Home-grown end-to-end automotive manufacturer, Mahindra have the SUV segment sewn up solid. From the trusty, old-school Bolero & the Thar to the brace of new-age SUV’s, the Mahindra XUV500 & the TUV300 – the company has quite a robust line-up that leaves the competition far behind. The XUV500 for example, happens to be Mahindra’s flagship SUV and has just received a mid-model refresh to keep the demand going.
Powered by the company’s 2.2 litre mHawk 140 engine, it is known to pack quite a performance, thanks to the 140 bhp of power that it develops along with 330 Nm of torque. But the manufacturer is known to not rest upon its laurels, with the R&D team working hard to improve things on a continuous basis. Which is how it wowed fans and stunned the competition, when it announced the on-going development of the Mahindra XUV500 Hybrid. The vehicle’s USP is that it is the first SUV in its class to feature hybrid tech while still sporting a manual-shifting gearbox mated to a diesel engine.
The hybrid system on the Mahindra XUV500 under development utilizes a permanent magnet based synchronous motor (PMSM in company speak), and an advanced stage lithium-ion battery in conjunction with the conventional diesel engine, present under the hood. While final power & efficiency figures shall only be known upon commercial launch, the results have been promising. Those in the know have shared that fuel economy has improved by almost two-fifths over the diesel-only setup.
The Mahindra XUV500 Hybrid will also be equipped with regenerative braking. This should help in improving fuel economy, by harnessing kinetic energy & storing it. It can then be used while cruising within the city or during overtaking manoeuvres, in situations where an extra boost is required for brisk acceleration.
The Mahindra XUV500 Hybrid, is built around learnings from its e2o plugin-electric hatchback vehicle program that it runs successfully down in the southern market of the country. The power-pack, for example, is built on a similar architecture as is found in the e2o.
Mahindra as an auto-manufacturer has been showing a great deal of promise through its products in recent years. Leveraging its assets across segments. The manufacturer is putting some serious efforts towards churning out products that will offer a refined & powerful driving experience, whilst ensuring that the impact on the environment is being kept down to a minimum.
