By Otsile Kadiege

In recent months quite a few automakers have announced new battery electric vehicles or new vehicles with some form of electrification or hybridisation. The latest car manufacturer to enter the EV segment is Mahindra which recently unveiled the new, all-electric XUV 400 which is based on the XUV 300.

XUV 400 exterior and  interior styling

To help set itself apart form the regular XUV 300, the all-electric XUV 400 adopts a few ‘electric vehicle’ styling cues like rose gold-like detailing all-round the vehicle. It also sports a redesigned, enclosed grille with X patterns on the upper and lower sections. The XUV 400 also sports redesigned three-claw taillights with rose gold-like X patterns.

The rose gold theme continues inside the new XUV 400. It also features gloss black trims throughout the cabin as well as an analogue instrument cluster with EV details.

XUV 400 electric power

Powering the XUV 400 is a 39.4 kWh Lithium-ion battery pack with a claimed electric driving range of 456km according to the Indian driving cycle standards (MIDC). The motor develops a healthy 110kW and 310Nm of torque. The XUV400 has a claimed 0-100 km/h of 8.3 seconds.

It also gets a 50 kW DC fast charger which is said to complete 80% charging in 50 minutes.When plugged-into a conventional 7.2 kW/32A outlet then the charging time is just over 6 hours to fully charge the XUV 400. The same is achieved in 13 hours while using a standard 3.3 kW/16A domestic socket.

Battery electric vehicles in South Africa are quite pricey considering that the most attainable EV is well-over R600,000. Should Mahindra SA introduce the XUV 400 in Mzansi, at an attainable price, then we should quite a few of these roaming our roads.