{"id":570215,"date":"2026-08-15T22:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T22:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/570215\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T22:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T22:34:10","slug":"mahindras-electric-suvs-edge-closer-to-new-zealand-auto-trader-nz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/570215\/","title":{"rendered":"Mahindra&#8217;s electric SUVs edge closer to New Zealand \u2013 Auto Trader NZ"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mahindra New Zealand says it expects to know more about local plans for its electric SUVs within a fortnight, as the brand relaunches its BE 6 electric SUV in India with more range, more screens and a battery subscription scheme.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope to know in the next couple of weeks,\u201d the company told us when asked about bringing its born-electric range here.<\/p>\n<p>It would end a long wait. Two years ago Mahindra flew New Zealand journalists to Chennai to tour its battery development facilities, part of a push around the INGLO electric platform underpinning the BE 6 and its larger XEV 9e and XEV 9S siblings. Since then the local line-up has stayed combustion-only, built around the Scorpio and XUV700 SUVs and the ute range, while Chinese brands have filled the space the BE 6 would occupy.<\/p>\n<p>The car in question was updated in India this week as the BE 6 Sporteq, revealed on Independence Day and reaching Indian customers from 26 August.<\/p>\n<p>The headline addition is a 70kWh battery slotting between the existing 59kWh and 79kWh packs. All three use BYD Blade cells feeding a single rear motor, making up to 210kW and 380Nm in the largest-battery version. Mahindra claims 548km, 651km and 683km respectively on India\u2019s lenient MIDC cycle, with DC charging peaking at 140kW for the small pack and 180kW for the other two.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-1-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-125486\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Inside, a third 12.3-inch screen joins the existing pair on all but the entry variant, creating a full-width dashboard borrowed from the bigger XEVs. Behind it sits a new software suite including a Google Gemini-based voice assistant, in-car karaoke and gaming, and a digital key that works across Apple and Android phones.<\/p>\n<p>Two special editions top the range: a Launch Edition in Graphite Storm with a Racing Tan interior, and a Formula E Freedom Edition with satin paint, a two-screen race-style cockpit and an Acceleration Boost function that cuts the 0-100km\/h sprint to 6.44 seconds.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"728\" height=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-125487\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Indian pricing runs from 19.45 lakh rupees (around NZ$37,000) to 26.95 lakh (around NZ$51,500) before on-road costs. Buyers can also take the battery on subscription, dropping the entry price to 11.45 lakh (around NZ$22,000) and paying 3.75 rupees per kilometre over eight years.<\/p>\n<p>The BE 6 is built in right-hand drive for its home market, which removes the usual obstacle to a New Zealand launch. At Indian money it would land squarely among the Chinese electric SUVs that have reshaped this end of the market, though local pricing would inevitably be higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mahindra New Zealand says it expects to know more about local plans for its electric SUVs within a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570216,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-570215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}