Wuling Eksion EV Review: A 2810mm Wheelbase Changes What Rs 58 Lakh Buys In Nepal

Where This Electric SUV Lands In The Nepali Market

Rs 57.99 lakh puts the Wuling Eksion EV in a strange spot: too expensive to be cross-shopped against compact electric SUVs, yet priced well below what a genuine three-row SUV with this much interior space usually costs in Nepal. Paramount Motors Pvt. Ltd. brings in a single variant, badged simply Eksion, with a 150 kW motor and a 69.2 kWh battery. There is no trim ladder to climb here, no base-versus-top debate. What you see on the price list is the whole range, which makes the buying decision simpler but also means there is no cheaper door into the car.

That single-variant approach matters because the Eksion EV is being pitched less as an EV-for-EV's-sake purchase and more as a genuine family SUV that happens to run on a battery. At this price, it is being cross-shopped by buyers who might otherwise have looked at larger diesel or petrol SUVs, and that is really the right lens to view it through.

A Face That Borrows A Logo And Still Looks Its Own

The front end is upright and bold, built to look taller and wider than it probably needs to. The split DRL layout is the signature element: daytime running lights sit high, with the actual headlight units tucked neatly into the same housing rather than low in the bumper, which is where cheaper SUVs tend to push them. At night, this gives a cleaner lit signature and better visibility for other drivers reading the car on the road.

One quirk draws comment every time the car is parked somewhere public: the Wuling badge up front looks close enough to the Mitsubishi three-diamond mark that it causes genuine confusion among onlookers. It is not a flaw exactly, just a talking point.

Down the side, contour lines run the length of the body, and a large rear quarter glass stretches the profile out, visually signalling the third row tucked behind it. Door handles are the simpler grab-style units rather than flush electric ones, which keeps repair costs down the line, a sensible call on a car this size. Build quality across the body feels consistent with what the segment expects, without reaching for unnecessary flourishes.

Haze Grey Is The Only Colour, And It Shifts With The Light

The Eksion EV comes finished in Haze Grey. Under cloud or indoor showroom light it reads as a fairly standard grey, unremarkable and safe. Step it into direct sun and the panel throws back pink and reddish tints that are genuinely unexpected for a colour named "grey." It is the kind of paint that photographs differently depending on the hour, and buyers who want a car that looks distinct at a fuel stop or a wedding parking lot will get that without asking for it.

The Cabin's Best And Most Frustrating Switches

Inside, the dashboard runs Walnut Brown or Carbon Black trim, finished with synthetic leather upholstery and a leather-wrapped steering wheel carrying the multifunction switches. A 12.8-inch touchscreen dominates the centre stack, paired with an 8.8-inch TFT instrument cluster ahead of the driver. The screen itself is quick and smooth to operate, with none of the lag that still shows up in cars twice this price.

The steering column carries two stalks: the right one runs automatic wipers and headlights, the left one acts as the drive selector. ORVMs are adjusted through physical door-mounted buttons rather than touch panels, though there is no auto-tilt function when reversing, something increasingly common at this price bracket elsewhere. Cabin lighting uses old-fashioned physical push-buttons instead of touch-sensitive pads, a small decision that pays off the day something needs fixing, since mechanical switches are cheaper to replace than capacitive ones. The sunroof gets dedicated physical buttons for the fabric shade and the glass panel independently, which is a nice separation of control rather than one combined switch doing two jobs.

Not everything is thought through equally well. The interior rearview mirror is manual, with no auto-dimming, which stands out next to the touchscreen and the 360-degree camera sitting a few centimetres away. Adaptive cruise control and lane-assist are included, but the lane-assist system resets itself to "on" every time the car restarts, forcing the driver to switch it off manually each trip, which becomes an annoyance faster than it becomes a safety feature.

Standard equipment includes a 50W wireless phone charger, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, six speakers, voice commands in English, smart entry and smart start, and power windows on all four doors with anti-pinch protection.

