It seems that India’s biggest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is planning to enter the EV segment with the electrified version of India’s most loved tallboy hatch the Maruti Suzuki Wagon R as yet again a test mule of the Wagon R EV has been spotted being tested near the brands Gurugram based plant.
The Wagon R EV has also been spotted many times in the past 2-3 months being tested near the same facility. So can we assume that Maruti is all up and ready to enter the EV segment with the electrified version of its tallboy hatch? However, Maruti has not revealed anything about its new EV hatch but rumour has that the brand might launch it under its commercial segment first before making it available for private buyers.
Wagon R EV | Expected Powertrain
Not much is known about the powertrain but according to leading media sources, the new EV when plugged with an average AC charger will take an average 7 hours to fully charge While the DC fast charger will do the magic in under an hour.
The new E-Hatch will be the cheapest high-voltage EV to be sold in India and to do so Maruti could fit it with a smaller battery pack that will give it a driving range of around 200 km.
Read More: 10 Things that make the Maruti WagonR the Perfect City Car!
Wagon R EV | Expected Features
The new electrified Wagon R looks more or less the same as its combustion engine based model but being an EV it might get some subtle tweaks which might include revised front facet with vertically-split headlamps, bigger and a wider front grille along with a new set of 15-inch alloy wheels sourced form the Maruti Suzuki Ignis.
Talking about the inside, the Wagon R based EV will share its interior with its combustion engine based cousin. However, we can expect the new E-Hatch to boast some top of the line features such as automatic climate control and an impressive 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Additionally, we can also expect the gear lever will be replaced with a manual KERS (Kinetic Energy Regeneration System) selector and could miss out on the automatic regenerative braking systems as seen on expensive EVs which clearly means that the driver will have a manually shift the lever to turn on the process using the KERS lever.
Must Read: Maruti Suzuki WagonR: History Of India’s Most Loved Hatchback
Wagon R EV | Expected Launch & Rivals
As of now, not much is known about the launch but if we take a look at how many times the test mule has been spotted testing on public roads it seems that Maruti could launch its first EV by the end of 2020.
Talking about its rivals it does not go head to head with any existing EV in the Indian market but if and when launched it will surely give a tough competition to the Tata Nexon EV and the MG ZS EV. However, in the coming months, we can expect some brands to launch their electrified version of their popular hatchbacks such as the Renault kwid EV, Mahindra eKUV 100 and the Tata Altorz EV.
