Maruti Suzuki to launch its first electric SUV in India soon

Feb 11, 2022 admin 247 Views

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Maruti Suzuki is all set to launch its first electric car in India very soon. This new electric vehicle will be a result of a joint venture between Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Motors. The new electric vehicle is codenamed YY8 and is based platform on a skateboard platform. This means that the upcoming car will be very different in design as compared to its current generation of Maruti cars.

The Maruti Suzuki YY8 is offered with two options of battery pack-48 kWh and 59 kWh. The EV is also offered with two drive configurations- 2WD (two wheel drive) and AWD (all wheel drive). The 48 kWh variant is equipped with a single motor and offers a peak power of 138hp. The total range that is offered by the single motor variant is up to 400 km. On the other hand, the 59 kWh motor offers a peak power of 168hp and a range up to 500 km. However, we are not quite sure that the AWD variant will be launched in India.

In terms of dimensions, the YY8 will be 4275mm in length, 1880mm in width and 1640mm in height. This roughly means that the new electric vehicle will be larger than Hyundai Creta in terms of dimensions. On the other hand, the Maruti Suzuki YY8 will be quite close to MG ZS EV. The wheelbase of the YY8 is 2700mm which is higher than Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun. The longer wheelbase of the EV is due to skateboard platform.

The Skateboard platform is used by Hyundai, Kia as well as Tesla for their cars. The platform provides the placement of 4 wheels at the corner which increases the space for battery as well as cabin space. The skateboard platform is derived from Toyota 40PL platform which is used across the globe. The smaller 27PL platform is meant for cars of smaller dimension.

When it comes to price and competitors, the Maruti Suzuki YY8 is assumed to be aggressively placed between Rs 13 lakh to Rs 17 lakh and will go against the Tata Nexon EV. The Tata Nexon is the top selling EV in India as costs between Rs 14.29 lakh to Rs 16.90 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi). However, the range of the Tata Nexon is 312 km. If the real world mileage of YY8 will be more than the Nexon EV it will be a deal breaker.

This joint venture (of manufacturing the YY8) is set up in Gujarat. This means that the manufacturer will be able to save a bit of cost. However, initially the battery packs for the SUV will be imported from BYD, China. We expect that the car to launch soon in India and become a part of EV revolution.