Tata Safari EV Spied as 7-Seat Mahindra XEV 9S Rival

The Tata Safari EV has been caught on camera testing for the first time, confirming that Tata Motors’ first three-row electric SUV is locked in for a festive-season launch later this year. The camouflaged prototype, shot on public roads, will square off against the Mahindra XEV 9S, the seven-seat electric SUV that beat Tata to the punch and has since become Mahindra’s best-selling EV.

That sting matters. Tata still sells more electric cars than anyone in India, yet it watched a rival plant the flag on the country’s first family-sized electric SUV. The Safari EV is the answer, and the spy shots tell us how close that answer now is.

What the Camouflaged Safari EV Reveals

The test mule wore heavy cladding, but enough detail leaked through to confirm this is the electric Safari and not a mid-cycle update of the diesel car. The giveaways are the missing exhaust at the rear and a sophisticated rear suspension that the combustion model never had.

From the side, the silhouette stays faithful to the existing Safari, with its squared wheel arches, roof rails, raked windscreen and roof-mounted spoiler. Tata is following the same ICE-to-EV conversion route it used on the Harrier EV, which keeps tooling costs down and helps the price stay sharp.

A few EV-specific changes are visible or strongly expected:

• A side step bolted to the sill, a feature the diesel Safari does not offer
• An independent multi-link rear suspension setup, mirroring the Harrier EV
• A closed-off grille and EV-specific badging to mark it apart from the combustion car
• Refreshed front and rear bumpers, plus likely new alloy wheel designs

Dimensionally the electric version should barely move. The current Safari measures 4,668 mm long, 1,922 mm wide and 1,795 mm tall, riding on a 2,741 mm wheelbase, and the EV is expected to carry those numbers over almost unchanged. The cabin tech and powertrain hardware, meanwhile, look set to come straight from the Harrier EV parts bin.

How Mahindra Grabbed the Three-Row EV Title First

Tata had the obvious shot at this. After the Harrier EV arrived, the Safari EV was the natural next step, and it would have given India its first seven-seat electric SUV. Tata blinked. Mahindra did not.

Mahindra & Mahindra launched the XEV 9S at ₹19.95 lakh (about $24,000) for the 59 kWh version, undercutting where a Tata flagship would likely sit, and the model has since climbed to the top of Mahindra’s electric range. The carmaker says it sold more than 41,000 electric SUVs across a ten-month stretch, with the XEV 9S leading its own stablemates, the BE 6 and the XEV 9e. In May 2026 alone, Mahindra retailed 6,133 EVs, its first month past the 6,000 mark and its best-ever electric showing, as detailed in Mahindra’s May 2026 sales breakdown across SUVs and three-wheelers.

The model itself is a serious machine. The 79 kWh XEV 9S runs a single rear motor making 282 bhp and 380 Nm, claims 679 km of range and tops up from 20% to 80% in about 20 minutes on a 180 kW DC fast charger. Pricing climbs to ₹21.95 lakh for the 79 kWh trim and ₹24.45 lakh for a 70 kWh version. For a buyer who needs three rows and a plug, it has been the only game in town. That monopoly is what the Safari EV is built to end.

Acti.ev+ Hardware Borrowed From the Harrier EV

The Safari EV is expected to sit on the Acti.ev+ platform, the same skateboard that underpins the Harrier EV. That sharing extends to the battery packs, the motors and the electronics, which is how Tata plans to bring a flagship to market without a flagship development bill.

Two battery options are on the cards, a 65 kWh pack and a 75 kWh pack. In rear-wheel-drive (RWD, single motor at the back) form the Harrier EV makes 238 hp and 315 Nm, while the all-wheel-drive (AWD, a second motor on the front axle) version adds 116 hp up front for a combined 504 Nm. Expect the Safari EV to mirror that split, with AWD reserved for the larger battery.

