Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Kirloskar Motor are all set to enter the electric vehicle (EV) segment with midsize SUVs in 2025. The Maruti e-Vitara will be the first EV from the Indo-Japanese automaker in India, which recently had its world premiere. The model will be showcased at the Bharat Mobility Show in January 2025, with prices to be announced a couple of months later. On the other hand, Toyota will launch the Urban Cruiser EV, which is essentially based on Maruti’s e-Vitara. Its market debut is likely to happen towards the end of 2025.
Both EVs share the same platform, powertrain, features, and components. However, the e-Vitara and Toyota Urban Cruiser EV are visually distinct from each other. Let’s examine what differentiates these two EVs.
Maruti e-Vitara vs. Toyota Urban Cruiser EV – Design
- The e-Vitara SUV closely resembles the eVX concept, featuring sharper angles and creases along with a muscular build. The production-ready Urban Cruiser EV, however, appears as a slightly toned-down version of its concept, showcasing a cleaner and more minimalist design language.
- Maruti Suzuki’s EV features tri-slash LED DRLs at the front and rear, with charging ports located on the front flanks. Toyota’s electric SUV, on the other hand, sports a completely different front grille, slim headlamps, and smaller LED DRL elements. It also lacks the fog lamp assembly seen in the e-Vitara.
- Both EVs have massive body-side cladding, C-pillar-mounted rear door handles, and aero-optimized alloy wheels. The rear sections of both vehicles look similar, with features such as full-width LED taillamps, a roof-mounted spoiler, and a blacked-out rear bumper. However, the badging differs between the two models.
- In terms of dimensions, both EVs have the same width and wheelbase, measuring 1,800mm and 2,700mm, respectively. The e-Vitara is slightly shorter than Toyota’s EV, with a length of 4,275mm and a height of 1,637mm. The Urban Cruiser EV measures 4,285mm in length and 1,640mm in height. The e-Vitara has a ground clearance of 180mm.
Maruti e-Vitara vs. Toyota Urban Cruiser EV – Interior
- The interiors of the e-Vitara and Urban Cruiser EV share a strong resemblance. However, the former features a dual-tone black and brown interior theme with silver accents, while the latter adopts an all-black theme with piano black accents.
- Both EVs are equipped with a floating dual-screen setup for infotainment and instrumentation, a twin-spoke flat-bottom steering wheel, rectangular AC vents, a wireless phone charger, single-zone automatic climate control, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, a sunroof, a JBL sound system, sliding and reclining rear seats, an ADAS suite, hill descent control, a 360-degree camera, and more.
Shared Powertrain and Platform
- The new Maruti electric SUV and its Toyota counterpart are built on a skateboard platform called Heartect-e.
- Both models will offer two battery pack options – 49kWh and 61kWh – and a front axle-mounted electric motor delivering 144bhp and 189Nm with the smaller battery, and 174bhp and 189Nm with the larger battery.
- An AWD dual-motor setup will be available exclusively with the 61kWh battery variants, producing 184bhp and 300Nm of torque. This higher-spec version will also include a ‘Trail Mode’ and hill descent control for enhanced off-road capability.
