Driving the Mahindra e2o has always been an exercise in concentration for me. It’s not that it is difficult to drive; in fact, its small dimensions and great visibility made it a breeze. It’s just that ‘range anxiety’ or the fear of running out of battery juice mid-way, was an ever-present travelling companion on every journey.
As a result, I’d find my eyes drawn more to the ‘available range’ readout on the dash than the road I was driving on. This fear of running out of electricity also made me cancel plans that were more than two suburbs away from my home when I had the car, just in case. And despite the car being well equipped with the likes of a touchscreen, Bluetooth, electrically adjustable mirrors and satellite navigation, I’d be reluctant to even use features as basic as the radio or air conditioning, lest it add to the battery drain.
Now, there’s an improved EV that should at least alleviate some of that tension, as it promises a much improved driving range on a full charge. While the original car would run out after 80km (something I never had the chance to verify, thankfully), this one will let you do 120km, says the company. What’s more, the company has also given it electrically assisted power steering to make it even easier to drive at low speed, and by that measure, better suited to its intended use as an urban runabout.
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