Mahindra e2o review, test drive and video

Mahindra has launched its electric car, the e2o, at a price of Rs 5.96 lakh in Delhi. Here's our first impression of what it's like to drive.

Published on Mar 18, 2013 05:27:00 PM

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Mahindra e2o review, test drive and video

The e2o’s mechanical layout is similar to earlier Revas. Its uses a tubular and box section chassis, the body is made of high-strength plastic and the electric motor sits behind the rear wheels. The all-important lithium-ion batteries are placed below the front seats. The new car has been crash-tested in Spain, it uses 10 on-board computers and Reva has come up with a number of innovative solutions for which it has filed 30-odd patents. You can plan your trip with the help of Google Maps, the software telling you how far you can go before having to turn back. You get an additional 10km of ‘limp home’ range before your battery completely dies and Reva can even ‘revive’ your dead battery and give you a further 10km still, all via a remote link to your car. A 15-minute quick charge can get you 25 additional kilometres, you are connected to the car via a phone app that can start your air-con for you, lock and unlock the Reva, and the company even sells a solar charger for the car for approximately Rs 1.5 lakh (The Sun2Car program can get you a free 50-60 percent charge every day, sunlight willing).

The e2o is not as practical as an everyday hatch. The two-door configuration means access to the rear is poor, the batteries have a limited range and build and construction aren’t really up there with most hatches from Hyundai or Maruti. Accept its limitations, however, and the e2o is a surprisingly usable city car. It is a bit underpowered, but it is smooth, silent, easy to drive, surprisingly high on tech, and at the end of the day, has what it takes to get the job done. Mahindra will launch the car in six cities in the first phase. Prices in Delhi start at Rs 5.96 lakh (on-road) after a subsidy from the state government to the tune of Rs 1.8 lakh. But even at this price, the car isn’t cheap. Look at prices outside Delhi (see table below) where very little subsidy exists and prices are well into saloon segment levels. This makes the e2o difficult to justify as a logical buy, even when you consider the negligible running costs. Like most electric cars around the world, this is a car you buy if you like the idea of owning and driving an electric vehicle; it’s as simple as that.