Over a year after its initial debut, Maruti Suzuki’s first EV, the e Vitara, has finally gone on sale in India. The e Vitara enters the budding electric midsize SUV segment, rivalling the likes of the Hyundai Creta Electric, Tata Curvv EV, Vinfast VF6, Mahindra BE 6, and MG’s ZS EV and Windsor EV. How does the e Vitara stack up against these formidable all-electric SUVs on paper? We’ve laid it all out.
Maruti Suzuki e Vitara vs rivals: Price
Windsor EV has lowest starting price, followed by e Vitara
The e Vitara commendably sports the second-lowest starting price here, with the Windsor EV beating out the Maruti SUV by almost Rs 2 lakh. Third place goes to the VF6, which costs Rs 1.3 lakh more than the e Vitara at the base level, followed by the Curvv EV, ZS EV, Creta Electric, and finally the BE 6, which stands as the most expensive electric midsize SUV.
e Vitara and BE 6 top variants priced Rs 7.11 lakh apart
Top variant pricing shakes up this order a little. First place is yet again claimed by the Windsor EV, but the VF6 ends up outpricing the e Vitara by Rs 60,000 and takes the second spot instead. Among these top variants, the fully loaded ZS EV is the first to breach the Rs 20 lakh mark, coming in at a premium of Rs 96,000 over the equivalent e Vitara variant. After that, we have the Curvv EV, Creta Electric and BE 6. While the entry-level BE 6 is Rs 2.91 lakh more expensive than the base e Vitara, the price gap between the top variants of both SUVs rises to a whopping Rs 7.11 lakh.
BaaS rental scheme available for e Vitara, ZS EV and Windsor EV
Maruti Suzuki also offers the e Vitara with a battery rental programme, which excludes the cost of the battery from the upfront price and finances it on a per-kilometre-of-usage basis instead. Opting for the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) scheme drops the e Vitara price range to Rs 10.99 lakh-14.29 lakh, making the SUV considerably more affordable up front.
The MG Windsor EV and ZS EV are also available with BaaS, with their respective price ranges being Rs 9.99 lakh-13.39 lakh and Rs 13 lakh-15.51 lakh.
Maruti Suzuki e Vitara vs rivals: Dimensions
The e Vitara measures second-lowest in length and ground clearance, lowest in width and sits dead centre in the height rankings. However, Maruti Suzuki has been able to extract a fairly competitive 2,700mm wheelbase for the e Vitara, matching that of the Windsor EV and edging ahead of the Creta Electric, Curvv EV and ZS EV.
e Vitara boot space is the lowest by far
In terms of boot space, though, the e Vitara comes last. It offers 306 litres with the seats slid fully forward, and sliding them all the way back shrinks the luggage bay to just 238 litres. There is no frunk in the e Vitara either. By contrast, the Windsor EV comes with the largest boot in this company, while the BE 6 has the most voluminous frunk. Thankfully, the e Vitara does get 18-inch alloy wheels, which are on par with segment standards, though the BE 6 offers 19-inchers in higher variants.
Maruti Suzuki e Vitara vs rivals: Battery and range
Taking base battery capacities into consideration, the e Vitara’s 49kWh unit falls right into the middle of its rivals, beating those of the Windsor EV, Creta Electric and Curvv EV. Impressively, the 61kWh battery option of the e Vitara is the second-largest among its peers, falling short of only the BE 6’s 79kWh pack.
e Vitara makes the least torque
In terms of power output, the e Vitara is largely competitive, defeated only by the VF6, ZS EV and BE 6. However, the e Vitara’s 193Nm torque output is the lowest here. In fact, the BE 6’s torque reading is nearly double that of the e Vitara. Like the majority of its rivals, the e Vitara has front-wheel drive; the BE 6 is the only rear-wheel-drive EV here, courtesy of its INGLO born-electric platform.
As for the ARAI-tested range, the e Vitara performs in accordance with the battery capacity rankings. The 49kWh e Vitara delivers a claimed 440km of range, placing it dead centre between its rivals, while the 61kWh battery’s 543km figure is second only to the BE 6 79kWh, which can travel up to a claimed 683km on a single charge.
Maruti Suzuki e Vitara vs rivals: Charging times
Charging times are a function of battery capacities, so like-for-like comparisons aren’t easy. Still, the e Vitara does quite well on this front. Its 49kWh AC fast charging time is on par with that of the Curvv EV 45kWh and surprisingly quicker than that of the Windsor EV 38kWh.
As for the e Vitara 61kWh, it again outperforms the Windsor EV 52.9kWh and is matched with the ZS EV’s 50.3kWh unit in claimed AC fast charging times. However, the Creta Electric and BE 6 one-up the e Vitara with support for 11kW AC fast charging.
Coming to DC charging times, both e Vitara battery packs go from 10 to 80 percent in 45 minutes via a 70kW charger, which is a pretty respectable output when compared to rivals.
All prices are ex-showroom, India.
Uday Singh
Rivan RS 
Saumil Shah
Saptarshi Mondal