Because the Safari is longer and heavier than the Harrier, its claimed range will land below the Harrier’s figures despite identical batteries. Here is how the three SUVs stack up:

On software, the Safari EV gets Tata’s TiDAL (Tata Intelligent Digital Architecture Layer, the brand’s software-defined-vehicle backbone), which brings over-the-air (OTA, remote wireless) updates, a large touchscreen and a JBL audio setup. Expected goodies include Vehicle-to-Load power output, a 540-degree camera, auto-park assist and a sharper suite of ADAS (advanced driver-assistance systems, the radar and camera features that handle braking and lane keeping).

Where the Flagship Lands on Price

Tata is expected to position the Safari EV as its priciest electric model, with a starting figure in the region of ₹22.5 lakh and top trims pushing toward ₹30 lakh. That puts the floor a couple of lakh above the XEV 9S, which is the problem.

Mahindra’s aggressive entry price has set the anchor in this class, and Tata cannot ignore it. The Harrier EV already overlaps heavily, opening at ₹21.49 lakh and running to ₹30.23 lakh, so Tata has to carve out daylight between two of its own cars and a cheaper rival. The seven-seat layout and the Safari nameplate give it room to ask for a premium, but not an unlimited one.

The shared platform is the lever here. By reusing the Harrier EV’s batteries, motors and cabin electronics, Tata keeps its costs contained and buys the freedom to price the Safari EV competitively rather than purely as a halo product. Whether that translates into a number under the psychologically important ₹25 lakh mark for the volume variants is the question buyers will care about most.

Tata’s Shrinking EV Lead and the Catch-Up Math

Tata is still the biggest electric carmaker in the country, but the gap is closing fast, and the Safari EV is partly a defensive move.

• 39.2% was Tata’s EV market share in FY2026, down sharply from 53.4% the year before
• 21.2% was Mahindra’s share in FY2026, up from 7.8%, a roughly 172% jump
• 10,231 EVs were retailed by Tata in May 2026, up 102% year on year and a first crossing of the 10,000 mark
• 41,000 electric SUVs were sold by Mahindra over a ten-month window

Read together, those figures explain the urgency. Tata’s volumes are still growing, but its slice of the pie shrank by more than 14 percentage points in a single year while Mahindra nearly tripled its share. The new Mahindra electric SUVs did most of that damage, and the three-row XEV 9S sits at the centre of it.

The Safari EV is meant to plug the one obvious hole in Tata’s lineup. Tata’s electric roadmap still has the Sierra EV to come, after which only the Altroz remains to be electrified, so the Safari is among the last big swings left in the current product wave. Production is expected to begin around August, ahead of the festive launch.

If the Safari EV arrives close to its expected price and the festive timing holds, Tata gets a credible seven-seat weapon into showrooms while demand for family EVs is hottest. If the launch slips into next year or the pricing creeps toward the Harrier EV’s ceiling, Mahindra keeps the three-row segment to itself for another full selling season.

Frequently Asked Questions

When Will the Tata Safari EV Launch?

The Safari EV is expected to launch during the festive season of 2026, most likely around Diwali. Tata is reported to begin production around August, which lines up with a launch in the final months of the year.

How Is the Safari EV Different From the Harrier EV?

The Safari EV adds a third row of seats, making it a seven-seater against the Harrier EV’s five. It is longer, heavier and gets a side step the Harrier does not, while sharing the same Acti.ev+ platform, batteries and cabin technology. Its claimed range will sit slightly below the Harrier’s because of the extra weight.

What Is the Expected Price of the Tata Safari EV?

The Safari EV is expected to start around ₹22.5 lakh and stretch toward ₹30 lakh for top trims (ex-showroom). That would make it Tata’s most expensive electric model and place its entry price a little above the Mahindra XEV 9S.

What Range Will the Safari EV Offer?

Exact figures are not yet confirmed, but expect a claimed range below the Harrier EV’s 627 km because of the Safari’s greater weight. Real-world driving range is likely to fall in the 450 to 500 km zone for the larger battery.

Will the Safari EV Get All-Wheel Drive?

Yes. Tata is expected to offer the Safari EV in both rear-wheel-drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive forms, with AWD reserved for the larger 75 kWh battery variants, the same strategy used on the Harrier EV.