Maruti Wagon R EV India Launch Delayed Beyond 2020

India’s largest carmaker says that a mass-market compact EV is not yet commercially viable

• All-electric Wagon R launch delayed till 2021-22.

• Maruti has been testing the Wagon R EV for more than a year.

• Lack of charging infrastructure and high cost of EV batteries remain hurdles.

• Manufacturers are yet to receive support from the government for mass-market EVs.

• Other EVs that are currently available, like Tata Tigor EV and Hyundai Kona Electric, are too pricey.

Maruti Suzuki has been keeping itself busy with the latest generation of the Wagon R with a ‘premium’ version and even an electric one on the anvil. A fleet of Wagon R EVs began testing in India over a year ago and was expected to be launched by 2020. However, recent reports suggest that the mass-market compact EV won’t be arriving at showrooms anytime soon.

Instead, Maruti will simply be moving onto the next phase of testing for the Wagon R EV in 2020 and has delayed the launch until EVs get more support from the government. RC Bhargava, the Chairman of Maruti Suzuki, said, “The Maruti Suzuki Wagon R Electric is not at a stage that it can be sold commercially,”.

Other key reasons for the delay, as stated by RC Bhargava, were the usual hurdles such as the lack of charging infrastructure and high prices for the car mainly due to expensive batteries. While the electric Wagon R may not be made available for private buyers, Maruti may open the order books for fleet orders first.

Maruti is also in the process of setting up a new battery facility in Gujarat in collaboration with Toshiba. However, this facility will cater to hybrids rather than EVs, which are also in the works as part of Suzuki’s partnership with Toyota.

The Maruti Suzuki Wagon R EV is still going to be launched, but now the expected timeline has been shifted to 2021, or maybe even early 2022. Consequently, the recently announced Toyota compact EV is expected to follow a similar timeline and be introduced in India after the Wagon R EV. Meanwhile, the EV market will see new entrants like the Tata Nexon EV and MG’s ZS eSUV that are expected to launch in early 2020. 

Tata also offers the Tigor EV, prices for which start at Rs 12.59 lakh (ex-showroom India), with a claimed range of more than 200km. The Hyundai Kona EV is the only long-range EV currently available in select cities of India with over 450km of claimed range. It gets upmarket features and a starting price of Rs 23.71 lakh (ex-showroom India).

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