Hyundai India has introduced Battery-as-a-Service for the Hyundai Creta Electric. This has resulted in a drop in the entry price from Rs 18.03 lakh to Rs 10.99 lakh (ex-showroom). For buyers who've been priced out of the Creta Electric so far, this is a significant shift — that's a Rs 7 lakh reduction upfront with the battery cost replaced by a usage charge of Rs 3.90 per kilometre. Hyundai becomes the seventh carmaker to offer BaaS in India following the likes of MG, Citroen, Kia, Maruti Suzuki as well as Toyota. Read on to learn more.
Does BaaS Change the Math?
Under the BaaS subscription model, you own the car but not the battery. Instead of paying for the battery upfront, you pay Rs 3.90 for every kilometre driven, charged separately. On a 30 km daily commute, that
works out to Rs 117 per day, roughly Rs 3,500 a month or Rs 42,000 a year in battery usage charges. Add that to a loan EMI on the Rs 10.99 lakh vehicle price and the monthly outlay could end up comparable to or sometimes higher than a conventional outright purchase on EMI, depending on how much you drive.
The key advantage is the lower loan amount and down payment which makes the car accessible to buyers who couldn't arrange financing at the full Rs 18+ lakh price. Hyundai hasn't released a full variant-wise BaaS price breakdown yet so the Rs 10.99 lakh figure applies to the base trim only.
What Else Changed With This Update?
Alongside BaaS, Hyundai has made two functional additions to the Creta Electric lineup. An integrated side step has been added for easier entry and exit. This is a practical change given the SUV's ride height. More significantly for home charging convenience, HC variants now come with a 7.4kW AC wallbox charger whereas previously all Creta Electric variants were supplied only with an 11kW AC unit which needs a 3-phase power connection. The 7.4kW charger works on a single-phase connection, making it usable in far more Indian homes without electrical upgrades.
The rest of the car is unchanged: 42kWh and 51.4kWh battery options with claimed ranges of 420 km and 510 km respectively, a single front-axle motor producing either 135 hp or 171 hp depending on the battery chosen. Rivals the Creta Electric currently faces include the recently launched Tata Sierra EV, the Maruti Suzuki e Vitara and the Mahindra BE 6.
