Mahindra e2o EV – woeful successor to the G-Whiz – pulled from sale in the UK

The Mahindra e2o electric city car, the successor to the even more awful G-Whiz, is being pulled from the UK market after a year due to a complete lack of sales.

Just over a year ago, Indian car maker Mahindra launched the e2o electric city car in the UK market, proclaiming the age of affordable electric motoring had arrived. But it hadn’t.

Costing from £13k for the entry-level model, and £16k for the ‘luxury’ model (both prices after EV grant), the e2o offered a paltry 42bhp electric motor, took 18 seconds to hit 50mph on its way to a top speed of 63mph, and promised a range of 79 miles from its tiny battery.

As we said at the time, so poor is the offering that you shouldn’t waste your money, and that for the price of the £16k ‘luxury’ model you could actually buy a pre-reg Nissan LEAF, a proper electric car with proper safety standards. 

It seems you were listening, as Mahindra has now withdrawn the e2o from the UK market, citing untenable sales levels (did they sell any?) and appear to be blaming the post-Brexit climate for the lack of success. Yeah, right.

In truth, the e2o hasn’t sold because it’s a woeful car – just like its predecessor the G-Whiz – and did nothing to advance the case for an electric city car, in fact quite the reverse.

It seems Mahindra will now concentrate on developing sales in its home market, but in a country the size of India it’s going to find things equally as difficult when there’s little in the way of a recharging infrastructure, or any real appetite for EVs full stop, never mind one as poor as the e2o.

The Mahindra e2o should never have made it to the market in the first place.