Mahindra XUV400 EV Review | Overdrive | CNBC-TV18

So in the meantime, we have this the mahindra xuv400, which, as the name suggests, is the electrified version of the xuv300 and will take on the likes of the nexon ev max and the zscv, and so here were driving it today at mahindras proving tracks outside of Chennai to see exactly what mahindra has to offer in this segment, which is a fast growing one and one which seems to be right at the center of the eevee sort of revolution in india so now well quickly. Take you through whats, changed for the xuv300 to become the xqv400 and, as you can see from the copper highlights that its part of the xuv family of mahindra suv. So you have this copper, twin peaks logo and these x motifs throughout the frontal fascia of the car, of course, theres no grill anymore, and this has become a bit more angular and again those copper highlights they are a recurring stream throughout the car. So you see it here as well and below here too now the headlamp cluster is the same as in the xuv300, but you see that there are no front fog lamps anymore. Now, coming to the side, you notice a different design for the alloy wheels. Although the tires are the same size as before and again, you have a really bright sort of vibrant shade of color like these grays and these blues and blacks, and they all seem to work quite well with these copper highlights.

So that way, of course, the look may be a bit on the nose for some, but as it is its an attractive, looking car, the copperhead lets, keep going to the side and another big change. The xuv400 is not exactly the same dimensions as the xqv3 level. Its 200 mm longer, as you can see from this section, so its slightly ungainly rear – that the xuv300 was quite criticized of – is gone now, its a much more proportionate look now, especially when you view it from this angle. The tail lamp cluster has changed. Now you have these uh clear lens elements, although the basic design remains the same and again those cross, copper motifs that you saw in the front theyre repeated in the tail lamps as well. The boot. Of course, it looks like i said it looks a bit more proportionate than before the bumper design has changed with these. My angular elements and the boot itself is much larger. Now that was another sort of complaint with the xuv300 that the boot wasnt, quite as large, but as you can see its large now, this is something you dont see very often, but from converting the xuv300 to the xv4 double mohandas also change the location of what Would have been the fuel filler cap to hear the charging port here, which means that when you are at a charging station you dont have to back up, and you know its a lot of hassle.

You do not do that. You can just drive right in and charge through here, which is a nice touch. Now the xuv4dr below is powered by a ‘.4 kilowatt hour, lithium ion battery pack, its ip67 rated, which means you have some level of dust and water protection. As for charging the xuv400, you have three options. As usual, you can use a dc fast charger which will charge the battery to up to eighty percent in half an hour, or you can put up an ac wall box at your home which charge it in a relatively quick six and a half hours. Or, of course, if youre stranded somewhere, you dont have access to any of those, you can still charge it from a three pin socket, which is a good option to have, but thatll still take you about 13 hours now with evs youre, seeing stuff that you probably Would have never seen in a small compact suv before, for example, the spoilers, you can see its actually a device to reduce drag so the air comes in from here and comes out from here, something you would see. Maybe a sports suv first youre, seeing it in something like an xuv400 now now, as for the interiors of the xuv40 below theyre, pretty much a straight lift from what you get in the xuv300. But of course there are some changes to start with. You have this all black shade, which looks nicer, at least in our books than the sort of plain beige and black, that you have in the commercial engine version, but theres.

Some other things that we dont like is these switches, which we think should have been changed to something a bit more modern and similarly youve lost some features. For example, you dont get dual zone climate control anymore. You dont get the steering modes anymore, but that said, the xuv400 is still reasonably uh. Well equipped you get auto headlamps, you get seven inch touchscreen, you get height adjustable seats, a sunroof these being the highlights. But aside from that, the xuv30 is one of the larger cars in the segment, and that continues unchanged even here, so you have a great view out. You have good shoulder room here. Comfortable seating and the windows are large, so that is not a problem at all. Now, coming back to the features we also would have liked – maybe a digital instrument cluster, you know with evs and the buyers of evs being so technologically savvy. That could have been an addition, and this touchscreen is an older unit. So maybe that could have been updated, but again, for what is there is usable, and you anyway have android auto and apple carplay plus you have a wider range of connected car features, so that should be another bonus now in terms of the way the xuv400 is Built again its very similar to the 300, you have the same: pretty decent quality of plastics. There arent too many soft surfaces aside from the common touch points such as this bit here this bit here, but you have this nice sort of weave to the steering wheel.

