Indian Army gets Mahindra eVerito electric sedan to replace Hindustan Ambassadors

The age-old Hindustan Ambassador sedan is now being replaced across government departments in India with the likes of the Maruti Ciaz and Dzire. The Indian Army is the latest arm of the government to shift away from the Ambassador. The Indian Army has just taken delivery of the Mahindra eVerito electric car. This car has been sourced by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a company set up by the government of India to promote electric cars.

The Mahindra eVerito recently got a price drop of Rs. 80,000 thanks to the government reducing the rate of GST on electric cars, from the prevailing 12 % to 5 %. The Indian Army has taken delivery of 10 eVerito electric sedans. EESL has sourced not just the Mahindra eVerito but also the Tata Tigor Electric for use by government departments. The government of India plans to induct no less than 10,000 electric cars into its various departments in the coming years.

The eVerito that is sold by Mahindra is one of the two electric cars that the automaker has been selling, with the other one being the E2O four door electric hatchback. The eVerito is essentially the electric variant of the Renault Logan, which the automaker took over and re-branded as the Verito a few years back. Currently, Mahindra sells only the eVerito as its solitary electric car as the E2O did not qualify for the Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP) norms.

The eVerito is powered by an electric motor that makes 42 Bhp of peak power and 91 Nm of peak torque. A CVT automatic gearbox option is standard with the car, and offer a range of upto 140 kilometers on a single charge. It gets regenerative braking as well. The electric sedan is offered in 3 variants: E2, E4 and E6 trims. The E2 is priced at Rs. 15.95 lakhs, the E4 at Rs. 16.24 lakhs and E6 at Rs. 16.36 lakhs, on road Delhi.

Mahindra is working on a slew of electric cars that’ll be launched from 2020. The eKUV100 will be the first of the many electric cars that Mahindra has planned to launch in the coming times. The eKUV100 is slated for launch in early 2020, and is expected to be showcased at the 2020 Indian Auto Expo. A range of about 250 kilometers per charge is likely, and a top speed of close to 160 Kmph. The eKUV100 electric SUV will also be able to accelerate to 100 Kph in about 11 seconds, making it one of the quickest electric cars on sale in India. Mahindra is also said to be working on the electric version of the XUV300, a compact SUV that’s currently offered with petrol and diesel engines.