Suzuki eVitara REAL Range Test

Suzuki eVitara REAL Range Test -

Maruti Suzuki claims 543 km for the e Vitara's 61 kWh battery. I drove Pune to Mumbai and back with real traffic, AC on and two people in the car to find out what it actually does. The answer: about 480 km of real-world range, for ₹339 in electricity. Here's every number.

The short answer

Result	Number
Round-trip distance	287.7 km
Battery used	60% (about 36.6 kWh)
Real-world range on a full charge	About 480 km
Compared with the ARAI claim (543 km)	88% of the claim
Electricity cost for the round trip	About ₹339 (≈ ₹1.2 per km)

How I ran the test

I wanted a real owner's test, not a perfect-conditions one. So I simply drove the trip the way most people would:

• Car: Maruti Suzuki e Vitara, 61 kWh battery
• Route: Pune ⇄ Mumbai via the Mumbai–Pune Expressway, plus city traffic at both ends
• Load: 2 people and light luggage
• AC: on the whole time, set to 24°C
• Speed: cruise control at about 85 km/h on the expressway
• Data: distance, average speed and efficiency from the Suzuki Connect app; battery % and range from the dashboard
• Charging: home charging only, on my MSEDCL green EV meter at ₹9.25 per unit. No charging during the trip.

Leg 1: Pune → Mumbai (13 October 2026)

I left at 5:49 AM with the battery at 99%, and reached Mumbai at 8:54 AM.

Measure	Pune → Mumbai
Time	3 h 04 min
Distance	143.37 km
Average speed	48.35 km/h
Efficiency (Suzuki Connect)	9.27 km/kWh
Battery	99% → 74% (25% used)
Range shown	462 km → 333 km
Distance per 1% battery	5.7 km
Energy used / cost	≈ 15.3 kWh / ≈ ₹141

At this pace, a full battery would last about 573 km. That's better than the ARAI claim, but there's a reason, and it's the most interesting part of this test.

Leg 2: Mumbai → Pune (16 October 2026)

I left Mumbai at 5:22 PM with 69% battery and reached home at 9:14 PM.

Measure	Mumbai → Pune
Time	3 h 51 min
Distance	144.29 km
Average speed	39.96 km/h
Efficiency (Suzuki Connect)	6.51 km/kWh
Battery	69% → 34% (35% used)
Range shown	313 km → 158 km
Distance per 1% battery	4.1 km
Energy used / cost	≈ 21.4 kWh / ≈ ₹197

Same road, almost the same distance, but 40% more battery used. At this pace a full battery would last about 412 km.

Why the return trip used 40% more battery

As an engineer, this was the part I found most interesting. Three things worked against the return leg:

1. Climbing the ghat. Pune sits roughly 550 metres higher than Mumbai. Going to Mumbai, the car comes down the Khandala ghat and regenerative braking puts energy back into the battery. Coming home, it has to lift the whole car (close to 2 tonnes with two people inside) back up that height. That energy has to come from the battery.
2. Evening traffic. The return leg was in Friday-evening traffic. The average speed dropped from 48 to 40 km/h, with much more stop-and-go.
3. Longer time with the AC running. The return took 47 minutes longer, so the AC ran longer for the same distance.

The lesson: one-way range figures can fool you. A downhill run makes any EV look amazing. Always judge range on a round trip.

The real range: 480 km

Putting both legs together gives the honest number:

• Total distance: 287.7 km
• Total battery used: 60% (25% + 35%)
• Distance per 1%: 287.7 ÷ 60 = 4.8 km
• Full-battery range: 4.8 × 100 = about 480 km

Cross-check: weighting each leg's Suzuki Connect efficiency by its distance gives about 7.6 km/kWh. Multiplied by 61 kWh, that's about 466 km, close to the battery-% method. So the real range for mixed expressway and city driving is about 465–480 km.

	Range
ARAI claim (61 kWh)	543 km
My real round trip	About 480 km (88%)
Downhill leg only (Pune → Mumbai)	573 km pace
Uphill evening leg only (Mumbai → Pune)	412 km pace

Getting 88% of an ARAI figure with the AC on, two people, and real traffic is a good result. ARAI figures are measured on a standard test cycle, not on a real expressway with a ghat in the middle.

What it cost: ₹339 for 288 km

	e Vitara (my test)	Petrol SUV (15 km/L)
Energy price	₹9.25 per unit	₹111.90 per litre
Cost per km	≈ ₹1.2	≈ ₹7.5
Pune ⇄ Mumbai round trip (287.7 km)	≈ ₹339	≈ ₹2,146

That's about ₹1,800 saved on one round trip, roughly six times cheaper. The petrol figure uses Pune's price of ₹111.90 per litre as of 22 October 2026. My EV cost is based on the energy that left the battery; the units on the wall meter are slightly higher because some energy is lost while charging.

My tips for an expressway trip in the e Vitara

• Charge to 100% the night before. The e Vitara's LFP battery is fine with a full charge, and you start with maximum buffer.
• Expect the uphill leg to cost more. Plan your return to Pune with 35–40% battery for the trip, not 25%.
• Cruise at 80–90 km/h. Higher speeds use energy much faster.
• Use strong regen on the ghat descent to recover energy and save your brakes.
• Travel outside peak hours when you can. Stop-and-go evening traffic noticeably cut my efficiency.
• Pune ⇄ Mumbai ⇄ Pune is easy on one charge. I got home with 34% left, with no public charging needed.

The bottom line

The Maruti Suzuki e Vitara 61 kWh gave me about 480 km of real range on a mixed expressway round trip. That's 88% of the ARAI claim, at a running cost of about ₹1.2 per km. For Pune–Mumbai drivers, it means a full round trip on a single home charge for about the price of a coffee and a snack.

Watch the video

See the full drive, the dashboard readings and the ghat section in my video. Range Test

Subscribe to eVSafar.in on YouTube for more real-world EV tests, and tell me in the comments: what range do you get from your EV?

Related posts: My EV home charging setup and real costs · e Vitara charging rules · How to change regen settings

Cleaner Roads — Brighter Tomorrows.

These results are from one round trip in my own car. Range varies with speed, traffic, temperature, load, AC use and driving style. Energy figures are estimated from battery percentage × 61 kWh and Suzuki Connect readings.