2025 Maruti Suzuki e Vitara first drive review
The e Vitara is the first EV from India’s biggest carmaker is almost upon us. We arrive early to the party;
The biggest carmaker in the country might be slightly late to the EV party, but they’re (almost) here and they’re looking to shake things up. This electric SUV is already on sale in the UK, and we flew down to London to spend some time with it. The irony of flying to the UK and driving the e Vitara that is manufactured at Maruti Suzuki’s Gujarat plant is not lost on me. It is like walking into an Adidas store in Japan and picking up a made-in-India t-shirt. However, in this case, the said t-shirt is not on sale in India just yet, and we were given an early access preview before the India launch. Just a heads up: this is the UK-spec car. Certain bits might change for the India-spec e Vitara launching next month.
2025 Maruti Suzuki e Vitara exterior design
To start with, the Maruti Suzuki e Vitara doesn’t look like any other Maruti out there. It has hints of other cars – particularly with the strong chin – but this is no electric Grand Vitara. You can tell from the pronounced bulges on the hood and wheel arches, that they’ve tried to give it a muscular look. It doesn’t have a traditional grille, since all the cooling needs are met by the active vents in the bumpers. The wheels are 19 inchers, with aero cladding, but there is an 18-inch wheel on offer on a lower variant in the UK. I found that despite being a reasonably large car in terms of dimensions, it looks more diminutive – both in the images and in the flesh.
2025 Maruti Suzuki e Vitara interior and comfort
The interior is interesting and is very different from what we’ve seen on Maruti Suzukis before. There’s a new two-spoke steering wheel and the 10.25-inch instrument cluster is new, too. Easy to read, neatly designed and with clear range and speed readouts. The dash features the 10.1-inch infotainment screen – it is a little small compared to the generous screens we’ve been seeing on modern cars and both screens feature rather large bezels. This screen isn’t the most responsive either and that’s a downer. It’s no tech fest in here like on the BE 6 and the screens feel a generation old already but they get the job done.
It has a 10.25-inch instrument cluster and a 10.1-inch infotainment screen, both screens have large bezels around them which makes them seem small — Shot by Maruti Suzuki
The backseat has enough space for my 5-foot-10 frame. The second row sits on rails so you can slide it backwards, but it’s not like the Syros where that frees up immense amount of legroom. The rails are actually there to increase boot space — which is a meagre 238 litres with the second row all the way back. It goes up to 306 litres with the second row pushed forward and 562 litres with the second row folded. Headroom is adequate with the roof lining getting an indentation above the rear passengers’ head for better space. That said, occupants taller than 6-feet might find it a bit cramped here. There’s also an armrest with cupholders, although pulling it down also reveals a cavity to the boot — there’s no second partition behind the armrest to keep the boot sealed. I found that a bit odd.
2025 Maruti Suzuki e Vitara performance, range and ride quality
The e Vitara comes with two battery specs — a 49kWh unit and a 61kWh unit and we’re driving the latter in FWD spec. The UK also gets an AWD version. Outputs stand at 172bhp and 193Nm, which allows for a claimed 8.7 seconds. Power delivery is linear in Normal mode while Sport mode makes it more urgent. It’s not the kind to knock you back in your seat but it does surge forward with intent and feels quick enough to make quick overtakes on our roads. By EV standards, it isn’t very quick. If you want to go quicker, you will have to opt for the ALLGRIP-E which adds in the 64bhp rear motor. There’s a single button to activate the one pedal mode that dials up the regen response to the max, though the default regen mode suffices for everyday driving.
The 172bhp FWD single-motor is adequate, but it isnt quick as per current EV standards; the ALLGRIP-E variant is noticeably quicker with its extra 64bhp rear motor — Shot by Maruti Suzuki
It is difficult to paint a clear picture of the ride and handling set up, because we drove it on UK roads in UK spec and so I’m not going to harp on about it too much. Ride was a little firm and did feel unsettled on bad roads, but handling was neat and composed. We will be driving the e Vitara on home soil next month and that should paint a much clearer picture.
2025 Maruti Suzuki e Vitara verdict
The e Vitara sits in a mighty competitive space. It squares up directly against the likes of the Mahindra BE 6, MG Windsor (India’s bestselling EV in recent months), Tata Curvv EV and Hyundai Creta Electric. Not to mention the rather popular Nexon EV a segment below. In terms of price, I’d like it to be priced aggressively and undercut the Creta however my gut says it will be in the same ballpark as the Hyundai.
The e Vitara package itself is competent. While it doesn’t shine in any one area, it is well rounded. Its biggest strengths will be the Maruti Suzuki badge that promises a seamless ownership experience both in terms of the product and after sales. Maruti’s massive Nexa network should bring in the numbers and India’s biggest carmaker stepping into the EV space could get fence-sitters to jump onto the EV bandwagon. Stay tuned for that and for our India drive review soon!