Have Electric Vehicles Finally Become Good Enough to Convert the ICE Enthusiast?

With their 122kWh & 111.5kWh battery packs, they have a claimed range of 809 and 575 kilometres respectively (translating to a real-world range in excess of 500 kilometres), which means that range anxiety – the number one complaint with EVs – is simply not an issue. And if you’ve got an EV charger at home, then it’s actually quite liberating not having to make that occasional trip to the local filling station. Of course, in the company of these two Rs 1.40 crore-machines, it may not be relevant but it’s worth mentioning that they’re also far cheaper to run on electricity than the equivalent ICE machine, which still sips dino juice for forward propulsion.

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Plus, there’s no doubt that an EV for the city is quieter and more refined, not to mention cleaner – with zero tailpipe emissions. Let’s forget, for purposes of this argument, how resource heavy EV’s actually are to manufacture. There are two ways in which, however, that the equivalent luxury ICE SUV steals a march over this duo – one is suspension compliance, wherein these do require slightly firmer underpinnings to deal with the weight of their heavy-duty battery packs. And the other thing to be aware of as a passenger – which actually happens to be a plus when you’re in the driver’s seat – is that you’re better off setting the drivetrain to Eco mode if you’re being chauffeur driven to avoid being jostled around thanks to the neck snapping acceleration of these quite brisk machines.

At well north of a crore though, neither of these SUVs are ever going to be commonplace, but there are bunch of new models – either launched already or imminent – that are liable to make EVs far more mainstream in the near future. Over the years, the Hyundai Creta has become one of the best-selling cars in our market, and now there’s an EV variant of this popular model already on sale – which is also priced particularly well – so anyone in the market for a new Creta would do well to consider the EV version.

Mahindra, meanwhile, is taking a totally different tact with the BE 6 and XEV 9e. They’re going more for shock and awe, as opposed to understated and discreet, with designs that look as though they’ve been crafted alongside the Starship Enterprise. Needless to say, both models have generated a tremendous amount of interest already. And now, with Maruti also getting into the act, EV apprehension should soon become a thing of the past – at least for in-city use.

So, am I saying that you should buy an EV? Sure, I’m certainly urging you to consider the option. As for me, well, dino juice is an addiction that I haven’t quite cured just yet…