MAHINDRA XEV 9E

Our customers are now doing in an EV what they would do in an ICE vehicle. It's really gratifying to see that you don't need to make compromises to own an EV

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A year out from the market launch of the XEV 9e, has it lived up to expectation?

Last year, we were joking that we were dreaming electric. There were two cars coming out – the XEV 9e and the BE 6, and our hypothesis was that the existing EVs didn't really excite the customer back then. You had to put a product which looked exciting to make people fall in love with it. And, of course, you had to take away all the barriers of what an EV was. With these two vehicles, we had to show that we were going to go do that. A year out now, by the end of November, we should be at about 35,000 vehicles in the hands of customers. And, these are not cars in the ₹10-15 lakh range, they are well positioned at the higher end of the spectrum. So, customers have really reposed their faith in them, and we are delighted with what the traction we have seen.

People still associate Mahindra with big, butch, internal combustion SUVs. At the other end of the spectrum, you've got these sleek, modern-looking EVs. How do you rationalise the two ends of the spectrum?