India. Ford is having plan to bring its electric version in India and probably it will be launched under the joint venture between Ford and Mahindra. This joint venture will be launcing 7 new electric cars in India.

My Words for the electric cars in India

In conclusion the game has begun, the Indian government is also supporting manufacturing by slashing taxes on EVs components and providing subsidies to the customers. Electric car in India making its space. All the major players in the automotive industry are aggressively working on the R&D and testing of their electric car, especially for the Indian market. We all will witness different electric cars in India in coming years in electric car buyers will be having a variety of option to choose among them.