Maruti e-Vitara SUV Unveiled Ahead of Launch
Significantly, ahead of its first electric car launch, the carmaker has already set up 2,000 exclusive charging points across 1,100 cities.
Pune: Maruti Suzuki, India’s biggest car maker, will enter the growing competitive EV segment early next year with the launch of its global e-Vitara electric SUV when the price will be announced and sales too will start.
The carmaker said the new e-Vithara has a driving range of 543 km on full charge.
The made-in-India e-Vitara has already been introduced in the UK and will debut in Japan in the coming days.
Maruti will compete with India’s top electric car maker Tata Motors, followed by JSW MG Motor and Mahindra.
Significantly, ahead of its first electric car launch, the carmaker has already set up 2,000 exclusive charging points across 1,100 cities.
The company said the e-Vitara, which received a 5-star safety rating under the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP), became the first electric SUV in India to achieve the top score.
The e-Vitara also becomes the fourth Maruti model to earn a 5-star Bharat NCAP rating, joining the all-new Dzire, Victóris and Invicto.
Hisashi Takeuchi, MD and CEO at Maruti Suzuki, said the company was targeting to set up over 1 lakh charging points across the country by the end of this decade to boost consumer confidence in electric vehicles.
Maruti is eying to become the largest fast-charging OEM network. It has partnered with 13 charge-point operators and has already set up 2,000 exclusive charging points across 1,100 cities.
“We are adopting a two-pronged strategy: first, by offering a vehicle with an excellent driving range, and second, by building a strong EV ecosystem that ensures convenience and peace of mind for our customers,” Takeuchi noted.
Partho Banerjee, Maruti Suzuki’s Senior Executive Officer, Marketing and Sales, said the company will focus on highways and expressways, with plans for a charger every 5-10 km on average in key locations across the top 100 cities.
Built on Suzuki's new HEARTECT-e platform designed exclusively for electric vehicles, the e-VITARA features a robust body structure with over 60 per cent ultra-high tensile and high-tensile strength steel. The vehicle includes advanced battery protection with an energy-absorbing mounting structure.
Takeuchi said the company plans to export the e-Vitara to more than 100 countries worldwide, leveraging the Bharat NCAP certification.
The Made-in-India vehicle is engineered to perform in extreme temperatures ranging from minus 30 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius, he noted.
The e-VITARA comes equipped with Level 2 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), including automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, and blind spot monitoring. Additional safety features include electronic stability program, hill hold control, anti-lock braking system with electronic brake-force distribution, and multi-collision braking.
The electric SUV offers two battery options of 49 kWh and 61 kWh, providing what the company describes as superior performance and excellent range. All variants include a 360-degree surround view camera, front and rear parking sensors, and emergency call functionality with SOS.