Hi. I'm looking for a new car in the range of 20-25 lakh. My usage is primarily city-based, with an average monthly distance of about 500 km, and I plan to retain the car for around 10 years. I'm leaning towards EVs mainly due to their lower running cost, lower maintenance costs, smoother ride quality, lower exposure to fuel price fluctuations, and being the technology for the future. I can have home charging installed, and I rarely go on long road trips. Given my usage conditions, should I go for an EV instead of a regular petrol car? If yes, which car would be best suited for my needs?

Autocar India

•15h

Since your priority is a good ride for your EV, pick the Hyundai Creta Electric. The suspension is stiffer than the ICE version’s to support the extra weight, but remarkably, it doesn’t translate into a crashy or uncomfortable ride experience. You can feel some firmness at low speeds, but road shocks are still well in check, and what’s nice is that the stiffness has eliminated unnecessary (secondary) body movements, and even at highway speeds, the Creta Electric doesn’t lose its composure. If a pure cushy feel is your only goal, then the Citroen eC3 rides even softer, but it’s smaller, slower and not as settled at higher speeds as the Creta. As for your ICE vehicle, we would recommend you look at the Mahindra XUV 3XO, which offers very good damping, so it stays composed on craters and doesn’t float when you’re quick over bad patches. Steering and stability inspire more confidence than most small SUVs in this price. The trade-off is size - cabin and boot are smaller than your Creta.

Hyundai Creta Electric

Citroen eC3

Mahindra XUV 3XO

Autocar India

•1d

Its hard to recommend a car without knowing a few of your specific requirements like rear seat space, who will drive, city of highway use etc. However as an all-rounder go for the Hyundai Creta EV. Under Rs. 26 lakh, it gives you the most balanced mix of real-world range, everyday comfort and space, lots of features and a wide service footprint. It fits city life well with its easy size and smooth drive, and still does weekend highway runs without stress. The larger 51kWh battery will give you a real world range just over 400kms and if your driving is not a lot each day, you could even opt for the lower battery size model which would give you a real world range of about 250 to 300kms.

Hyundai Creta Electric

Autocar India

•2d

Go for the Mahindra XEV 9S 79kWh. It comfortably clears a 300km highway run on a single charge in real-world use and, when you do need a top-up, the fast charging is quick enough to add sufficient range during a coffee stop. In our real-world testing, we recorded a highway range of 477km on a single charge, though this will drop noticeably with a full load.Also note that while it seats seven, the third row is tight for adults, and boot space is very limited with all rows up. Alternatively, you can consider the Kia Carens Clavis EV, which has a better third row, but its 51.4kWh battery will only deliver about 345km of highway range as per our real-world tests.Whichever you choose, map out the public fast chargers on your route at least once so you are not hunting for a plug at the wrong time.

Mahindra XEV 9S

Kia Carens Clavis EV