The word Bella in Spanish means beautiful and although beauty is a matter of perception, there can be no denying the fact that Toyota’s Ebella Urban Cruiser is quite nice looking. It shares its mechanicals and indeed most of its interiors with its Maruti Suzuki cousin, though there are a couple of distinguishing features in between. Our test car was of course finished beautifully and had signature LED lights front and back as its distinguishing feature. Step inside and the lines become blurred, as everything is same inside save for the Toyota logo and customisation on the infotainment screen.
You get ventilated, electric seats up front and a 10.25-inch infotainment screen, with wireless AndroidAuto and Apple CarPlay. Curiously, Toyota offers a JBL sound system with a boot mounted subwoofer in its top E3 variant, whereas Maruti offers an Infinity sound system in the eVitara with the same configuration.
Both brands are owned by Harman International. In both cases, sound quality is not bad. You also get ventilated front seats, a 12-colour ambient lighting option, a wireless charger and two front and two rear charging ports. The rear seat can be folded in a 40:20:40 ratio, though the centre seat squab can be a little fiddly to get down with its pullout tab.
One downside is that you don’t get shades for the rear window and even though the window tint is quite generous, the shades are sorely missed. The rear wheelbase with its 2,700 mm of space gives you adequate space at the rear. There is a fixed pane sunroof, which adds a touch of class to the overall image of the car.
Electric cars are fun to drive and this one is no exception. Two battery sizes are on offer, 49 and 61 kWh. The smaller 49 kWh battery comes with a motor outputting 140 bhp, whilst the 61 kWh gives around 172 horses. Both have about 193 Nm of torque. The claimed range is about 543 kilometres with the larger pack. Different levels of regeneration are available and custom driving modes ensure the balance between performance and range. Safety has not been ignored and besides your electronic aids, 7 airbags are standard including a knee airbag.
Toyota has not yet announced pricing for the Urban Cruiser Ebella, but we expect it to be similar to the eVitara since they are both the same product, just badge engineered. It is however a significant step from the company and is a pointer to a future with more sustainable choices. This alone makes it a worthy addition to your garage.
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