MASTER CLASS

Mahindra's new 7-seat electric SUV is here and looks like an unbeatable package. But it has one major flaw

- CYRUS DHABHAR

The Mahindra XEV 9S is a sensible car with a confusing name.

Sensibilities dictate that the letter S be used for sportier variants of cars, like the Fiesta S, the Carrera S, etc. In this case, Mahindra has turned convention upside down and used the letter S for SPACE. But space, in a country where space is a real premium, where most of us live in small apartments having almost no chance to feel the touch of fresh grass on the soles of our feet, having extra space is a huge positive. Makes sense then, the letter S, considering the XEV 9S is the only affordable 7-seat electric SUV in our country.

Design breakdown

While the other new Mahindra EVs are outlandish in terms of design and stance, the 9S does things rather differently, and by that I mean, rather conventionally. In fact, you will read that term quite a bit through this review. What the 9S basically is, is a Mahindra XUV700 top hat (or body) on Mahindra's INGLO electric platform. It looks the same as an XUV700 from the side with the exception of the newer aero wheels and from the rear with the exception of the new tail lamps, an updated bumper and the Mahindra electric SUV badging.

But from the front, it looks totally different. If the XUV700's design language was all about C-shaped LED daytime running lights, the 9S is all about arrowheads and boldness. Yes, as with most new cars, it is connected, but unlike a lot of other cars recently, this light pattern is properly well executed. The headlight and fog lamp cluster is in neat triangles nestled within the daytime running lights and since this isn’t a conventional car that needs conventional cooling, the central grille is replaced by a panel that, for some reason, reminds me of a blue whale. But all said and done, it is a handsome car that has got one crucial thing really right - it looks unmistakably like a Mahindra while still being conventional, sort of.