What is it?
If you’ve been looking for an electric luxury family SUV between the 50 lacs to over a crore Rupee range (pun intended), you can stop reading and just head to my verdict section and pick one that suits your lifestyle and fits your wallet! But if you want to find out what makes each of these 3 SUV’s special, do read on. Because out of the 10 odd Luxury EV’s (featuring an SUV body style) sold currently in our country as on mid-2023, these 3 choices offer the most rounded packages and would be the best rated for all their inherent abilities and proposition.
Let’s start with the most powerful (4.9s to the 100kmph) and compact in this group - the Volvo XC40 Recharge. Introduced in July ’22, it’s attractively priced at Rs. 56.9 lakh for what is inherently a XC40 EV twin. It also gets a prettier Coupe cousin – the recently launched C40 Recharge & if you're self-driven, and pick Volvo-ness as the top of your wish list, this could be your bet!
The second option up the price ladder, at Rs. 77.50 lakhs, is the Mercedes-Benz EQB 350 featuring a 5+2 seating layout, strong all-round performance and some suave interiors. Launched in December ’22, the Merc is the most versatile of the lot and if you're driving six kids around ever-so often this would fit the bill rather perfectly!
Finally, the Audi e-tron 55 priced at Rs. 1.19 crores (ex-showroom), which has to be the most comfortable & best suited to be chauffer driven in. It features adaptive air suspension, a spacious cushy back seat and a super spacious boot & frunk. Though this e-tron now has been replaced by the Q8 e-tron with a bigger 114kwH battery (that’s technically a facelift of this e-tron), it’s the best option at this price point and the pick if you're looking for the all-around experience of space and a full-size SUV.
The EQB and the e-tron both are very alluring to impress the luxury car buyer with interiors, one borrowed from Merc’s larger SUV’s and the other teched out in design, while the XC40 features a rather minimalist interior with the most intelligent infotainment system featuring Google’s assistant that makes using tech literally hand’s free. All three feature powered seats, soft touch materials and a driving range of under 400kms in the real world. But the Volvo has some blistering performance at a package that doesn’t feel a tall ask. So, good value could just tip your choices!
Verdict
When choosing an E-luxury SUV, you're probably looking for refinement, range practicality and prestige, to be the headlining elements, but value was on the top of my list with each of these picks. The e-tron is the greatest all-rounder here - a well-built spacious interior, a massive boot and one that’s great for being chauffeur driven or self-driven - that’s down to its superb ride quality which is simply in a class of its own. The new Q8 e-Tron improves the e-tron’s range and feature list but if you're looking for more glamor, style and with added dynamism, then take a hard look at the BMW iX!
The EQB does a lot right. It's the first relatively attainable luxury electric seven-seater in the mainstream and the pick of the segment in the Rs. 80 lakh bracket. It goes briskly, drives tidily and charges reasonably quickly. Those sold on screen inches and rose-gold details will pore over the interior, but I suspect the EQB's USP will be short-lived, though, and as soon as cheaper EVs with a similar seat count show up on the market, the Mercedes that already looks quite pricey due to being a full import, may be a try-hard. But if you just can't wait to ferry your kids around in smug, efficient silence, it's a safe bet. Much as I prefer the GLB to the GLA.
But it’s the XC40 Recharge that’s had our love, now amongst this esteemed company, its worthier attributes of thoughtful packaging, sense of minimalist design, the best voice enabled infotainment and insatiable performance - the XC40 Recharge makes an almost irresistible case for electrification - and at an asking price of Rs. 60 lakhs it sure does make the most e-sense for that great day-to-day family electric SUV!
Watch Video
How Different Are These to Drive?
With different approaches to electrification, all are quite different in their inherent driving nature. The XC40’s shared platform between ICE and EV motors is the same and with heavy batteries too, we have one of the most acceleration-friendly Volvos ever! With the twin motor’s immense torque is guaranteed to raise a smile, and even increased familiarity with the kick of electrification doesn’t diminish the wow factor. It’s got a well-mannered ride, and adequate confidence to dart in and out of corners. But getting on the power is always a riot!
The EQB shares chassis components with the gas-burning GLB, but it’s considerably heavier, giving it a more settled ride. It drives exactly how you’d hope or expect a tall van-like two-tonne box with high levels of torque. It never feels anything less than its weight – or height – but its traction and grip are surprisingly good. It has all the uncanny silent speed and cornering determination, but overall, it’s not particularly engaging neither thrilling. But then it’s a seven-seat SUV, so such matters are arguably pretty trifling anyway. What matters most is that it makes everything easy. It operates like any other automatic car save for its brake regen, but that too has an ‘auto’ mode which is where it operates best.