150 kW And 310 Nm, Delivered Through The Front Wheels

The Eksion EV's single motor produces 150 kW (201 hp) and 310 Nm of torque, driving the front wheels through a single-reduction transmission. For a vehicle of this size and seating ambition, that is a strong number, and it shows: throttle response is immediate, and the car never feels like it is working to move its own weight.

That same strength occasionally outruns the front tyres. Hard acceleration from a standstill can cause a brief chirp and momentary loss of traction, a predictable side effect of sending 310 Nm through the front axle alone rather than splitting it across all four wheels. It is not dangerous, but it is a reminder that this is a front-wheel-drive SUV wearing the stance of something with more hardware underneath.

Composed On Broken Roads, Less Settled On The Highway

The rear suspension, a multi-link independent setup, is arguably the strongest engineering decision in the car. It absorbs rough patches and mild off-road tracks with real composure, something that matters enormously on Nepali roads where "highway" and "gravel track" can appear within the same kilometre. Paired with McPherson struts up front, the ride stays controlled at low and medium speeds.

Push it onto open highway stretches at higher speed and the character changes. The Eksion EV develops a slightly bouncy, light feeling that asks for a steadier hand on the wheel than the low-speed ride would suggest. Steering itself is tunable: Sport mode loads in useful weight that suits this behaviour, while Eco and standard modes keep things light for city use, arguably too light for sustained highway cruising.

Ground clearance has been physically checked against Wuling's claim and measures up at its lowest point, a genuinely reassuring detail for a market where manufacturer numbers on paper don't always survive a real speed bump. Where traction becomes an issue is on steep, loose gravel or concrete inclines, where the front-wheel-drive layout can struggle to find grip, a real consideration for buyers in hill districts.

Seating For Seven, Comfortable For Five

Front seats are genuinely excellent: ventilated, 6-way electrically adjustable for the driver and 4-way for the passenger, finished in synthetic leather with generous cushioning. Soft-touch padding covers the dashboard and door armrests exactly where hands and elbows naturally rest, a detail that shows attention went into where occupants actually make contact with the cabin.

The second row carries that comfort forward. Seats slide on rails and recline in two steps, and legroom is excellent, helped directly by the 2810mm wheelbase. Thigh support is good, and each outboard seat gets roof-mounted AC vents with an independent fan-speed controller mounted behind the centre console, letting rear passengers manage their own airflow without touching the front dash.

The third row is where the compromise sits. The seat base and backrest force an awkward knees-up position with a high floor, workable for children on short trips but genuinely uncomfortable for adults over any distance. Getting into row three is at least made easier by the 60/40 split middle row, whose 40 percent section folds forward smoothly from the passenger side.

One ergonomic gap stands out for the driver specifically: there is no dead pedal in the footwell. On longer drives, the left foot has nowhere proper to rest, which becomes noticeable well before the destination.

Braking Feel Stays Firm Whatever The Mode

The Eksion EV comes with disc brakes front and rear, backed by ABS with EBD and ESC, electric parking brake with auto-hold, and hill-hold control. Stopping power is confident and the car pulls up without drama. The pedal itself has a notably firm, hard feel under foot, and that feel barely shifts across driving modes, something some drivers will read as reassuring consistency and others as a lack of adjustability.

Safety kit across the board includes six SRS airbags and ISOFIX child-seat anchors, a reasonable spread for a seven-seat family SUV at this price.

210 To 1788 Litres, Depending On How Many Seats You Need

Boot space is genuinely flexible: 210 litres with all three rows up, expanding to 540 litres with the third row folded, and all the way to 1788 litres with both rear rows flat. That range covers everything from a full family-of-seven grocery run to a proper cargo load for a move or a long trip.

