NEW DELHI: The first electric vehicle (EV) from the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) - will be powered by a 60 Kilowatt-hour battery that could do a range of 500 km on a single charge. Expected to hit market early next year, the mid-size electric SUV will compete against the likes of Tata Curvv.ev, Hyundai’s upcoming Creta EV and Mahindra’s electric SUVs.
“We will have a high-specification EV with a high range of the order of 500 km and powered by a 60 Kilowatt-hour battery. We will have multiple such products,” said MD and CEO Hisashi Takeuchi at the 64th annual session of the industry body SIAM. Takeuchi added that MSIL would export their upcoming EVs to developed markets such as markets like Europe and Japan.
MSIL also said that they are working to establish a complete ecosystem to address the concerns of EV buyers. The company spoke about setting up charging infrastructure and resale avenues for such models.
“We are not only going to launch the product, we are going to provide a complete ecosystem for the customers who are going to be part of the electric vehicle family,” said Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Senior Executive Officer (Marketing & Sales) Partho Banerjee.
As per Banerjee, the biggest concern for EV users is the range. This is followed by EV infrastructure and the residual value of the vehicle after five years. He said the company’s first EV model would be unveiled at the Bharat Mobility show in January next year.
An EV launch by the country’s top automaker would come at a time when consumers are showing low interest in purchasing one, mainly due to high purchasing cost and their multiple concerns regarding them.
As per the data issued by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), only 6,338 electric cars were sold in August 2024, a fall of 9.97% year-on-year decrease. Electric cars were also under pressure in May, June and July. Their share in total passenger vehicle sales remains low at about 2%. To boost sales, current EV manufacturers are giving huge discounts.
Banerjee said that they are optimistic about PV sales picking up in the festive season