I am about to buy an automatic, petrol, 7-seater car, keeping the next 12 years in mind. Based on my budget, I have shortlisted the XUV700 AX5 and the Hyundai Alcazar Prestige (DCT). I am a moderate user; my current car has done only around 35,000 km in the last 12 years. My usage is a mix of highway and city driving. If I choose mileage, I feel the Alcazar is better, but in terms of build size and looks, I prefer the XUV700 AX5. I am a bit puzzled between these two. Any suggestions?

Between the Hyundai Creta and Seltos, both cars offer the same engine and gearbox options. However, the Kia Seltos is all-new, features a larger body, more cabin space, and feels a notch up in quality as well.Your choice of seven-seaters isn’t as similar. The Mahindra Scorpio N is built on a body-on-frame chassis, which means it's very tough and can take a lot of beating, but it's nowhere near as comfortable as the XUV 7XO, which has a larger cabin and far more features.The biggest difference between the two is ride quality: the Scorpio N, a tall-riding SUV, rocks from side to side and is quite bumpy on rough roads. In contrast, the Mahindra XUV 7XO, with its updated suspension, feels incredibly refined and comfortable. It softens the bumps and feels very stable at high speeds. So if you don’t travel on really bad roads, the XUV 7XO is a far better option.

Within a Rs 15 lakh budget, your best option is the Kia Carens Clavis HTE (O), which comes with two engine options. As a family car, the 1.5 NA engine does the job. It is smooth and quite responsive in slow traffic. If you want a bit more power, the 1.5 turbo-petrol is a good option, particularly for highway runs and long weekend trips.The Kia Carens Clavis has a well-designed cabin with a spacious and comfortable third row, which is good even for adults.

Both these SUVs are closely matched, but the Hyundai Creta H has the edge thanks to a more responsive engine and a cabin that feels more upmarket than the Grand Vitara’s. The Maruti-Suzuki Grand Vitara has a marginally better ride and feels more composed over potholes than the Creta. Overall, we would choose the Creta as the better all-rounder between the two.

Don’t be alarmed by the video you saw. All electric cars discharge very fast when driven at speed. And a fast discharge also heats up the battery and motor, so to protect the hardware, the battery management system (BMS) cuts the power, which explains the 14% drop you noticed.Because of aerodynamic drag, speed is the biggest enemy of range, and there is an exponential drop the faster you go. For example, if you drive at 160-170kph, the batteries will discharge 2.5 to 3 times faster than if you were driving at 90-100kph.Even EVs with large batteries can lose charge at the rate of 1-2% per minute with hard and sustained high-speed driving.So if all you want is performance and don’t care about range, the Mahindra XEV 9e in Race mode is very quick for short bursts of acceleration to overtake and fast highway runs. But no EV will give you full peak power indefinitely at extreme speeds.It all depends on how the BMS is calibrated, but after sustained high-speed driving, expect a drop in power, which is normal for an EV and not a flaw of the 9e specifically.