The cabin is dotted with storage cubbies and deep cup holders throughout, and the charging port uses a manual flap rather than a motorised one, cheaper to fix if it ever breaks. The one letdown in an otherwise practical package is the boot floor cover itself, which feels flimsy and doesn't sit flush, undercutting what is otherwise a well-thought-out load bay. Tyre noise is also noticeably present on pitched or rough tarmac, loud enough to intrude into cabin conversation at speed.

A 69.2 kWh Battery Built For Distance, On Paper

The Eksion EV carries a 69.2 kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate battery, rated at 530 km range on the CLTC cycle and 440 km on the more conservative WLTP cycle. LFP chemistry is a sound choice for longevity and safety, and Wuling backs it with an 8-year or 1,50,000 km warranty on the battery pack and a 6-year or 1,50,000 km warranty on the traction motor, both class-appropriate commitments for a first-generation EV import.

Fast charging takes the battery from 30 to 80 percent in 30 minutes, workable for a highway charging stop, assuming the charger is available along the route. The car also offers a 220V Vehicle-to-Load function, letting it power external equipment, useful for anything from a picnic to backup power during a load-shed evening. No independently verified real-world range figure exists yet for Nepali conditions; hilly terrain and AC use will matter, but the battery size and warranty terms suggest it is built to support genuine highway distances rather than just city commuting.

One Trim, One Price, No Decision To Make

The lineup has exactly one variant: Eksion, at Rs 57,99,000 ex-showroom, with the 150 kW motor and every feature listed above included as standard. There is no stripped-down base trim and no higher-spec flagship sitting above it. Buyers either want what this specification offers at this price, or they look elsewhere. Given the equipment on offer — ventilated and electric front seats, a 12.8-inch screen, 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise, six airbags — that single trim represents real value against anything else near Rs 58 lakh in Nepal's SUV market, electric or otherwise.

The Deepal S05 Trades Power For An Unproven Price Tag

The Deepal S05 is a natural cross-shop for buyers exploring Chinese-origin electric SUVs in Nepal, though its pricing remains unconfirmed in the market, which makes a direct cost comparison premature. What is confirmed is the motor gap: the Deepal S05 runs a 99 kW unit against the Eksion EV's 150 kW, a meaningful difference in outright performance that buyers cross-shopping the two should weigh alongside whatever final pricing emerges.

The GAC Aion Y Is Lighter On Power Too

The GAC Aion Y sits in a similar conversation, again without a confirmed price to compare directly. Its 100 kW motor is noticeably down on the Eksion EV's 150 kW, and buyers drawn to the Aion Y for its badge or styling should know they are trading away a meaningful chunk of outright punch and towing confidence in the process.

The BYD M6 Shares The Segment, Not The Output

The BYD M6 is probably the closest in spirit to the Eksion EV, another people-mover-shaped EV aimed at families rather than enthusiasts. Pricing for the M6 is not yet confirmed either, so a value call can't be made with confidence. On power alone, its 100 kW motor again trails the Eksion EV's 150 kW by a wide margin, which should matter to anyone cross-shopping the two on performance rather than brand preference.

Verdict

The Wuling Eksion EV earns its position by doing something genuinely different at this price: a 2810mm wheelbase and three usable rows of seating most Rs 58 lakh SUVs simply don't offer, backed by a strong 150 kW motor, a well-finished front cabin, and a battery and motor warranty structure that should ease long-term ownership worries. The ground clearance claim holds up, the second row is close to best-in-class for the money, and the equipment list reads above its price bracket.

The honest caveats are real ones. The third row is for children and short hops, not adults on a Pokhara run. Front-wheel drive means steep, loose inclines need care, something hill-region buyers specifically should weigh carefully. The missing dead pedal and the loose boot floor cover are the kind of small annoyances that surface only after a few weeks of ownership, not on a showroom walk-around. Families who need five comfortable seats and occasional access to two more, who value space and features over outright all-wheel capability, will find the Eksion EV among the most complete EVs Nepal can currently buy under Rs 60 lakh. Those who regularly carry seven adults or who live where the road turns to loose gravel on a steep grade should look elsewhere.