Mahindra’s Thar EV has been unveiled by the brand, and it looks like, it is all set to stamp its heavy foot in the Global SUV market. 

On 15 August 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa, Mahindra unveiled the Thar’s electrified version. The showcased Thar EV is currently in its conceptual stage and is being called Thar.E by the brand. This is a completely new approach taken to bring in a new design philosophy which the brand has been noticed using for a long time now. 

The Thar.E is Mahindra’s third Born-Electric SUV concept, which also states that no gasoline variant will be on offer. The Thar.E concept tells us that it will be available in a 5-door format as standard and the traditional 3-door format like in the current Thar will be offered too.

Rather than mounting the Thar.E on a traditional Ladder-on-frame platform, Mahindra decided to build the Thar.E on the INGLO P-1 (India Global) Platform. This Platform was revealed at the time of unveiling the BE and XUV.e series electric vehicle concepts. The reason why it is a ‘NO’ to a Ladder-on-Frame platform is because it would have been quite difficult to fit in a battery pack on that particular platform.

The Thar.E concept also gives us a hint that no Mahindra’s ICE vehicle’s counterparts will be used to build it, instead, it will showcase its own individuality and will be using independent parts for its build.

Now, let’s discuss the Thar.E concept .

Exterior

The Exterior of the Thar.E concept contains boxes and sharp straight lines all around its body panels. It packs the right amount of dopeness and robust nature in it. This design language also brings the 'Thar' nameplate out of the traditional Jeep Wrangler-inspired design. It gives a unique and a stand out look to the Thar which will also provide a new identity to the vehicle.

The Front, as said, is full of boxes. Being an EV it needs no grille, so various design elements have been added for the rugged-tough feel. The DRL has been shaped square with curvy edges, and an even smaller cube inside it has been added which acts as the main headlight. All of this has been placed in a black enclosed grille. And being a Thar at the end of the day, it has to have the slats in it, right? So, a number of 3 slats have been added and they are situated off-place to create a contrast. The Lower bumper can be seen made up of metal. The Thar.E can be seen pasted in two areas - Grille and the Bumper.

The Side of the car looks beefed up, thanks to the chunky and muscular wheel arches. By the way, a point should be noted that, though the wheel arches are muscular and are jutting out of the primary body line, they are still designed in a very sharp and boxy way. This has been simply done to add the ‘unbreakable’ feel to the car. The wheel cladding on the other hand, is unlike other off-road vehicles, as it is comparatively thin to the rest of its body. Though this has been purposely done to increase the overall visual presence of the vehicle. The wheels in-use are small, yet wearing thick off-road tyres. But, the main talk point is the proportion between the window and the body area, the window area, proportionally to its body is very small and this somewhat gives the GM’s Hummer EV vibe, as it also gets a similar proportion for the respectives. We can also see a metal panel extending below the pillar, it is actually a part of the inner core structure of the vehicle - though not a part of INGLO P-1 platform. The door hinges have also been kept visible to give an overall retro look. The B and C pillars have been kept body coloured and also an integrated rear door handle in the C-pillar has been given.

Now, the Rear of the car. I say, it is a bit unfortunate! ‘Why’ is your question, right? The reason is, as we saw till now, the whole car design was unique and stylish, it was seen building its own identity, but, when it came to the rear, things got a little out of hand. As we can now see a bit of resemblance to the Land Rover defender. And that is because of the jutting out shoulder line. Anyway, further discussing the design - the rear also gets a completely squared off, and a 90 degree-straight standing wall. The tail lamp design is exactly similar to the headlamps and they also have been placed higher than usual to match the tall stance of the car. The spare wheel, just like the gasoline Thar has been attached to the tailgate.

Dimensions

The brand was nice enough to share some approximate numbers regarding the vehicle's measurements. And with these shared measurements, we can say that the Thar.E will be acing in terms of its off-road capabilities. Maybe even better than the ongoing Thar!

The Ground clearance is said to be between a humongous 250 - 300 mm (approx.) and the Wheelbase is said to be fixed somewhere in between 2,775 to 2,975 mm (approx.).

Interior

The Interior of the car leans more towards functionality than visual comfort. It has been designed flat with 2 informative screens. Two chunky grab handles can also be seen at either ends of the dashboard. The steering wheel gets a 3-spoke treatment with paddle shifters. The centre console is big and would have a lot of practical bits included into it. The brand has managed to maintain the functionality mark high, but also some modern design elements have been included to create a balance, like the Aircraft style gear lever.

Powertrain

Being based on the INGLO P1 platform, the vehicle would have an option of two battery packs - 60 kWh and 80 kWh. The 60 kWh battery pack, as Mahindra says, would be commonly used in other INGLO P1 based EVs. The 80 kWh battery pack, we assume, would be available in few particulars, including the Thar.E. Mahindra claims that the 80 kWh battery can run up to 435 to 450 kms.

The batteries which will be used in the Thar.E, will initially be made by the Chinese brand BYD. But, afterwards Volkswagen would become the primary producer and these VW batteries could also be more powerful compared to the BYD’s.

Launch

Do not expect the launch of the Thar.E to take place very soon, as there are already a lot of launches planned by Mahindra. And Thar.E after all has been showcased as a concept, so, Mahindra would take a significant time course of at least 2 - 3 years to bring in the Thar.E on roads.

Price

Price could be expected to be on a higher level. As the brand has claimed to provide every technical and mechanical best to make it a great car for its desired purpose. And being an EV after all, price can start from a premium of ₹25 lakhs for the model with all the basic configuration.