Mahindra e2o ‘Premium’ Launched With Power Steering & Higher Range

It was some three or four months ago when one of my friends just refused to believe me when I told him that the car he is enquiring about does not have a conventional engine but an electric motor. His point was – “it did not move like an electric car!” I remember him also adding that the person behind the wheel was driving fantastically.

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Now I don’t know if it was a fellow motoring hack who was driving that e2o but my friend’s observation does tell us that the car has come a long way from the first Reva. In fact, he liked the e2o so much that he wanted to buy it for his daily 70 km commute and use his Pulsar 180 only on weekends. Two things immediately and majorly diminished his desire – the first was of course the premium hatchback rivaling price, and the second was the real world range of 60-85 km against the company’s claimed ‘100 km under test conditions’.

Well, Chetan Maini, the CEO of Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. did bring in some good news for people like my friend. Mahindra e20 now comes with two prominent updates:

  1. Range Extension
  2. Power Steering

e2o’s range has been extended from the previous 100 km to 120 km on full charge. So, you may now expect the real world range to be between 80-95 km at least. This new variant of the e2o has been named as ‘Premium’ and as such it also gets a power steering – the most important tool in a city slicker.

Plus, like other variants, you can use the ‘REVive’ system to get the car going for another 8 km in the event of running low on charge. The car retains the Infotainment System, Driver Information System, Reverse Parking Camera and Assist. It also gets upgraded interiors while the exterior has been touched up a bit too.

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Moreover, the company has also introduced an ownership scheme called “Goodbye Fuel, Hello Electric”. This programme, in the company’s words, “separates the initial acquisition cost of the e2o and the usage cost (in the form of the battery and its maintenance) to make the e2o more affordable.

That essentially means you buy the car for INR 5.72 lakh on-road in Delhi, and pay the energy fee of 2,999 rupees per month for five years to drive the car for 50,000 km, and let the company take care of the battery and its maintenance for those 60 months. We have not been informed about the on-road price of the e2o should you choose to acquire it without participating in this programme…

Anyway, I would suggest Mr. Maini to take away unnecessary gadgets like the reverse parking camera etc., keep power steering and air-conditioning, and bring the price down. Oh yes, make the 120 km range standard across all variants while you’re at it!

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