After driving Maruti Suzuki eVitara in Gurugram, we recently drove Toyota Ebella in Bengaluru. It is a direct result of the strategic partnership between both brands. Just like eVitara, we didn’t know prices of Urban Cruiser Ebella during the drive, which is becoming quite a trend among Indian automotive OEMs these days. We wished that wasn’t the case as it makes it difficult for us to draw perspectives and conclusions.
Be that as it may, we experienced Toyota Ebella in Bengaluru across good roads, a few bad roads and on the highways to understand this vehicle. You don’t have to be a genius to realise that Toyota Ebella is quite late to the party. But now that it is here, here’s what we think about this C Segment EV.
Toyota Ebella First Drive Review – Design & Appearance
Starting with the way it looks, Toyota Ebella reminded us of Mahindra KUV100 (pre-facelift model) for some reason. Only from the front, though. Which is not a bad thing, in our opinion. Even though it is a badge-engineered version of Maruti Suzuki eVitara, Toyota designers have done a great job in creating a unique identity for Ebella. We can see that in the front and rear design where all the transformations lie.
At the front, Toyota has given Ebella a new fascia with its signature Hammerhead design language, inspired by other Toyota cars from its global lineup. We get a projector LED headlight setup in a much sleeker housing. There’s a pixel like LED DRL signature and we can also see a gloss Black element connecting both headlight units. Bumper is unique with Ebella, consisting of aerodynamic slits that are functional too.
Towards the rear, we get a unique pixel design LED tail light signature that gives Ebella its identity. Other than that, rear bumpers, side silhouette, UV-cut glass, 18-inch alloy wheels, 225-section tyres and body cladding are shared with Maruti Suzuki eVitara. Only attribute missing in Ebella that eVitara gets is LED fog lights, which is quite interesting. Ebella measures 4,285 mm in length, 1,800 mm in width, 1,640 mm in height and has a 2,700 mm long wheelbase and a 210 mm high ground clearance.
Even though Ebella is among the smaller offerings in its segment, it has a rather nice stance, thanks to its large 18-inch alloy wheels and wide 225-section tyres. We would have liked it if Toyota had scooped out some storage under its muscular bonnet (frunk), which is a missed opportunity. Just like eVitara, Toyota Ebella has a rather small boot, but there is a proper full-size alloy wheel kept as the spare, which is a trend we wish other manufacturers copy.
Interior Features
On the inside, there is nothing unique about Ebella when compared to eVitara, other than the Toyota badges which replace Suzuki ones. Dual tone Brown and Black theme looks contemporary and there are quite a few soft touch elements on dashboard and door trims. Seats are part leatherette and part fabric and only front seats are ventilated and only driver’s seat is 10-way electrically adjustable including under-thigh, which we liked.
Ebella’s rear seats can be reclined and they can even slide forward and backward. There are three adjustable head rests even though there isn’t genuine room for three adults back here. Also, the middle head rest is a major annoyance for driver to look through the small rear windshield via the IRVM. Rear bench is split 40:20:40 like in a European car allowing for centre part to tumble down to load longer items while seating four occupants. This also doubles up as a centre armrest bringing cup holders for convenience.
Rear seat occupants get dedicated AC vents, an almost flat floorboard, a Type-A and a Type-C USB ports and reading lights, but no rear sun shades. UV-cut glass works, but not good enough to replace a physical sun shade. At the front, dashboard is dominated by a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment screen and in the same housing is a 10.2-inch TFT instrument screen, but it is not aligned with infotainment screen, looking like it is in a different timezone altogether.
Infotainment screen shows a slight delay to react to touch inputs and overall UI needs some redesign and re-thinking to make it more intuitive. For example, ventilated seat control takes multiple screen taps and waits, which shouldn’t be the case. Also, the screen ratio is square-ish rather than being a wide rectangle, which means using two apps side by side in Android Auto is next to impossible.
TFT instrument cluster is quite functional and shows a host of informatics. Even navigation details are shown here, which sort of compensates for the lack of a HUD. The two-spoke steering wheel is nice to hold and has quite a few buttons for audio and instrumentation. Even cruise control and ADAS related buttons are on steering wheel too. There are no paddles to adjust regen, but there is a button on the floating centre console to turn on / off regen altogether. This is where we get an e-shifter which will take some time to get used to.
Even though ‘Hold’ function was engaged, we found that the electronic parking brake was not engaging automatically. Centre console has a few physical buttons for vehicular functions including a dial for volume and climate control buttons. Below it is a wireless charging pad and a couple of cupholders. If you’re looking for the 360-degree camera button, that’s inconveniently positioned behind steering wheel. IRVM is auto-dimming and there is a fixed glass roof and a manually opening shade, if you’re into those sorts of things.
Comfort & Drive Dynamics
The first thing anyone would notice after entering Toyota Ebella is its rather tall floor height, which we also complained about in eVitara as well. This ensures a knees up position for all occupants, but only the driver gets adjustable under-thigh support. Headroom is tight for rear occupants, which is acceptable for front occupants. Both driver and co-driver sun visors lack lights and the glovebox is not cooled, which was a shocker.
Driving the new Toyota Ebella is a pleasurable experience, which is a key strength of this platform. We drove the E3 trim with a larger 61 kWh battery pack promising up to 543 km range on a single charge. E3 has 128 PS of peak power and 193 Nm of instantaneous torque. Acceleration in Sports mode is quite addictive, which gets dulled quite a bit in Eco mode, while Normal mode is like a bridge between both.
Ebella’s suspension setup is on the softer side, which lends good ride quality. Bump absorption is quite commendable and suspension noises are well controlled. During our brief testing, we didn’t experience suspension bottoming out and ground clearance was adequate too. High speed cornering induces a lot of body roll, which is par for this segment. Braking performance left little room to complain and just needs a tad more initial bite. Perfectly par for its segment, though.
ADAS features worked well and were not very intrusive, unlike a few of its rivals. Toyota Ebella offers 7 airbags as standard including one for driver’s knee. Even though there are 360-degree cameras in Ebella, Toyota has not implemented blindspot assist with side camera feed projected on instrument cluster. Just like in eVitara, Toyota Ebella also misses out on load sensors for rear seats which triggers the seatbelt warning on instrument cluster.
Conclusion
Concluding the Toyota Ebella without knowing prices is a difficult task. It is more or less the same package as Maruti Suzuki eVitara. Ebella brings a more sophisticated design which lends it a more premium appeal. It brings the desirability of a Toyota badge, while losing functional features like fog lights which eVitara offers. Main highlight of Toyota Ebella could be its BaaS pricing along with a robust charging infrastructure, which it will share with eVitara.
Even though it is late to the party, it does not make an absolute statement. Depending on what you want in an EV, Toyota Ebella might be the right fit for you, or not. There’s no middle ground. Pricing and especially BaaS plans might change our opinions, though. If you are in the market to buy an electric SUV, you should probably check out Toyota Ebella, even if it isn’t on your shortlist. Especially if the BaaS prices fit your bill, whenever they are announced.
