Priced under Rs 30 lakh in India, the Vinfast VF7 and the Tata Harrier EV are the only two EVs that are offered with a dual-motor all-wheel-drive (AWD) setup. While both rivals come with similarly sized battery packs, the Harrier EV AWD has a claimed range of over 600km and the VF7 AWD claims a lower 500km+ number. But in real-world driving conditions, which of the two delivers a higher range? We dig through our test data, obtained by putting both AWD EVs through their paces in city and highway driving conditions, to find out.
Vinfast VF7 AWD vs Tata Harrier EV AWD: Specifications and price
The Harrier EV AWD gets a bigger battery, but the VF AWD is more powerful
As the table suggests, the Harrier EV offers a bigger battery pack than the Vinfast VF7. Both EVs are offered with an electric motor on each axle (AWD). However, the Vinfast VF7’s dual-motor setup produces 40hp more, while the torque outputs of both eSUVs are similar. The VF7 AWD is also 117kg lighter than the Harrier EV AWD.
Both SUVs are offered with a 7.2 kWh AC charger, but Vinfast has yet to reveal the charging time with this charger. Both EVs support DC fast charging, where the VF7 can be recharged from 10-70 percent in 28 minutes via a 100kW charger, while the Harrier EV takes 25 minutes to recharge from 20-80 percent with a 130kW charger.
In terms of pricing, the Vinfast VF7 AWD is Rs 30,000 more affordable than the Harrier EV AWD at the lower end. At the higher end, the price gap rises to Rs 2.20 lakh, with the Tata Harrier EV being the more expensive option.
Vinfast VF7 AWD vs Tata Harrier EV AWD: Real-world range
Despite massive differences in claimed range, the real-world range is similar
As per the ARAI testing standards, the Harrier EV AWD has a 112km higher claimed range than the Vinfast VF7 AWD. In our real-world tests, however, the difference in range was narrower, with the Harrier EV AWD offering only 10km more range than the Vinfast VF7.
In city conditions, the Harrier EV AWD is 0.35km per kWh more efficient than the Vinfast VF7, helping it with a 46km higher range than the VF7. However, in highway driving conditions, the VF7 has a better efficiency of 5.92km per kWh compared to the Harrier EV’s 5.24km per kWh, helping the VF7 to travel 26km more than the Harrier EV.
Autocar India’s range testing
For our real-world range test, we begin with each car’s battery fully charged and tyre pressures set as per the manufacturer’s recommendations. We drive the cars on a fixed loop covering both city and highway stretches while maintaining set average speeds. We then calculate the range based on the percentage of charge consumed. The AC is set to 22°C in auto mode, and features such as the music system, lights and ventilated seats are used as needed, just as a regular user would. This approach ensures consistency and gives a clear idea of what to expect in daily use.
Prices are ex-showroom, India.
Uday Singh
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Rivan RS 
