2016 Mahindra e2o Plus review, test drive

What is it?

If you were in the market looking for a zero-emissions car, your choices were fairly limited – you could look at the Mahindra e2o, but its tiny size, three-door layout and sub-100-km range would put you off; you could look at the Mahindra eVerito, but then you would hear about reports that car would just not achieve the claimed (and still not too much) 110km range, no matter how sedately you drove it. Now, however, Mahindra has expanded your options by offering a four-door version of the e2o, christened, indicatively, the e2o Plus. 

The 'Plus' stands for everything the car offers over the standard e2o, such as two extra doors, more legroom in the rear, a longer claimed range and an upgrade in software and connectivity.

Mahindra Electric (that is what Mahindra’s electric vehicle division is known as now) has opted for a slightly more conventional design for the e2o Plus, as compared to its quirkier small sibling, but its proportions are still off. It is also longer (by 310mm), wider (by 61mm) and taller (by 25mm). More importantly, it gets a 300mm longer wheelbase that translates to a surprising amount of room in the cabin. Up front, the e2o Plus sports an all-new grille – with vertical striate to bring it in line with other Mahindra cars – flanked by the same projector headlights as the two-door e2o. In profile, it sports a slightly different glasshouse; the unique kink in the window line has been moved from after the C-pillar to before it. Moving to the back, you see a new roof-mounted spoiler and vertically stacked LED tail-lights, as opposed to the two-door e2o’s horizontal conventional units ones.

What is it like on the inside?

The biggest changes, however, are on the inside. The two-door e2o was surprisingly spacious in the back, but that was mainly because you expected it to be super-cramped. The e2o Plus, on the other hand, is properly spacious for its size. You have more than enough legroom in the front and back, and a good amount of headroom too. While three adults would find the rear a squeeze, two will find it adequately roomy. The seats too, are quite comfortable and offer good support. Boot space, at 135 litres, is not ample, but it is enough for two cabin-luggage-sized bags.

The dashboard is the same as that of the two-door e2o, featuring an Android-based touchscreen infotainment system manufactured by Blaupunkt in the centre console, rotary knobs for the air con and a digital instrument cluster that displays vehicle speed, shift status, driving efficiency, charge percentage and the distance to empty. The e2o Plus also gets all-round power windows, electronically adjustable exterior mirrors and keyless go. Material quality, though, is a sore point. All materials in the cabin, ranging from the plastics and fabric to the switchgear feel a bit cheap.