BHPian velocirpator recently shared this with other enthusiasts: We’ve always been a two-car household, with a 7-seater for the heavy lifting and airport pickup duties, and a hatchback for the convenience and fun. This past winter season in NCR hasn’t been kind, with mad-high AQI resulting in the baffling and silly GRAP rules, leaving a trail of confusion with daily drives. My bigger car has been a 2020 XUV 500 W11 AT (Diesel) – a superb and dependable workhorse with absolutely no issues these past five years. But being BS4, it’s been parked a better part of the winter season as – lovingly maintained as it is – we simply couldn’t take it out. Got stopped by the cops a couple of times, and the fines of course were 20K. Never mind that the whole rule is a sham – and a money making opportunity for the people involved. That’s when I resigned myself to the idea of changing this (otherwise perfect) car, and replacing it with one that wouldn’t be mired by the vagaries of our polluted reality. I’ve always been a petrolhead, but of late I was tempted by the idea of electric propulsion. The only thing I really needed to come to terms with was the absence of drama, which is primarily what EVs are all about. The acceleration and speed are there – in spades – but sans the visceral excitement of a high-revving engine, even the smell of burning fuel, the sensory experience of an EV doesn’t add up, in our fossil fuel conditioned experience. But then, I have my 2022 Polo GT TSI for that, so why not – I thought – go the EV route to replace the 7-seater. It was November 2024 when the bee got under my bonnet, and my research at the time was quite swift. That’s because there was literally just one option at the time in my budget – the then-recently launched BYD eMAX 7. The successor to the workhorse E6, I was intrigued by what appeared to be better fit and finish, beefier performance numbers (201 bhp, 310Nm of twisty power with the Superior varian), and a larger battery (71.8 kWh) that claimed to deliver up to 530 Km of range on a full charge. I wasn’t too concerned about the ADAS features – I reckoned the novelty would quickly wear off, and I anyway prefer being in full control of the driving experience. And so began my journey acquiring it. I reached out to Kristan Auto in Gurgaon, and got to chatting with Navjyot Sodhi, their AGM. A super helpful chap, who organized the test drive and answered my many questions patiently. I took it for a spin with another petrohead friend, and appreciated the planted experience this 1.8 tonne vehicle delivered – silly quick acceleration, and with instant torque lets it pull from 40 to 80 as easily as 80 to 120 Kmph. A minivan really doesn’t have any business being so quick. It was also easy to get hooked onto those many touches – the panoramic skylight, keyless NFC card entry, the responsive and well designed user interface of the infotainment system, the car-spanning cameras, and that no-fuss performance. I paid the down payment of 51K and hunkered down to wait for delivery, which was pegged as end-Feb/early March 2025. So when I got a call from Navjyot earlier in Feb that a consignment of cars had arrived and mine was among them, I was thrilled. Things moved quickly after that – I made the rest of the payments over the following days, and got delivery of the car on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the middle of February. Super efficient and professional delivery by the Kristan BYD team – with all the paperwork at the ready, my wife, daughter and I were in an out of the showroom in under an hour (which included 20 mins of checking out the new BYD Sealion 7, which I made a conscientious effort not to be tempted by. For now.) The Cosmos Black paint job on the eMAX 7, IMO, looks fantastic on this car, adding to its allure and accentuating the flowing lines. After spending a little over a week with it and getting accustomed to ‘the EV way of thinking’, I’ve been impressed by how sorted this car is. It drives like a dream, and the lack of drama does make for an overall more chilled commute. Not sure if it’s the placebo effect of a new car, but I do find myself less drained by the drive back home from work. The condo I live in is unfortunately slow in enabling EV ownership – they don’t as yet allow the bundled 7.2 kW wall charger to be installed at the parking bay in the basement. So for now I charge it at the office, which I go to thrice a week. Using the 3.3 kW portable charger (sold separately) that plugs into a typical 16A power socket, I found it adds about 15 percent of charge over a typical eight hour day. Not much I know, but it suffices where over three days of office visits it tops it up to a full charge. And in case of a crunch, there are a bunch of EV fast charging stations near where I live in Gurgaon (many to be found on the PlugShare, Statiq, and Jio-bp Pulse app.) I do consider myself sold on the concept of EV propulsion – and I know any self-respecting petrolhead will cringe – but I have a newfound respect for the tech, and how far it’s come in the vehicles these days. I still adore my Polo GT TSI for its button-tight handling and agility (which I’m planning a Stage 1 mod in the not-too-distant future), so between that and the BYD, I guess I’m now a Petrol-Electron head? I’ll keep this thread updated with more discoveries and opinions as I continue to clock the Kms. Meanwhile, a few photos of the newest addition to our family… Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.
