Maruti Suzuki e Vitara test drives to start next month, 500 Nexa showrooms to receive new EV

Maruti Suzuki's Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales, Partho Banerjee, with the new e Vitara.

The country's largest carmaker, Maruti Suzuki India, will start the test drives of its maiden electric vehicle (EV), the Maruti Suzuki e Vitara, from January 2026, according to a senior company official.

The dealer dispatches of the e Vitara, which will be sold from Maruti Suzuki's Nexa outlets, are set to start this month, while test drives begin from next month, the company's Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales, Partho Banerjee, said during a select media roundtable.

"The electric SUV will be initially given to 500 showrooms, including 350 showrooms in December and 150 showrooms in January," he noted.

According to Banerjee, buyers have three main concerns related to EVs. These pertain to range, inadequacy of charging infrastructure and after-sales service.

"We wanted to address all these concerns," he said, adding that Maruti Suzuki is trying to install confidence in buyers before they go for EVs.

The e Vitara is built on Maruti Suzuki's dedicated HEARTECT-e electric platform. It will be offered with two LFP battery options, 49kWh and 61kWh, both paired with a permanent magnet synchronous motor. Output stands at 105.8kW for the smaller battery and 128kW for the larger unit. The 61kWh version delivers an ARAI-certified driving range of 543km.

On the infrastructure side, Maruti Suzuki has entered into agreements with 13 charge point operators and aggregators. This enables users to access multiple public charging networks through a single interface. Currently, the company has more than 2,000 exclusive charging points across its dealer network in over 1,100 cities. Over the longer term, the company aims to enable access to more than 1,00,000 public charging points by FY30.

The company has also readied over 1,500 EV-capable service workshops across more than 1,100 cities. In parallel, around 1,50,000 personnel have been trained to handle EV maintenance and customer support requirements.

The Maruti Suzuki e Vitara will operate in the electric mid-size SUV segment, where it will take on rivals such as the Mahindra BE 6, Hyundai Creta Electric, Tata Curvv.ev, MG ZS EV and VinFast VF6. Its bookings will open in January 2026.

The company plans to offer the e Vitara with a Battery as a Service (BaaS) option, a move aimed at reducing the initial acquisition cost for buyers. Along with this, Maruti Suzuki will also provide an assured buyback programme, which is expected to add a layer of confidence for first-time EV customers.

Including the e Vitara, Maruti Suzuki plans to have five EVs in its portfolio by FY30.