Hyundai Motor India has introduced a Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) ownership model for the Creta Electric which is now available at an introductory price of Rs 10.99 lakh (ex-showroom), with customers paying separately for battery usage through a subscription plan starting at Rs 3.9 per kilometre.
With this announcement, Hyundai becomes the latest automaker to slash the upfront cost of electric vehicle ownership as competition in India’s electric SUV market intensifies. The announcement comes just after Tata Motors launched the Sierra EV, highlighting the growing battle for market share in the country’s rapidly expanding EV space.
Defensive Maneuvers
The move comes at a time when Hyundai’s EV business is under pressure. The company dispatched 347 electric vehicles in June, down 42% from 596 units a year earlier. With only two EVs in its portfolio, the Creta Electric and Ioniq 5, Hyundai has struggled to keep pace with market leaders Tata Motors, Mahindra and JSW MG Motor, all of which have rapidly expanded their electric vehicle line-ups across multiple price points. As a result, Hyundai’s share of the EV market has slipped to below 1% from around 4% a year ago.
Hyundai now joins a growing list of automakers that includes MG, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Kia and Toyota that have adopted battery subscription models to make EV ownership more affordable. Under the model, customers purchase the vehicle separately while paying for battery usage based on kilometres driven, substantially lowering the initial purchase cost.
Price Wars
The pricing also strengthens the Creta Electric’s competitive positioning. While its entry price matches that of Maruti Suzuki’s e Vitara under the BaaS model, Hyundai’s battery subscription starts at Rs 3.9 per km, marginally lower than the e Vitara’s Rs 3.99 per km.
Mechanically, the Creta Electric remains unchanged. It continues to be offered with 42 kWh and 51.4 kWh battery packs, with the larger battery delivering an ARAI-certified range of up to 510 km. Higher variants also come equipped with a 7.4 kW wall box charger as standard.
