In 2018, the Indian automobile giant, Maruti Suzuki unveiled an all-electric WagonR. This all-electric hatchback was unveiled at the MOVE Mobility Summit, a renowned event that was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi back then. But after a lot of road testing and development, the idea of an all-electric Maruti Suzuki WagonR is shelved. Yup, the carmaker has ditched the plans of launching their first electric hatchback in India. But what went into the decision? Let’s have a detailed look!
Maruti Suzuki WagonR EV
By now, after the MOVE Mobility Summit, we’ve seen the Maruti Suzuki WagonR EV multiple times (mostly in pictures). Well, just after the unveiling, the carmaker also put together 50 prototypes of the all-electric hatchbacks at the Gurgaon plant. One could have easily spotted these camouflage vehicles roaming Gurgaon City. That said, the WagonR EV was planned to have a quick charge feature, along with a claimed real-world range of about 130kms.
Maruti Suzuki WagonR EV – Shelved
The testing for the WagonR EV was started sometime after September 2018. Meaning, considering the development, the vehicle would have been in the showroom by now. But before the car could make it to the consumer, the plan of the WagonR EV was ditched.
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As per the news, the electric WagonR would have been about 60% more expensive than the conventional WagonR with an IC engine. This translates the price of the WagonR EV to sit upwards of Rs. 10 Lakh. Considering the competition like the Tata Tigor EV and Tata Nexon EV, the first electric car from Maruti Suzuki would have been a dud from the start.
Well, this has to do with the Maruti Suzuki and Toyota partnership. Where Tata is in full control of its research and development, it is Toyota after the partnership who is solely responsible for the manufacturing of electric cars. This is where Toyota is readying up to make a new electric car but unline the WagonR EV; this vehicle would be made from the ground up.
As exclaimed by Maruti Suzuki, they’ll be launching a brand new electric car that will underpin the bespoke EV platform. What does it mean? Well, the vehicle based on this platform will be even larger than the Hyundai Creta. This clearly denotes that this time around the budget carmaker is targeting a segment above in the all-electric vehicle race in the country.
In the comment section, would you buy an all-electric vehicle from Maruti Suzuki that might be a segment above the Hyundai Creta?