The e-Tron which is a big, heavy ground’s up EV SUV is surprisingly sporty to drive while offering one of the most comfortable to be driven in. It does take 0.8 secs longer than the Recharge with body roll being kept in check surprisingly well, but the sheer heft of the car is enough to drag it out of your ideal line if you tip it into corner too hard. Braking uses both discs and energy-saving regen, seamlessly switching between the two depending on your application. Paddle shifters attached to the steering wheel allow you to control the level of regeneration.
Intelligent Inside?
Well, the XC40 Recharge actually is – with its 9-inch central infotainment unit powered by the Google Assistant. All you say is ‘Hey Google’, and ask it to play music (switches to Spotify), ask for directions using the familiar Google maps that mimics the directions layout onto the 12.0-inch driver display as well. Easily understands most spoken accents here and was the least buggy and fastest to respond. Such a breeze!
It also comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Build quality is superb, with plenty of plush looking and feeling materials used throughout the cabin. But the dark fabric of the seats and charcoal-coloured topographic trim inserts create a rather sombre interior atmosphere. Both front seats offer four-way lumbar support, manual cushion extensions and height adjustability and the XC40 Recharge will happily take four tall adults and there’s plenty of storage space for their effects. The boot is small at 419L, smaller than in most rivals, but you also get a small frunk to store some knick knacks and charging cables.
The EQB’s intelligence resides in its packaging to accommodate seven seats – with three in the middle row and two smaller ones out back. And even the middle row can be moved front and back to liberate the last row’s legroom. There’s a bunch of driving modes too; they cycle through Eco, Comfort and Sport to fiddle with powertrain response and – if you’ve ticked the right boxes – suspension softness.
The rose gold accents on the air vents, 64 colour ambient lighting, and a slick looking widescreen MBUX infotainment rounds things up nicely for the driver and passengers, and versatility is inbuilt with both 2nd and 3rd rows folding flat for a large flat boot floor.
The e-tron’s cabin isn’t as futuristic as its name though as it’s been around for more than 4 years and newer competition seems to have caught up. But the sheer quality and fit-finish on the inside featuring a mix of leather and open pore wood are top-notch, and overall, it’s definitely a great place to be sat in. There’s a twin screen setup – one for the infotainment and the other for the climate control, both of which are angled towards the driver. The front seats are broad with firmer cushioning. And the rear bench can actually seat 3 abreast in comfort. Lots of Storage spaces available given it’s a grounds-up EV platform and charging areas in the front are aplenty and with a deep recess in the central console area where I always manage to drop my phone into instead of placing it softly onto!
Let’s Talk Numbers
Yes let’s do as there are quite a few to consider. With the arrival of the XC40 Recharge’s 2023 facelift, little has changed. India as before gets the dual-motor Recharge Twin, driving all four wheels. A 148bhp-front, 254bhp-rear motor set-up offers a combined 402bhp and 660Nm of torque. And add this up to its C-segment size SUV footprint, your guaranteed thrills every time you floor it: 0-100 kph in just 4.9 seconds. Heavens! But in the name of enhancing efficiency, I sorely missed the brake re-gen modes in this car.
The EQB 350 uses a 66.5kWh battery and a pair of electric motors for all-wheel drive. It produces 288bhp, 520Nm, and offers a claimed range of around 423 kms, so expect something south of 350 kms in the real world of ferrying children around with the air conditioning on. It does offer three levels of brake regen to choose from via paddles on the steering wheel.
The e-Tron’s 55 moniker features the largest battery seen here. A 95kWh floor pack driving twin motors putting a total thrust of 664Nm and 402 bhp; it gets from 0-100kmh in 5.7 seconds in a not so aggressive manner – but more importantly, the large juice pack gives it a maximum claimed range of 484 kms, but the real world is quite the opposite almost below 300kms and we suspect the weight maybe the culprit. It also gets a unique option of having 2 charging ports on either sides of the car behind the front fenders.
All these EV’s support fast charging (with barely any chargers over 100kW seen in this country), while charging to 100 per cent from a typical residential wall box (11kw) will be an overnight job, with the EQB claiming to do it in under 8 hours.
Volvo XC40 Recharge | 2 PSM Motors | 402 bhp | 660 Nm
₹ 56.90 lacs (ex-showroom)
Mercedes-Benz EQB 350 4Matic | 2 PSM Motors | 288 bhp | 520 Nm
₹ 77.50 lacs (ex-showroom)
Audi e-Tron 55 | 2 PSM Motors | 402 bhp | 664 Nm
₹ 1.19 crores (ex-showroom)
