Suzuki recently revealed its first electric car in the world titled Suzuki e Vitara at Milan in Italy. It will be sold here in India as the Maruti Suzuki e Vitara and will be officially launched in the coming weeks.
Toyota has just revealed its rebadged version of the e Vitara named the Toyota Urban Cruiser EV. The Urban Cruiser EV is basically the Maruti e Vitara with a bit of cosmetic changes.
The battery and motor combinations that will be offered on the Urban Cruiser EV are exactly the same as ones that will be there on the e Vitara. The power and torque outputs are identical too. The Toyota Urban Cruiser EV range hasn’t been disclosed yet.
While the wheelbase and other key dimensions remain the same, the Urban Cruiser EV is longer than the Maruti e Vitara by 10mm, and taller by 5mm. It gets a connected light bar at the rear and the front lamps are connected by a thick strip of chrome. There are different bumpers and other styling elements to differentiate it from its Suzuki counterpart.
The Urban Cruiser EV gets an all-black theme on the interior as opposed to the dual-colour theme on the e Vitara. The dashboard layout is the same, albeit with Toyota badging on the steering wheel. Expected features include independently sliding rear seats, an ADAS suite, 360-degree cameras, a 10.25-inch digital display for the driver, a 10.1-inch infotainment screen, JBL audio system, and a fixed sunroof.
Maruti Suzuki will be launching the e Vitara in India by mid-2025, and Toyota is expected to launch their version a little later than that. The company is yet to put out an official statement about the same. Production of both these upcoming electric SUVs in India will take place at the Suzuki plant in Gujarat both for domestic sales and exports.