Mahindra XEV 9S Review | Space, Features & XEV 9e Comparison
The premium electric space in India has been blossoming over the last one year. First with the launch of the Mahindra XCV90 and then with the Tata Harrier EV. The former has tasted quite a bit of success. But Mahindra is not one to rest on its laurels and has launched this vehicle that you see behind us. It’s the XCV 9S. This is India’s first three row electric SUV. And as you can see, it’s essentially an electric version of the XUV 7O and has been launched with a killer starting price rupees 19.95 lakh. But how good is it and should you buy one? That’s what we’re going to tell you today by looking at four aspects. Second row space, third row space, technology on offer, and design highlights that we’re going to tell you should you buy the car. Before we begin our look at this Mahindra XCV 9S, here are some facts and figures that you should know about. The car has been launched in India with a starting price of rupes 19.95 lakh. And this version that’s featured in our video today is the topsp spec version which is priced at rupes 29.45 and 45 lakh. There are four variants, six color options and three powertrain options depending on which variant you choose. I’m here in the third row of this XCV 9S which is one of this car’s main USPS. It’s essentially uh India’s first three row electric SUV as Mahindra is marketing it. And you can see that realistically speaking it’s a 5 plus2 which means that you have an option for two more seats because you can see from my ingress experience it’s a bit tight to get in and for you to reach for the seat back and pull it is also a bit of a tight experience and the seat base is very low so that you get a little bit of headroom. There’s actually like very minimalistic headroom. If you’re especially if you’re on the larger side, the headroom is almost completely tight here. But while space may be tight, if you do have people in the third row, uh they are not going to be short changed. You get cup holders. You get AC vents with fan speed control. You also get a 12vt socket here. And surprisingly enough, the uh bring your own device. The thing which Mahindra is marketing is additional screens which are standard fitment on the pack 3 one above. You get a better view of it here in the third row than you would get in the second row. Space is extremely tight as we said. Head room is extremely tight. Shoulder room is also especially if you’re on the larger side. If both the occupants are on the larger side, space is going to be extremely tight. And as you can see, there is little to no under thigh support. Again, like we said, it’s a 5 plus2, which means that you have the option of two extra seats instead of having to take an additional vehicle. This is the boot space of this XCB 9S. And as you can see, it’s a pretty uh large volume that you’re getting inside. 527 L with the third row down. This car is of course only available uh as a three row vehicle. The loading lip is low and the space is wide. You get a lot of volume inside which means you can pack it tightly. You also get uh AC vents with fan control for this third row and you get a 12vt socket. Both are options for actually the third row passengers. But if you need to keep something cool, then you can have uh cold air blowing on it directly. Now, one of the things you’ll notice is that this doesn’t have a power function unlike its major rivals, some of which offer a power function. It’s manual even on the topsp spec variant. Now that we’ve explored one of the big USBs of this XCV 9S, which is the third row, we’re here in the second row, and that’s kind of one of the other big things that Mahindra has invested in to make a nice second row package. Let’s start with space because this is built on the indoor platform which is uh born electric architecture which means you get a flat floor and there’s actually enough space for three people here right to sit comfortably even with uh you know the AC vent being here and a charger being here a third person would be able to sit in the middle it wouldn’t be uh all that spacious with the third person sitting here but it’s very much possible because it’s a large car it’s wide right but for these two occupants one sitting here one sitting here. Very spacious. There’s enough headroom. There’s enough leg room. There’s a surprisingly good amount of under thigh support mainly because the floor is flat. So, you can place your feet under the seat, front seat. And uh in some of the teasers, Mahindra had shown that you get rear screens, but those rear screens are optional. In fact, it’s a standard fitment only on the pack 3 one above variant. Here you get mounts for it. You also get 65 kWh uh USBC charging ports which means that you get fast charging here. You also get a wireless charger here. The door pockets are a little small. They haven’t changed from the XUV 7. Same goes with the hand door handles, the you know uh lock unlock button, some of the switches, all very similar to what is being offered on the 7. All in all, Mahindra has done a pretty nice job with the second row package and especially if you take the topsp spec model. It’s going to be very very comfortable. If you notice one of the things especially if you’re sitting behind here you’re a little higher up than first row which means that uh even though headroom is not an issue and you’ll also get uh a a lot a good view rather of uh everything that’s coming out of this pan large panoramic sunroof which actually goes all the way behind almost past the second row. Something that will really help in making this a much better experience. Oh, we do have to point out one thing though. uh you do get these screen mounts and know it’s quite comfortable here that way. But no matter how far back you go, no matter how much you recline, you’re still very close to the screens which means that if you want to watch something for a lengthy period, you have to be ready that it’ll either sit at an awkward angle or the screen will be very close to you. We here in the front row of this XCV 9S and it feels almost like you’re sitting in the XUV 7. very similar layout in terms of the center console and know some of the elements here. The steering is new and of course the highlight of this whole package is this triple screen layout. massive triple screen layout. That’s the instrument cluster. That is the infotainment system controlling a large chunk of the functions and that is a passenger screen, right? Which doesn’t have the functions of the infotainment system but has all the apps built into it and you know you can access things like YouTube and it even says sun next. Now, one of the things uh that uh we can see here is that that screen doesn’t blank out when the car is moving, right? and that’s something that could be distracting to passengers. But otherwise, it’s a very nice setup and comes crammed with functions. It actually has the same amount of functions and features that are offered with the XCV 9S. It’s the same OS with a very similar interface. And this is uh one of the big highlights of the car. It’s a large techfest with lot