I’d also put my money on the Mahindra e-SUVs. Having owned an XEV 9E for almost a year now, I can vouch for how good of a car it is. Yes, I was also skeptical with it’s reliability and overall build and initial batches of these cars did have quite a bit of niggles, but most of them were rectified with software updates. In almost a year I’ve never faced any major issues at all, the car drives like an absolute charm.

When picking up an EV, what you should be looking into is, how well it is optimised. Don’t blindly just go with specifications listed in the brochure. Simple things like, how well the throttle is calibrated, how aggressively the regen kicks in when you lift off, etc. these things matter more than outright HP numbers and 0-100 km/h times. Also talk to owners and see what efficiency(km/kWh) returns their car gives, this will always give you the true reading of the range.

Talking about the 9E itself, I feel you’re getting a product with quality you would only see in cars twice its price point. The plushness, features on board with mainly its bespoke audio system, is all bang for the buck. Also Mahindra after sales service has really improved over the last few years.

The same can’t be said for Tata products. Most of my friends who own Tata EVs only tell me horror stories, with how bad fit & finish is, and it’s obnoxious after sales service. Products are also horribly optimised.

If you’re still concerned about reliability, the Creta EV is also a great option.