Mahindra just made its two big electric SUVs a lot cheaper to drive home. The catch? You rent the battery, the priciest bit of any EV, instead of owning it. Under the new BaaS scheme, the XEV 9e and XEV 9S now start at ₹11.45 lakh (ex-showroom). That's a lower entry cost, but you pay a monthly battery rental on top. So the real question is simple: does BaaS actually save you money, or does it just shift the cost around?
What is Mahindra's BaaS scheme for the XEV 9e and XEV 9S?
BaaS stands for Battery-as-a-Service. In a normal EV purchase, the battery is built into the price, and it's the single most expensive part. Under BaaS, Mahindra sells you the car without the battery, then rents the battery to you for a fixed monthly fee. You get the same SUV, the same range, and the same charging. The only difference is you don't own the battery pack. Think of it like renting a fridge instead of buying it: you use it fully, but you keep paying a monthly amount. Mahindra first tried this idea on cheaper EVs, and now it has brought it to the flagship XEV 9e and XEV 9S.
New starting price: ₹11.45 lakh, how much you save upfront
The headline is the lower entry price. Under BaaS, the XEV 9e and XEV 9S now start at ₹11.45 lakh (ex-showroom). Remember, ex-showroom is not the final price. On-road costs add road tax, registration, and insurance, and that varies by state, so check your local RTO. The battery is one of the costliest components in any EV, so removing it from the sticker price brings the upfront figure down sharply. For a buyer worried about the big first payment or the EMI on a loan, this makes the car far easier to drive home. But that upfront saving is not free money; it just moves to your monthly bill.
Mahindra XEV 9e
SUVThe monthly battery rental: what you'll pay and for how long
Here's where we're honest with you: Mahindra has not officially confirmed the exact rental figures for these two models yet. So we're working with the scheme's known mechanics, not a fixed number. In a typical BaaS structure, you pay a fixed monthly rental for the battery for as long as you use the car. That rental is usually tied to the battery size and how many kilometers you drive. The upside is predictability; you know your monthly outgo, and battery health worries become Mahindra's problem, not yours. The downside is that the payments never stop. As long as you drive the car, the rental keeps running.
BaaS vs. full ownership: which costs less over 5 years?
This is the sum that actually matters. With full ownership, you pay the whole price once and you're done; the battery is yours. With BaaS, you pay less at the start but keep paying every month. Over a short period, BaaS clearly wins because your upfront cost is much lower. Over five to seven years, the monthly rentals add up, and a private owner who drives modest kilometers may end up paying more in total than if they'd just bought outright. There's also resale to think about. Selling a BaaS car is more complex, because the next owner inherits the rental too. If you plan to keep the car long and sell it later, outright ownership is usually cleaner.
Who should opt for BaaS, and who should just buy outright?
BaaS makes real sense for high-mileage drivers, think fleet operators, cab and Uber owners, or anyone clocking heavy daily running. For them, the low entry price frees up cash, and the predictable monthly rental is easy to fold into running costs. The battery doing lots of work is Mahindra's headache, not theirs. For a normal private buyer who drives 30-40 km a day and keeps a car for years, an outright purchase is usually the smarter long-term play. You avoid a bill that never ends, and reselling stays simple. If cash-in-hand today matters more than the total over seven years, BaaS fits the bill. If you want to own the whole car and keep it long, buy it outright.
References: Mahindra India — official website
