A 500 km Test Drive with the Mahindra BE6: Surprising EV Performance

Friends, let me tell you about my recent 500 km trip with my Mahindra BE6, and how this EV really impressed me! It was my first real road trip in an electric car, and I was curious to see how it would perform

The trip had a mix of highway driving, some scenic routes, and a few breaks along the way

Friends, you understood, right? So, I picked a nice eco resort on the Trimbakeshwar road, just outside of Nashik, because it had a JioBP DC Fast charging station right on the premises

The stay was wonderful, but that’s not the focus here! I wanted to see how the Mahindra BE6 would handle a trip like this, just like I would with any ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car

I had two people onboard and a decent amount of luggage, and the car handled it all well

On the way there, I made a couple of stops – one for a quick tea break, and another to visit a relative

I was driving on a familiar highway, so I decided to test out the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) features

Lane Keep Assist, Lane Centering, and the way the car handled slowing down and speeding up with traffic was pretty impressive

The car didn’t just sprint back to match speed after slowing down; it was moderate and smooth

And the best part was, I could adjust all of these features in the Drive Assist app

Let me tell you, friends, the lane change assist was a real highlight! All I had to do was signal, and the car took care of the rest, even while navigating turns

It’s like the car is working with you, not just for you

The heads-up display (HUD) is integrated really well with all the ADAS features, showing real-time updates like a white line beneath the car to show it's matching speed with the vehicle in front

When I arrived at the resort, I had used around 320 km of range, and I was down to 34% battery

I went to the JioBP charging station, but unfortunately, it couldn’t handle the full 60kW charge

I had to lower the charging speed, but after adjusting it to 30kW, it worked fine

The charging station was a bit pricey, though, and I later found a better 60kW ChargeZone station in Nashik city, but I decided to avoid it to make the return trip in one go

On the way back, the trip was much smoother

I had a tea break and lunch break, and I was able to run the AC in ECON mode to save energy

The car’s AC is super powerful! Even with it set to 24°C, I felt chilled, and the ECON mode made it more efficient

By the time I got home, I had achieved 7

1 km/kWh before the tea break and 8

3 km/kWh after lunch

Pretty good, right? Friends, all in all, this trip gave me a lot of confidence

With just a little planning, I can easily use the Mahindra BE6 just like I would any other car

The range, efficiency, and ADAS features made the trip feel almost effortless

I’m definitely looking forward to more road trips with this EV!