Sunday Drive by Hormazd Sorabjee: Hits and misses, ups and downs

The long-awaited Mahindra XUV400 is the first electric SUV from Mahindra after years of talking electric, and is finally the walk of the company’s EV talk

The long-awaited Mahindra XUV400 is the first electric SUV from Mahindra after years of talking electric, and is finally the walk of the company’s EV talk. Except that it’s no longer a walk but a sprint to catch up with Tata Motors, which has sped far ahead in the EV race. The XUV400 goes squarely up against the Nexon EV, the bestselling EV in the market today, but can Mahindra’s late-to-the-party EV thwart arch-rival Tata Motors’ almost unopposed dream run?

Mahindra’s first electric SUV is set to give strong competition to the Tata Nexon

Size matters

The XUV400 is not a ‘born electric’ EV. It is based on the XUV300, but it has one trick up its sleeve—size. It is derived from the original 4.2-metre long SsangYong Tivoli. This addresses one of the XUV300’s biggest weaknesses—the small 257 litre boot, now enlarged to a useful 378 litres.

Unlike the truncated rear of the XUV300, the XUV400 has better proportions and retains its engine powered counterpart’s muscular stance. However, the XUV400 is nicely differentiated as an EV with a new bumper, a blanked-out grille and an overdose of copper-coloured accents. The logos, the badging, and accents on the grille and bumpers are all finished in copper, which the company says is the signature colour for its EVs going forward.

Space cadet

The copper theme is carried into the interior as well, with bits like the rotary knobs for the volume and air con, the air vents, gear lever surrounds, and the company logo on the steering wheel. It’s a bit overdone and a touch blingy, but drives home the point that this is a Mahindra EV.

The rest of the cabin is an XUV300 through and through. This means you get an outdated-looking dash with a small 7.0-inch infotainment screen, analogue dials (with a new skin for the EV variant), and old-fashioned buttons and knobs. However, connectivity has been given a massive step-up, as it gets Mahindra’s BlueSense Plus technology, which comes with a suite of 60 + features, including multiple remotely operated functions like checking range and activating climate control.

The XUV 400 inherits a lot of its features from the XUV 300, but has a few tricks up its sleeve as well

Compared to the XUV300, there’s a fair bit of equipment missing. There are no front fog lamps, dual-zone AC, rear AC vents and front parking sensors, among other bits. Where the XUV400 scores is with cabin space, and it’s here that it feels a class bigger than the Nexon. There’s a good amount of legroom and headroom all around, and the cabin is wide enough for three.

Fast love

At the heart of the XUV400 is the electric powertrain, which Mahindra has specced quite competitively. A single electric motor producing a competitive 150hp and 310Nm of torque drives the front wheels. There is minimal motor hum or whine, and the overall insulation of the XUV400 helps keep the cabin whisper-quiet.

The car comes with three drive modes, cheesily named Fun, Fast and Fearless, and the instrument cluster has a different hue for each mode.

Straight-line performance in Fearless mode is very strong and we managed a 0-100kph time of 8.7sec which is 0.7 sec faster than the Nexon EV Max (9.4 sec). The XUV400 nudged 160kph on the high-speed track, making it the fastest SUV in its class.

Don’t want to use the brakes? The car comes with a ‘one-pedal’ mode, which you activate by selecting ‘L’ on the stubby gear lever. L mode increases the regeneration, which acts like a brake when you take your foot off the accelerator. But I would have preferred stronger regen for the one-pedal driving to be more effective.

Right choice?

There’s no word on pricing yet, but knowing Mahindra, expect it to be predatory, because the company finally has a chance to spoil the Nexon EV’s party. We expect the XUV400 to be launched between ₹18 lakh-20 lakh (ex-showroom) next January. This will certainly make it attractive enough to swing some buyers away from the Nexon EV Max. The question is, will Mahindra, which hasn’t sorted out its supply issues, be able to make enough?

The views expressed by the columnist are personal

From HT Brunch, October 15, 2022

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