A stylish electric car

Mahindra e2o is a superior city car. 

For several years for now car manufacturers world wide are working on electric car technology and many have introduced such cars with varied degree of success. Since an e-car runs on batteries and does not depend on fossil fuels like petrol, diesel or gas, it is considered a clean and operationally cheaper alternative. In India too the journey of electric car began several years ago when in 2001 the Bangalore-based Reva Electric launched Reva cars.

But Reva failed to make an impact in the market as the car was too small (it could accommodate two adults and two kids), had lower battery range and the look never excited buyers. Three years ago Reva Electric was taken over by the Mumbai-based automobile giant Mahindra & Mahindra and the new company, named Mahindra Reva, recently reintroduced the electric car with a completely new configuration. 

The new car named Mahindra e2o (energy from sun to oxygen) is a two-door four seater (it can seat four adults) fully automatic car with dent and scratch proof fibre body. To get a good feel of Mahindra e2o, I drove the car on Bangalore roads and in its outskirts for three days.

The drive

Positioned mainly as a city car, Mahindra e2o has a mileage of 100 km on a full charge of the battery that takes around 4-5 hours. In case of urgency it can be charged for one hour for a 20 km driving range. The vehicle has a maximum speed of 81 km but on congested city roads reaching that speed will be very rare. Ideally, to be on the safer side, one should plan to return to the charging point within a 80 km drive as the range drops by 20 per cent when the AC is used. The AC system, however, is very effective and will suffice in hot summer days.  Mahindra e2o is a small car (length 3280mm, width 1514 mm, height 1560 mm), it is slightly smaller than Maruti Alto but marginally bigger than Tata Nano, it is ideal for city driving. It can be manoeuvred easily in city traffic and with shorter turning radius (3.9m) it can take sharp turns.

The pick up of the car is good enough for city driving even with 4 adults inside. Since the AC draws power from the battery, it is never a drag on the pulling power of the engine. The best part of driving the car is the auto transmission. With No gear shift or clutch pressing, just shift the transmission lever to ‘F’ (it stands for forward) and drive. One needs to use only one foot for driving shifting between the accelerator and brake pedals.The ‘Hill Hold’ feature, which keeps the car stationary and prevents roll back for a few seconds after the foot is taken off from the brake pedal, makes  it is hassle free to drive up a flyover in congested traffic or roll up a steep gradient. The rear seat can comfortably accommodate two adults or three young children but the side glasses are fixed and cannot be rolled down.

The car, however, needs several improvements to create superior customer delight. The absence of power steering makes steering the car stiff, especially while parking or turning at a slow speed the job is tough. It is expected that the company will soon add power steering  to its car. The soundproofing of the cabin needs to be improved to make it quieter. The shock absorbers also need to be softer as most potholes on Bangalore roads were making their presence felt to  passengers inside Mahindra e2o. And, above all, the car’s movement is limited by the battery charge. To make things easier, the company is in the process of setting up 100 charging points in Bangalore where the  a electric car can be charged for a small fee. 

Not for the masses   

Be sure, Mahindra e2o is not a car for the mass market. Positioned mainly as a second car for the upper middle class and rich families, Mahindra e2o is suitable mainly for city driving. Most buyers will compare it  with small petrol or diesel cars only to find that Mahindra e2o is much more expensive, in some cases more than double,  than small cars like Maruti Alto, Hyundai Eon, GM Spark, etc. Priced at Rs 6.49 lakh (ex showroom) in Bangalore, the company claims it compares well with small petrol-driven compact automatic cars that also cost around the same. The company said it has entered into an arrangement with State Bank of India for a 7 year loan facility, down payment of Rs 1.5 lakh and EMI payment of Rs 9275 per month.  But despite the ‘expensive’ price tag, be sure Mahindra’s car is far cheaper than electric cars abroad where the price starts at around Rs 16 lakh. Mahindra e2o is expected to be cheaper in future as the central government’s policy on electric mobility is expected to announce a subsidy of around Rs 1.5 lakh per car. Currently it gets varied amount of subsidy and sales tax exemptions in various states and this is the reason why in Delhi it costs much cheaper at Rs 5.96. Price in Karnataka also include big discounts in taxes from the state. 

The operational cost of the electric car will be much lower. The running cost on account of consumption of electricity will be just about Rs 600 per month for an average daily use of 40 km. This means an average cost of 50 paisa per km compared to around Rs 5 per km for petrol cars. Even after adding the replacement cost of the battery after four years, the cost per km will work out to around Rs 3.10 per km. Mahindra e2o owners will also save money as the car’s maintenance cost is almost zero compared to service cost of around around Rs 6,000 per annum for small petrol/ diesel cars.

Charging the car using solar panels

The technology

At the heart of Mahindra e2o is the modern electric vehicle technology, powered by the new generation 48 volt lithium-ion batteries and a 3 phase induction electric motor. Charge the battery for 5 hours for a full charge from a standard 15A power point and the car is ready for a driving range of 100 km, enough for driving in most cities. If one can set up a solar panel charging facility at home at a cost of Rs 1 lakh, the charging will be totally free.

The transmission is fully automatic with a ‘Boost’ mode for quick acceleration. The regenerative technology also charges the battery whenever the car slows down or brake is applied. If running low on battery one can remotely activate the reserve energy from the battery by using an app on the smartphone. But don’t depend on it too much as the driving can get extended only by 7-8 km.

The maintenance free battery has a life of 60,000 km (the company claims the actual life is longer). This means that at an average daily driving of 40 km a day, the battery will need replacement after around four years and the cost for the same is likely to be around Rs 1.50 lakh.

The dashboard and the multimedia display tell the user efficiency of driving, the charge remaining and the distance to empty on a real time basis. With 10 on board computers, the car also provides real time feedback of all the vehicle’s functions does a daily heart beat check of the vital systems and sends alerts if anything has to be fixed.

The Mahindra e2o comes with a 15.5 cm touch screen, with factory fitted GPS navigation system, radio, DVD, Blue tooth and I-pod connectivity. The full digital cluster, electrically operated wing mirrors, keyless entry & start/stop button, projector headlamps, LED tail lamps, reverse camera, 4JBL speakers & 2 tweeters makes the features of the Mahindra e2o comparable to most highend cars. The car is available in six colours.

The writer is a Business Journalist and car enthusiast writing test drive reports for the last ten years. Pictures by the writer. He can be contacted on dilipmaitra@gmail.com