Mahindra’s 2025 XEV 9e and BE 6e arrive like a tech expo in an SUV silhouette: enormous battery packs, a stereo system that could attract local wildlife, and enough sensors to make spy agencies jealous. These two siblings—available with 59kWh or 79kWh batteries—aim to be family haulers, long-distance commuters, and weekend show-offs, all while promising to bring your garage into the future. If you like driving cars that occasionally remind you they’re really sophisticated computers with wheels, this is for you.
Key Features
Brake-by-Wire with Regeneration
Mahindra replaces the familiar mechanical link with an electronic brake-by-wire system that claims a 200ms response time (versus ~400ms in conventional cars) and an impressive-sounding 18% real-world range improvement due to regenerative braking. Practically, that means stronger energy recovery when you lift off the accelerator and the option of single-pedal driving—ideal for stop-and-go city traffic. It’s elegant, efficient and slightly disconcerting if you enjoy the tactile predictability of hydraulic brakes. In panic-stop scenarios, the conventional rotors still kick in, so it’s not all science fiction.
43.3-inch ‘Cinemascope’ Triple Screen
Yes, they fit three screens under one pane of glass and call it Cinemascope. The centre stack handles infotainment, the driver gets a non-touch instrument cluster, and the passenger can watch movies without leaning over. There are visible bezels between screens (spoiler: the future still has bezels), and you can expand to five screens with rear accessories. It’s flashy, useful for road-trip passengers, and mildly threatening to anyone who preferred analog solitude in a cabin.
Software-Defined Vehicle (SDV) Architecture
Mahindra stacks hardware, middleware (Blackberry QNX), and Android Automotive atop a Qualcomm Snapdragon Cockpit SoC. Translation: the car can receive OTA updates, run third-party apps, and behave increasingly like your smartphone with an ego. This opens the door to continuous improvement—and the occasional software hiccup. It’s a big leap for India-made EVs and means new features can come after you buy the car. Whether that’s reassuring or terrifying depends on how much you trust push updates labeled ‘improves braking dynamics.’
Harman Kardon 16-Speaker Audio with Dolby Atmos
A 1400W, 15-channel amp and 16 speakers. Dolby Atmos. QuantumLogic Immersive. If you’ve ever wanted to stage a mobile concert, this is your car. The speakers are everywhere: dashboard, doors, under seats, and even in the boot. It delivers spine-tingling bass at low speeds and can transform a grocery run into a blockbuster trailer. Downsides: party mode isn’t free—blast that subwoofer and you’ll be eating into your battery reserves faster than you can say “encore.”
VisionX HUD with Augmented Reality
A head-up display that promises the illusion of a 75-inch projection 10 metres ahead and auto-adjusts based on your eye position. It puts speed, ADAS cues, and navigation where you already stare: slightly off-centre and judging your life choices. Useful on highways and in complex intersections; potentially intrusive on scenic drives. The eye-tracking adjustment is neat but raises questions about cabin camera privacy.
Top-Tier ADAS: Mobileye EyeQ6
Level-2 ADAS with EyeQ6, four cameras, five radars, and a dozen parking sensors—Mahindra isn’t playing pin-the-sensor-on-the-car. Features include adaptive cruise, lane assist, and a rather impressive auto-park that can even park without you inside. It works well in controlled environments, albeit with the usual caveats: it’s driver-assist, not driver-replace.
Auto Park (With or Without a Driver)
Need to disappear into a café while your car squeezes itself into a slot? The XEV 9e/BE 6e can do that. Mahindra says the system is tuned for 200+ parking scenarios and can be triggered from the key fob. It’s delightfully convenient and slightly unnerving if you’re inclined to trust your machine to find better parking etiquette than the local population.
Battery, Range, and Charging
Choose 59kWh or 79kWh. ARAI claims are lofty (540–680km depending on pack), and Mahindra promises 20–80% DC charging in roughly 20 minutes with 140–175kW chargers. Real-world efficiency numbers of ~8–9 kmpu are surprisingly respectable for a heavy hauler. For long trips, the larger battery and 175kW charging are lifesavers—if you can find compatible chargers that are actually working.
