Naza Eastern Motors has announced that the Suzuki eVitara battery-electric vehicle has now gone on sale in Malaysia. The compact electric SUV, which is also sold as the Urban Cruiser by Toyota, will be available in limited units here, the company said.
First up, the pricing, and the Suzuki eVitara is priced at RM188,000, on-the-road without insurance. This makes it RM10k cheaper than the Toyota Urban Cruiser, which was launched here in April, priced at RM198,000 (also on-the-road without insurance). The eVitara is a CBU import from India, where it is built alongside the UC.
Revealed in November 2024, the eVitara, which is underpinned by a Heartect-e platform, measures 4,275 mm long, 1,800 mm wide and 1,635 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,700 mm, while wheel track widths are 1,540 mm and 1,545 mm front and rear, respectively, and ground clearance is 180 mm. Kerb weight for the vehicle is 1,891 kg.
As was indicated by the UC, the eVitara isn’t very big, around the size of a Mazda CX-3 (4,275 mm, 1,765 mm), but it is taller – in terms of sizing, it has a smaller footprint than typical B-segment ICE SUVs like the Proton X50 and Honda HR-V.
While there’s no running away from the overall shape between it and the UC, the eVitara naturally has a different face, with a unique hexagonal front end and three-point matrix lighting elements helping to differentiate it from the Toyota. The headlights are LED projectors, and the daytime running lights and fog lamps are also LED units. The SUV rides on the same 18-inch two-tone alloys (with 225/55 tyres) as the UC.
Like the Toyota UC sold here, the eVitara for Malaysia comes in a single front motor guise. Numbers are likewise identical to the UC, with 174 PS (172 hp, or 128 kW) and 193 Nm of torque from the motor, which draws power from a 61.1 kWh lithium iron phosphate 120-cell battery. The LFP unit is supplied by BYD, but made in India.
Combined WLTP range is 426 km and max charging rates are 7 kW AC and 67 kW DC – the latter can get you from 15-80% SoC in around 45 minutes. As for AC charging, the battery can be juiced to full in approximately nine hours using a 7kW charger. Performance wise, the 0-100 km/h sprint is accomplished in 7.4 seconds and the top speed for the car is 150 km/h.
Inside, the cabin will be familiar from its UC twin, with a two-tone presentation on call, complete with piano black accents and high luminance dark silver trim. There’s a two-spoke steering wheel, a floating centre console with shift-by-wire controls and two digital displays (10.25-inch instrument meter, 10.1-inch infotainment).
Standard equipment include a wireless Qi mobile charger, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, a sunroof (manual shade) and the same upholstery combination as presented on the UC, which consists of perforated synthetic leather, a breathable melange jersey and brown synthetic leather. There’s a different audio system to the Toyota – the eVitara runs with an Infinity sound system compared to the JBL on the UC.
The eVitara features a comprehensive suite of safety and driver assistance systems, with the latter including adaptive cruise control (ACC), lane keep assist (LKA), lane departure prevention (LDP), blind spot monitor (BSM) and rear cross traffic alert (RCTA). There’s also a 360-degree camera system.
Five exterior colour options are available, and these are Celestial Blue Pearl Metallic, Bluish Black Pearl and three two-tone combinations, in this case Land Breeze Green Pearl Metallic, Splendid Silver Pearl Metallic and Grandeur Grey Pearl Metallic, all three with a Bluish Black Pearl contrast shade.
The Suzuki eVitara comes with a five-year unlimited mileage vehicle warranty, five-year/100,000km BEV components warranty and an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty. The company said that the first 10 buyers will receive five years of complimentary EV charging at selected dealerships (terms and conditions apply).
The post Suzuki eVitara EV launched in Malaysia – 174 PS and 193 Nm, 426 km WLTP, CBU from India, RM188,000 appeared first on Paul Tan’s Automotive News.
