Upcoming Maruti YY8 Electric Midsize SUV – What We Know So Far

Maruti Suzuki Futuro-e Concept 5
Maruti Suzuki Futuro-e Concept

Maruti Suzuki YY8 will likely go on sale in 2025 and is expected to have a driving range of up to 500 km in the real-world conditions

Maruti Suzuki is lining up a number of new SUV launches for the Indian market. Towards the end of this month, the largest carmaker in the country will introduce the new-gen Brezza and it will be followed by an all-new midsize SUV that could go by the name Vitara. The five-seater co-developed with Toyota will debut next month before the price announcement this festive season.

In 2023, Maruti Suzuki is expected to launch a compact crossover based on the Baleno’s Heartect platform and it could be followed by the India-spec Jimny lifestyle off-roader. In addition, a seven-seater range-topping premium SUV will be introduced in the coming years. By the middle of this decade, Maruti Suzuki will expand its partnership with Toyota by bringing in its first all-electric SUV.

Internally codenamed YY8, it will reportedly feature a new radical styling philosophy and it will also target export markets, just like the upcoming Vitara. As for the dimensions, it will be bigger and wider than the Hyundai Creta and it will be similar in proportions to the MG ZS EV. However, it will likely be priced along the lines of the Tata Nexon EV – the country’s best-selling passenger EV currently.

Maruti Suzuki Futuro-e Concept Auto Expo
Maruti Suzuki Futuro-e Concept

Courtesy of a new dedicated electric skateboard architecture known as 27PL, derived from Toyota’s global 40PL, it will have a wheelbase length of 2,700 mm and the optimal packaging and flat floor should result in a spacious cabin. The Maruti Suzuki YY8 will be developed in both 2WD and AWD configurations but the domestic market may only get the 2WD variant.

It will use a single electric motor capable of 138 hp and a 48 kWh Li-ion battery pack enabling a claimed range of 400 km while the twin electric motor system producing a combined power of 170 hp will work in tandem with a larger 59 kWh battery pack to have a real-world range of 500 km.

It will undergo high localisation and the starting price could be around Rs. 13 lakh (ex-showroom). The midsize electric SUV segment will certainly get interesting in the coming years as mainstream manufacturers will vie for the spotlight in the lucrative space.

SOURCESource