of features and lot of interactivity that you can get. You get to change things like drive modes and you get to see your uh driving statistics and things to that. essentially all the things that you would want in a large techfilled car in this price bracket in this size. Uh think of it as a software definfined vehicle and this is the first step that Mahindra is making in this direction to make this usable. One of the things we wanted to point out is that there aren’t a lot of physical buttons here, but you do get some buttons for the essential functions. Uh things like climate control, drive modes, and to go to home. But you still have to look at the screen quite a bit to use some of the functions. Like for example, the climate control button takes you to the climate control system. But uh you know, majority of the functions that you’ll have to access are here in the screen. That means you’re spending more time looking at the screen than on the road. Maybe that’s something that Mahindra could address in the future. Now, finally, in terms of space, because this is the same size as the XUV 7W, you get the same amount of dimensions inside. In addition to the flat floor, you get a decent amount of headroom and shoulder room. And because of this, you know, gigantic center console, you have uh two specific zones for the front occupants. It’s very comfortable. And uh we have to also point out that there’s a boss function for this front passenger seat that can be controlled from the second row which means that you can slide out and recline and things like that. It was manual for the XUV 7 and they have upgraded it to an automatic function here. Whenever the XUV 7 facelift comes at the start of next year, we expect this function to be carried over. Now as you can see from the images, this is essentially an electric version of the XUV 7. Something that was very obvious when they revealed it as the XUV.8. E8 about 3 years ago. Here are some of the design highlights. Up front, you get the large grillless face, something that debuted with the 9E about a year ago, and you get these low set headlamps and a large connected DRL as a part of the face package. You get the XUV7’s face essentially, like know things like the bonnet, the slope of the windshield. So, you get that familiarity, but also something new. You can see the XUVness of the car most in its side profile. The silhouette, the design of the wheels, the pop out door handles, even the mirror, all taken from the XUV, which is actually not a bad thing because the XUV is a pretty decent looking car. And this one taking its design cues should help it quite a bit. Coming over to the rear of this XV 9S, it’s a very typical Mahindra design. You get this black appleique here with the Infiniti logo. XCV 9s written below with the S in red. You get large bumpers and you get this very like slightly low sloping roof line. It’s all very similar to what is being offered on the ice model. Again, it’s not a bad thing at all because that’s also a pretty decent looking car. What do you think of this design? Do you think Mahindra should have added something else? Let us know in the comment section below. This car, the XCV 9 has competition from the XCV 9E and the XUV 7, but each of the cars offers something unique. The XCV 9E was the first EV or the BEV to come along, bringing most of the features that this car has, but this car over that offers the third row, offers adaptive suspension and a much bigger cabin with a bigger boot and the conventional styling. If you wanted something stylish and that stood out, then the XV90 was your thing. This is more conventional and far more useful. Now when comparing it to the XUV 7 uh there is actually a significant step up and we can look at that in two ways. One is that the XUV 7 facelift will get all of this. It may even be called the XUV 7XO. That’s no certainty on that as yet. But we can say that all of these features being offered on this, all of this latest technology, things like know the additional ADAS functions, the triple screen and some of the softwares, the rear seat package, all of these are going to come to the XUV 7 facelift both for the petrol and diesel models. So you’ve seen our uh look at the top highlights of this Mahindra XCV 9S and on paper at least Mahindra has got quite a good package on its hands. It’s got features, it’s got space, it’s got design and uh with a top- end price just a shade under rupees 30 lakh, it actually makes really good value. But if you look a little closer, there are some issues that we have noticed. One is of course the fact that while Mahindra says this is India’s first electric 7-seater SUV, it’s realistically more of a 5 plus2. You saw the amount of space on offer for the third row, especially if you put two people inside. It’s going to be a tight journey for want a better term. Getting in and out is also pretty tight. Though uh the boot space on offer is pretty good once you put the third row down. The other big issue that we have spotted is that Mahindra has put too many functions into the screen. Yes, the screens are massive. They make for good theatrics and know it’s very attractive. It’s one of those tech things that makes the car a really attractive proposition, but there are too many functions on it. Especially if you use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, even getting to something like the climate control requires you to go through four steps and that means that much time off uh you know your eyes are off the road and looking at the screen. Then there’s also the fact that uh you know uh the passenger screens especially the third one that’s directly in front of the passenger doesn’t have a blank off function which means that when the car is in motion the driver shouldn’t be able to see what’s going on and this considering that you get apps like YouTube on it maybe that’s a function that Mahindra will add later. Now uh considering all of this Mahindra has quite a compelling package on its hands and it’s arrived here in the initial days of the segment and that should give it some momentum in terms of volumes. What do you think of the XCV 9S? Do you think Mahindra should have added some feature or added something else? Let us know in the comment section below. And before we sign off, here’s a reminder to hit those like, share, and subscribe buttons and also that bell icon to be notified the instant Carvali puts out a new video. Thank you so much for watching. Take care.
This is your most detailed Mahindra XEV 9S walkaround as we explore its design, interior, features, prices, and real-world practicality. In this video, we test the third row space, second row comfort, and show you every detail of this new three-row electric SUV.
We also explain how the XEV 9S differs from the XEV 9e, including interior updates, features, battery options and variant-wise highlights. If you are comparing it with the XEV 9e, this video also breaks down the key differences in space, features and positioning.
DOP: Pradeep Bhondave
Video Editor: Tejesh Gurav
Host: Desirazu Venkat
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