Maruti Electric Car Launch In 2025! Why Are They So Late?

Maruti Suzuki is one of the carmakers in India that still hasn’t entered into the EV market. Although we now do have an expected launch timeline of the upcoming Maruti Electric car in India(2025), we think it will be too late by then.

The Maruti Electric Car, should launch in 2025 according to it’s new CEO. What’s up with Maruti? Why are they launching their Maruti EC car so late in the game? We explore the answer to this question in this article.

Why The Maruti Electric Car Launch Is Far Away – Reasons Stated By Maruti Suzuki’s CEO

Low demand

As per the newly appointed CEO of Maruti, the EV demand is very weak. This is why they have no plans to introduce any Maruti EV car within the next 2-3 years.

“We are a little behind our competitors in introducing the (EV) model to the Indian market, but we see that still, the market demand for those EVs is limited. Actually, sales of EVs in the Indian market are still very, very limited.”, said Hisashi Takeuchi in the interview.

Poor Charging Infrastructure

Maruti Suzuki’s CEO stated that if they are not launching any Maruti electric car mainly due to poor infrastructure. He also blames this as the reason, as to why the upcoming Maruti EV will cost more than 10 lakhs. (They could’ve just launched an EV with small range, had there been a good network of charging stations)

“If the infrastructure is everywhere, and wherever you go, there’s always a quick charger available then maybe a very small battery in a less expensive car can be marketed and sold. But right now the environment is not that ready. I think it will take more time,” he added.

Poor Range, High Price Of EV

Bringing in a Maruti electric car right now would mean that it would have to compromise on range. (It would be around 150 km, if launched right now, due to the small battery pack.) According to him, launching an EV with a small range wouldn’t suffice since there are no fast chargers readily available, leading to range anxiety.

On top of this, he stated that the cost of development of an all new Maruti electric car would be high, along with high cost of import and production. He also asserted that this cost wouldn’t come down even in the next 2-3 years. This is another reason why the 10-lakhs mark would be breached, and almost 70% of buyers buy a car below 10 lakhs.

Also Read: A Crisp View On The 2022 Nexon EV

Moving To Hybrids Instead

Although Maruti isn’t stepping in the EV game, they are working on hybrid and mild hybrid systems. They have mild hybrid systems existent in many cars like Ciaz, Ertiga, Brezza, and S-Cross.

So they are taking things step by step, and are finding a middle ground between full fledged EVs and petrol cars. Although these are only mild hybrids. True hybrid cars are different.

Here’s a true Hybrid: Honda City Hybrid: Superb Blend Of Mileage And Power!

What WE Think…(Opinion)

We think that the Indian automaker is taking an although conservational, but extremely strategic approach. On top of the above reasoning on why they won’t be introducing any EV car in India before 2025, we believe that they are taking a strategic approach, in order to maintain its market share.

Prepare to blow your mind on how Maruti is actually really smart in taking things slow:

Why Being Late In Bringing A Maruti Electric Car Is Actually A Smart Step

1. Maruti Suzuki is a market leader, and that’s for a reason. Since Maruti is an affordable carmaker, it is bound to not sell a hatchback costing more than 8-9 lakhs. This is why they weren’t bringing in the Maruti WagonR EV. Read More: No More Maruti WagonR EV!
2. However, to combat this problem of high cost, they decided to control the cost price of making an EV. And that can be done by reducing the price of the main component – The Battery Cell (Not the battery pack). Rather than assembling battery packs from imported cells, they decided to move on make actual cells themselves and them assemble them, through a Joint Venture between Suzuki, Toshiba, and Denso.
3. Being the number 1 carmaker in India it is without a doubt, not on any shortage of funds, plus they have a JV going on with an automotive giant- Toyota. They will be using Toyota’s EV platform – the DNGA modular platform to develop their EV. (Toyota is investing heavily into the EV market, after they couldn’t taste success with Hydrogen cars.)

So with the Collaboration of Maruti with Toyota, plus Suzuki developing all new battery cells with Toshiba and Denso, they seem to be on the perfect path to develop a Maruti EV car.

In other words, Maruti has the capital, Toyota has the platform, and the JV between Toshiba and Denso, has the technology!

Source

What they could’ve changed…

Although with a perfect plan in place for the upcoming Maruti electric car, we still have one suggestion for India’s number 1 carmaker:

1. What they could’ve alternatively done, along with the current action plan, was to establish itself a bit in the EV market by launching an EV rivalling the Nexon EV.
2. Although they have conducted various tests to suit the Indian environment, they could’ve launched a ‘test’ EV before launching a mass market one. Because even though carmakers test their cars extensively, the real life practical problems are reported by users only.

To sum it up, we would like to add these sentences stated by Maruti’s new CEO & MD:

“We are a company that is taking a very conservative approach to EV technology. But we have been testing our vehicles for a long time now because it must be perfectly safe for our customers, and the Indian weather condition is probably one of the toughest environments for an EV.”

Now for some info on the actual car that they will be making:

Upcoming Maruti Electric Car In India Will Be An SUV

As per reports, the upcoming Maruti EV will be an SUV measuring over 4.2 meters, and will be based on Toyota’s heavily localised DNGA modular platform.

Here are the main highlights that we expect related to the upcoming Maruti EV car in India:

1. Price: Upwards Of 10 Lakhs
2. It is most expectedly to come with two battery options – 48kWh (138bhp) and 59kWh (170bhp) – offering range between 400km and 500km respectively
3. Will be an SUV (more than 4.2 meters, rivalling Seltos, Creta etc..)
4. Will be adapted to Indian environment
5. 2023 Auto Expo could be the venue of unveil
6. Maruti invested over 10,440 crore rupees in a Gujrat plant, to locally manufacture EVs.

So this was all about the upcoming Maruti Electric car, and out take on the Maruti EV strategy. For more exciting updates, on upcoming Maruti electric cars, follow the GoMechanicBlog!