Maruti WagonR EV Resumes Testing, Spied In Manesar

EVs will take over the reign from the fossil-powered cars someday or the other. To make this paradigm shift an easy affair for car buyers of every segment, manufacturers are introducing electrified iteration of their existing products. As sharing parts bin would keep the costs down. Tata Motors did this exercise with the Nexon, Maruti is doing it with the WagonR. The electric version of the WagonR has been caught in the act a few times. However, this time it has been spotted testing in Manesar, Haryana, right around the brand’s manufacturing facility.

The test mules of WagonR EV are an easy sight around Gurugram, Haryana. It is due to the lockdown the testing of the WagonR EV was paused for a while. However, now the car has spotted again on road. These pictures are the courtesy of Vipul Chaudhary. The WagonR EV was earlier rumoured to be the premium version of regular WagonR, and thus, was speculated to be called as XL5.

Talking of its design, it was spotted with heavy camouflage, but we know of its design traits. The car will have vertically-split headlamp cluster at the front with a new grille and a revised design for the bumper. On the side, the changes would be far lesser in comparison to the WagonR. However, it was seen riding on the 15-inch alloy wheels of the Ignis. The rear facet will largely be a similar story as the WagonR. Christmas tree tail lamps can be seen under the camo. They might come with LED elements here to save on every bit of power.

As of now, not much is known about the car’s powertrain. However, we can confirm that it will not have an automatic regenerative braking setup like expensive EVs. There will be a manual KERS shift lever on offer, instead. Also, Maruti is planning to start the distribution of the WagonR EV to the fleet owners first. At a later stage, the car will be offered to the private buyers. Since the ecosystem is still not ready for the private ownership of EVs whereas fleet operators are ready for the adoption of new technology. Also, they have their dedicated charging stations.