Mahindra & Mahindra has unveiled the Atom EV, a small electric powered quadricycle at their pavilion in the 15th edition of the Auto Expo 2020. The Mahindra Atom is positioned as an alternative to the three-wheelers used in urban commutes, as the quadricycles are relatively safer and offer a certain amount of weatherproofing for its driver and passenger.
The Mahindra Atom on the exterior looks like a scaled-down version of a very boxy car. On the front fascia, the Atom gets squared-off headlamps combined with turn indicator lamps, a honeycomb mesh grille, a single blade windshield wiper and a very minimalistic design approach. The sides are pretty basic as well with 12-inch steel wheels and full wheel covers. Basic manually operated ORVMs and one interesting feature is that the left-hand side door is longer than the right-hand side (driver) door to ease the ingress and egress of passengers. Coming to the rear, the Atom gets rounded individual tail lamps on a matt black plastic appliqué. The powertrain/battery access door is also in the rear of the vehicle and it has a charging socket lid on the rear left-hand side quarter with an ME logo on it which denotes that it is powered by Mahindra Electric and the Atom is based on the brand’s MESMA 350 (Mahindra Electric Scalable Modular Architecture) platform.
On the inside, the Mahindra Atom optimises space by using a small minimal dashboard and a single driver’s seat offset to the right-hand side. The Atom comes with seating for three passengers in the rear and a single (driver’s) seat on the front row. The Mahindra Atom has only two doors and hence the co-driver seat area is used to access the second row. The Atom comes with air-conditioning, a smartphone holder, 12-volt charging socket, cup-holders, an analogue speedometer and a digital multi-information display, two-tone upholstery, and a rotary gear selector knob.
Powertrain details on the Mahindra Atom are scarce at the moment but the EV is likely to be powered by an electric motor with less than 15kW power output and its top speed will be limited to 70 kmph as it is classified under the quadricycle class.