Alongside the Global Pik Up and Thar.e concepts, Mahindra today also revealed more details about its upcoming electric SUVs at its ‘Futurescape’ event in Cape Town, South Africa. This includes launch timelines for four of the upcoming e-SUVs as well as their powertrain details. Mahindra Auto also revealed a new ‘infinity’ version of its logo, specific to this range of electric SUVs.
- Thar, Scorpio and Bolero to get electric variants
- XUV e8 to use 231hp, rear-mounted Valeo e-motor
- 79kWh battery to charge from 0-80 percent in 30 mins
XUV e8, e9 motors sourced from Valeo; BE 05, 07 from Volkswagen
While general information on the INGLO platform was revealed this time last year, Mahindra today elaborated on the specifications of the electric motors being used. We've reported before that Mahindra, due to protracted development lead times, will be sourcing batteries and motors initially from BYD and Valeo, respectively, with future models sourcing them from Volkswagen.
This was confirmed today, as the brand revealed three different motors that will power the future models. The XUV.e models, which will arrive earliest (see below) will use a motor from Valeo, mounted on the rear axle only. This means that unlike the front-wheel-drive and AWD configurations on the XUV700, these models that will sit alongside it will be rear-wheel drive only. This single motor will produce 170kW (231hp) and 380Nm, which is considerably more than Mahindra’s current EV offering, the XUV400.
More powerful still will be the motors used in the BE 05 and BE 07, scheduled for launch later on. These will be sourced from Volkswagen, with 2WD models using a rear-mounted motor producing a solid 210kW (286hp) and 535Nm. 4WD models will get a second motor on the front axle producing 80kW (109hp) and 135Nm, although the combined system output was not revealed. As a reassurance, however, Mahindra has stated that the powertrains are tooled up and undergoing testing already.
Also see: Mahindra unveils Scorpio N based pick up concept
Additional details of the battery pack were revealed as well. With a capacity of up to 79kWh and using LFP cells (unlike the XUV400’s NMC-chemistry), is said to have advantages over even existing LFP applications in the market today. These are claimed to include greater energy density, a slower discharge rate, no thermal propagation and charging times of 0-80 percent in 30 minutes.
Mahindra Electric SUVs: new features and tech
Mahindra has brought on Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman to design the sounds of its electric SUVs, and has upgraded its audio provider from Sony to Harman/Kardon to suit. The 16-speaker sound system will feature Dolby Atmos, 3D surround sound and active noise cancellation. The infotainment hardware will get an upgrade, and as shown before, larger models will get an array of three 12.3-inch, 720p screens that span the width of the dashboard. It will also be rebranded from AdrenoX to INGLO, with EV specific menus and displays. Additionally, there will be a heads-up display (HUD) showing augmented reality (AR) visuals on the windscreen for driving, navigation, phone and media.
Other features include connected car tech with onboard 5G connectivity, OTA updates and Vehicle-to-X (V2X) capabilities. There will, of course, be ADAS, with Level 2 Autonomous driving that uses cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors.
Mahindra XUV.e and BE electric SUV launch timeline
The Mahindra XUV e8 will be the first new electric SUV to be launched, and it will come in December 2024. A sister car to the ICE XUV700 of today, it will retain that car’s basic shape, size and seven-seat layout. However, it will be built using the INGLO skateboard platform and it will also get the new INGLO electronic architecture inside.
Next up will be the Mahindra XUV e9, which will be launched in April 2025. This will essentially be a sportier looking coupe-SUV version of the XUV e8, with two rows of seats. It will likely share the same mechanicals and interiors with the XUV e8 too.
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While the XUV.e models will share some components with today’s ICE models, the next range of born-electric SUVs, called BE, will be completely new. It starts with the BE 05, a 4.4-metre-long coupe SUV, which will be launched in October 2025, as will its off-road-focused derivative, the BE Rall.e.
The Mahindra BE 07, which is a 4.6-metre-long SUV, will likely be more luxury focused than the BE 05. While its launch timeline was earlier revealed to be October 2026, that appears to have been brought forward by six months to April 2026. Curiously, the BE 09, the largest SUV previously revealed, wasn’t mentioned in the launch timeline.
Electric Thar, Scorpio and Bolero also on the cards
“Over a period of time we will electrify all our ICE brands,” said Mahindra executive director and CEO (Auto and Farm Sector) Rajesh Jejurikar, before revealing that the Thar, Scorpio and Bolero will also be brought into the EV fold. The Thar.e was, of course, shown in concept form, but the .e moniker will also be extended to the Scorpio e and Bolero e. What’s most interesting is that all three will be built on the INGLO skateboard platform and not the ladder-frame chassis that they currently use. However, no launch timeline was given for these three models.
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