Well, its not news that India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki is working upon entering the EV segment with the electrified avatar of India’s most loved hatchback the WagonR. At least that’s what the company claims. And yet again a new test mule of the upcoming e-Hatch was spotted testing near Gurugram by Rushlane.
Although Maruti has stated that it has already entered the new phase which the brand calls the eco-friendly business strategy under which Maruti will be launching a wide range of CNG and electric models in the nearing future. Additionally, the company has also its entire diesel segment way before the BS6 emission norms came into existence. Its previous diesel line-up included India’s best selling compact SUV the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and probably the nations first known crossover the S-Cross which have now been launched with 1.5-litre K-Series petrol engine.
Reports also suggest the Wagon R EV or the XL-5 was also accompanied Maruti Suzuki Swift (also a test mule) both were packed with several testing equipments. Additionally, the test mule was heavily camouflaged but looked like a near-production version.
Read More: Maruti Suzuki WagonR EV Spotted Testing. Launch Soon?
According to certain media reports, 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.
However, Not much is known about the powertrain but we can expect the new EV when plugged to 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.
Feature-wise the new E-hatch will support the Maruti Suzuki Ignis sourced 15-inches 5-spoke alloy wheels. The new electrified WagonR looks will more or less look the same as its combustion engine-based model but being an EV it might get some subtle tweaks which might include a revised front facet with vertically-split headlamps, and bigger and a wider front grille.
Talking about the inside, the WagonR 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.
Suggested Read: Maruti Suzuki XL5 (Wagon R EV) spotted testing yet again in GURUGRAM
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.
As far as its launch is concerned Maruti seems to be planning to launch it new electrified hatchback in early 2021. It is expected that the Wagon R EV could make its debut in the commercial segment before hitting the passenger vehicle market via select showrooms.
With no direct to compete with the new Wagon R EV could possible be the only affordable electric four-wheeler in the country for some time.
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