First and foremost, the long awaited and long anticipated Maruti avatar, the Jimny Five Door. The Jimny five door has been anticipated to join the Maruti crew for a long time and it have finally arrived. Presented in the traditional lime green outfit, the Jimny stole the spotlight as it turned out to be the most anticipated one. This five door variant is first Jimny for India as it looks more practical for the Indian Market. According to the official reports there are two available trims namely alpha and zeta available in seven total colors of which two are dual tone. Also the officials has confirmed that the Jimny will only be sold through Nexa Showrooms.
The Jimny five door, like the normal one is having the body on frame construction and the Suzuki All-Grip Pro 4 wheel drive system. Under the hood, the Jimny is not given the much anticipated K series, but the K-15 B 1.5 Liter Petrol engine with mild hybrid tech giving out 105 HP power and 134 NM torque. The powertrain completes with a five speed manual or a four speed torque converter automatic gearbox coupled to it.
Along with the sufficient powertrain, Jimny is also loaded with all kinds of basic features and technical gimmicks and the usual safety features like six airbags, ESP and Hill-Hold Assist. This Jimny is to be launched bu the May of '23 with an expected price range of 12 lacks rivaling the to be launched five door Thar and five door Gurkha.
Next one on the line is the Ioniq five, another one to steal the spotlight as it was unveiled by the King Khan of Bollywood cinema, Shah Rukh Khan. Launched in the year 2022, the Ioniq 5 won the world car award for design of the year, world electric car of the year, and finally the supreme award of World Car Of The Year. The Ioniq 5 is an electric crossover from Korea, the second electric offering for India after the Kona EV. The Ioniq 5 is about 16 lakhs cheaper than the cousin model, the Kia EV 6. It is unveiled with an introductory price of about 44.95 lakhs offered for the first 500 costumers.
Designed in a retro inspired theme, the Ioniq 5 reminds you of that old cars with the sharp geometric lines, flat surfaces, cuts and creases. As the reports go, the Ioniq 5 draws inspiration from the retro futuristic design language of its concept. While the exterior somewhere looks like the old MK-4 Golf, the interior is no less than a tech store with an innocent steering wheel sitting in place, confused in the middle of screens. A 12.3 inch touch screen for instrument cluster and the normal tech features like the heads up display, and supporting ADAS and Augmented Reality.
More from the technical side, this thing is packed with an electrifying 72.6 KWH battery, supplying power to an electric motor which churns out about 217 HP and 350 NM torque with a range of 631 KM per charge according to ARAI. This battery also enables 800 Volt super-fast charging, which when connected to an 800 volt fast charges fills the juice from 10%-80% in 18 minutes.
The one interesting car on display from the English automakers MG was their MG-4 EV. The 4 EV was based on the Modular Scalar platform from the parent of iteration, SIAC. The car is roughly as same size as the current selling E-avatar, ZS EV. Designed with a sharp exterior with some small cuts and creases, made more simple by a minimalist interior and the normal tech features you expects on an MG vehicle, the 4 EV is given two battery pack options.
One is the 51 KWH battery coupled with an electric motor which tunes out 170 HP and 250 NM Torque. The second one is the 64 KWH battery coupled with a motor that produces 203 HP and 250 NM. Both battery packs have a claimed WLTP range of 350 KM/charge and 452 KM/charge respectively. On the international market, the 4 EV rivals with the Volkswagen ID.3 and many other electric models.
There was one interesting ICE display from the Indian automaker, Tata, the Altroz Racer, which is my personal favorite of all the cars shown. The Altroz Racer is the powered up version of the normal car currently in production, the Altroz. To be more precise, the racer edition is the performance oriented version of the normal car. The performance is extracted from a 1.2 Liter Turbo petrol engine which produces 120 HP and 170 NM, the power same as that of i20 N Line. Apart from changing the powerhouse, there are a few interior and exterior tweaks made to give the car a more performance feel.
The blacked out hood with white twin parallel stripes and the red plus black dual tone finish, 16 inch alloys and racer edition accents all over gives the car a more racy feel. The interior is given the dual tone finish with a lot of red accents around as well as a sunroof. Overall the aim of Tata to present a more performance focused car has gone out perfectly well. The officials also says that they are planning the official launch of this special edition according to the public response they get from the auto expo exhibition, so it is clearly in our hands wether or not to see this one of a kind Altroz on the roads.
Build Your Dreams, the Chinese company, abbreviated as the BYD electric motors, showcased their Tesla rival, the BYD Seal electric sedan. As the reports go, it is all set to be launched by the fourth quarter of 2023. The BYD Seal is another offering based on their ocean theme. Main highlights of the Seal are;
1. Rotating 15.6 inch infotainment display centre console, a 10.25 inch digital instrument cluster.
2. Coupe Like Glass roof and Flush fitting door handles
3. Four Boomerang shaped LED DRLS and Split Headlamps and a full width rear LED Bar.
The Seal is offered with two battery pack options, a 61.4 KWH with 550 KM per charge range, and a 82.5 KWH with 700 KM per charge. The small battery can be charged from up to 110 KW chargers and the big battery can be charged from up to 150 KW chargers. The seal is packed in a dual motor powertrain with an electric motor at the front axle producing 218 HP and a more powerful one at the rear churning out 312 HP. Combined, the dual motor churns out 530 horsepower, which pulls the car from 0-100 in around 3.8 seconds
According to the media reports the bookings for the BYD Seal are expected to be open from the September of 2023, and the launch is supposed to take place after a month. The Expected price of the car is to be about 70 lakhs ex showroom, which means after all the tax returns it will be queit above 75-80 lakhs.
Next one that struck my eye while going through the Auto Expo content was, the electric bike offering from Ultraviolette, the UV F-99. The F-99 is actually the more track focused version of their road going model F-77. Being the track version, the F-99 is given an upgrade in power and architecture. From the 60 volt architecture of that of F-77, the F-99 is given a 120 V architecture. It is given a 68 HP motor with which can achieve the top speed of 200 KPH.
Further more changes are made to the UV F-99 a proper racing machine. More convenient riding position, adjustable rear seat foot pegs, carbon fibre body panels and improved aerodynamic bits makes this a better race-focused machine, clocking some serious lap times around the circuit.
Now this are some of the interesting displays of the auto expo 2023. Making this post more lengthy is not good as both you and I will be bored after a bit, so on the next post we will be discussing about the concepts showcased on the auto expo.