This grip, the buttons – maybe they look a bit dull because they are the same color as the rest of the cabin, but they feel and function well enough, but probably the nicest bit of the xuv4000 cabin is this new gear shifter. It looks like its from a much more expensive car feels nice to grip, its got a rubberized feel to it and, as you can see, it functions with a nice click as well, and you can choose pretty much everything from here now. If you are a family whos looking for an ev, then the xuv400 should definitely be on your radar, simply because of the amount of space that it offers its significantly larger, at least on initial impression than the nexon ev. So you have, as you can see quite a bit of legroom headroom is great, especially with the scooped out roof. You have this wide bench, so three abreast is not going to be an issue, especially if the third passenger is a child. The floor isnt too high. Considering it is a navy, you have a hump but its not too high and against storage spaces. Theres. Quite a few. You have these cuff holders. Here you have large bottle holders its the same in the front with this large center console and even bigger storage pockets. In the front doors now, the only thing that we dont like in the back seat is probably the cushioning on the backrest its a bit too firm for our liking.

But again, it totally depends on how you, like it and another nice touch, which sort of breaks up the otherwise monotonous, gray cabin. Are these nice blue stitchings along the seats then? And here they sort of give you the slightly vibrant ev type feel which we quite like now. The xuv3 xuv300 is a five star rated car in terms of safety, and i think that should carry over to a large extent. In the xuv400, you get six airbags, at least in the top variance you get abs, you get rear disc brakes, but other than that it should be a safe structure. To begin with, now, mahindra says that the xuv400 is the fastest, accelerating car that you can buy. In the mass market, with a 0 100 time of 8.3 seconds now, we cant put that claim to test, but mahindra also says that its top speed is 150 kilometers per hour. Weve just done that in fact, weve seen an auto indicated 160 at the high speed bowl at the mahindra suv, proving grounds that were at where were testing the xuv 400 Music. Now you get three drive modes, fun fast and fearless, and they progressively increase in performance. So, in the fun mode you have speed is limited to about 90 95 kilometers an hour now, the acceleration. The throttle response is a bit less brisk and that progressively increases to 150 kilometers per hour in the fearless mode, and we must say that even in this very steep 40 degree banking, we did find that the xqv400 to be quite stable.

Of course, theres. Not much noise, apart from the wind buffeting that you can hear its an eb after all, but here at a steady 100 you notice that its a very quiet place to spend time in so high speed. Long distances will be quite calming in this suv. So, even here when were on this quite steep banking, you notice the car is straight theres some movement, as you might expect, but again its quite stable for a car with a relatively short wheelbase on a high speed. Ball such as this one. Of course, we are in a controlled environment of this test track and these xuv400s that we are driving arent, exactly production, ready, theres still some software work to be done on it. So, from what weve seen so far, the water below seems like itll, be a competent city. Car pretty much like most tvs are so in the fun mode. You have a decent amount of performance, its perfectly enough for you to get around your daily, maybe commute, and then, when you want a bit more power, the fast mode 2 is helpful, although we would have liked. Maybe the throttle response to be a bit less sharp. As you progress through the mode but other than that, its a perfectly usable kind, both those modes, its got that steady sort of typical easy talk that you like so much and yeah, so that pretty much makes it a very useful car in the city and in Terms of how it rides and handles again its typically like an eevee, you have that slightly stiff feeling, through the suspension, say over expansion joints over potholes and manhole covers.

But apart from that say on a smooth road such as this one, it stays flat. It stays level, it stays well poised. So in that way it is quite confidence inspiring now. Some of the things that we would have liked to have been better, and these have sort of carried over from the xuv300 is the feel from the steering there isnt too much feedback, its quite light, so say when youre on a long corner. So this one, you are sometimes second guessing what the car is doing, but you have a good view out. Like you have in the xqv300, you can see the edges of the bonnet, so moving around in the city is not going to be an issue and similarly the braking. Now, as you progress through the modes, you get varying degrees of region, which we cant show you, because the regen sort of gauge isnt exactly tuned as and we cant even tell you what the range of figure is like in the real world. Although we think about a 300 kilometer range in the real world, 350 is achievable, but what we would have liked with the region is that the transition between the breaking and the region could have been a bit smoother. The throttle pedal feels a bit sharp when you apply it when youre switching over from regen to the physical brakes so coming to a complete halt. Easily is not very easy, but apart from that, the region itself seems quite strong, and you have this l mode, which is quite useful.

Its typically, what b mode would be in many of these evs and hybrids and, as you can see, were coming to a complete halt. It can do that and you dont have paddles to control the region, which makes this l mode extremely useful in the city. So you can pretty much one pedal drive in the city, just control your speed and deceleration through the accelerator, which will make it even more easy and even more efficient to drive in the city now to go back to the way the xuv400 handles. There is good news here now he didnt like the steering but the body movements. They are quite confidence inspiring, as you can see, the car theres not too much body roll, mainly thanks to all the weight being below you and the car stays true to its line. So, like the recent spate of mahindra, the xuv400 is again quite a nice car to drive. Now the xuv400 below only goes on sale by january of 2023. But given a choice, would you pick one see we cant tell you exactly how efficient it is, but with over 450 kilometers of range, even on the ar air cycle, there is reasonable usable real world range to be had from the car. We think at least, and we would have liked a few more features, maybe at par with what you get in the xuv 300.