Other Quirks: Glass Roof, Ambient Lighting, Paw-Friendly Mode
There’s a fixed glass roof with integrated ambient lights that change with speed, a party-light mode synced to the stereo, and even a paw-friendly setting that keeps pets comfortable and the cabin secured. Cute, practical, and possibly liable to attract neighborhood attention—especially when the car decides to host a disco for your dachshund.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Long real-world range and fast 175kW DC charging—excellent for road trips that don’t require living in rest-stop cafés.
- Impressive ADAS hardware (Mobileye EyeQ6) and practical autonomy features like auto-park even without a driver.
- SDV architecture allows OTA feature upgrades and third-party apps—your car can get smarter over time.
- Luxury-grade infotainment and a 16-speaker Harman Kardon system that makes audio snobs weep.
- Generous battery warranty (10 years/200,000 km) that actually says “we believe in our cells.”
Cons:
- Tech overload: plenty of systems to love, and just as many to fail or need updates. The more software, the more moving parts in the intangible sense.
- Privacy and security concerns—facial recognition, cabin cameras, and live feeds are great until your data policy reads like a Bond villain’s manifesto.
- Party-mode and massive stereo are battery-hungry. Urban joyrides become range management exercises.
- Hardware-heavy ADAS and sensors are costly to repair; a ding in the bumper might be more expensive than you think.
- The triple-screen look is polarising—some will find it gaudy, others will call it progress. Both are correct.
User Experience
Driving the XEV 9e/BE 6e feels like piloting a very polite, slightly smug robot. Single-pedal driving and the regenerative brake-by-wire system are addictive in traffic: you lift off and the car slows, harvesting energy like a thrift-store hoarder. The steering’s variable ratio and 5-metre turning radius make city manoeuvres almost pleasant; it’s the rare large EV that doesn’t feel like wrestling a barge in a supermarket car park.
The cabin is plush and tech-stuffed: the HUD and triple screens are useful, the Harman Kardon system is sumptuous, and the interior materials have that new-car smell you paid for. But every convenience brings decisions: Which driver profile? Which app permissions? Do you want to let the car call your LinkedIn contacts? The user experience blends luxury with an unexpected admin workload. Occasional software nudges pop up like helpful-yet-intrusive relatives.
Comparison
Against rivals in the Indian market and sub-60 lakh price band, few cars pack this combination of range, charge speed, and tech stack. Tata’s Sierra EV pushes safety and interior design but lags in sensor counts and battery size. Cheaper EVs may flirt with one or two of these features, but Mahindra couples them—often at a premium. If you want raw acceleration and long range in one package, the XEV 9e/BE 6e stand tall. If you want simpler, cheaper and mechanically conservative transport, rivals win on reliability and cost-of-ownership predictability.
Who Should Buy This
Buy this if you are the sort of person who enjoys: long highway runs interrupted only by fast chargers, showing up to school pickup with Dolby Atmos on full blast, or being an early adopter who relishes periodic software updates. It’s ideal for families who need space, professionals who travel between cities, and tech enthusiasts who like their cars to be more like living rooms on wheels.
Don’t buy this if you want a low-drama, low-maintenance daily that simply gets you to work. If you live in an area with patchy fast-charger infrastructure, the 79kWh pack’s benefits will be blunted, and you might instead prefer a simpler EV with a robust dealer network.
Value for Money
Mahindra is pitching the XEV 9e/BE 6e at a premium: think of them as aspirational, next-generation SUVs rather than bargain-basement commuters. For the features offered—large battery, rapid DC charging, EyeQ6 ADAS, SDV capability, and a 10-year battery warranty—the price is defensible if you use the tech. If your driving life is 90% urban errands and 10% highway, the cost-to-benefit ratio slips; the extra tech is underused and you’re effectively paying for future-proofing you won’t immediately need.
Practical scenario: a frequent intercity commuter will save time and stress with the 79kWh pack and 175kW charging; a city-only driver might find the 59kWh variant and fewer speakers more economical.
My honest opinion: If you crave a tech-forward EV that doubles as an entertainment system, road-trip machine, and status statement—and you accept the occasional software quirk and privacy trade-offs—then the 2025 Mahindra XEV 9e/BE 6e are among the most compelling packages on the market. They’re not for purists who worship simplicity, but they are for people who want their next car to keep getting smarter while still being very good at driving.