Picture this: you walk up to a car that looks like someone fed a gaming PC, a fighter jet canopy, and a race car into one blender. Two screens floating under a halo. Orange accents everywhere like it is about to stream itself. And then you press the accelerator and it does 0 to 100 km/h in 6.44 seconds.
That is not a concept car from a Tokyo motor show. That is the Mahindra BE 6 SPORTEQ Formula E Freedom Edition, a real electric SUV you can buy in India right now for Rs 24.45 lakh (roughly PHP 160K if exchange rates were kind, which they never are).
And honestly? If you could drive a smartphone, this is exactly what it would feel like.
The cockpit is straight-up phone UI on wheels
Let us start where your eyes go first: the race-inspired dual-screen setup under that signature halo design. It is not a screen bolted onto a dashboard like an afterthought. It is a full-width digital cockpit that behaves more like a giant phone laid across the dash.
The whole SPORTEQ range actually went further: newer variants get a three-screen coast-to-coast cockpit powered by MAIA, Mahindra’s AI architecture, with Google Gemini baked into the voice assistant. The assistant, called TEQ_Talk, runs 17 specialised AI agents covering over 100 core functions and 48 apps.
Seventeen AI agents. In a car. Your phone barely has three.
The Formula E Freedom Edition keeps the original two-screen race cockpit instead, which is its own flex: it is the version closest to what Mahindra Racing actually pilots around Formula E circuits.
It has karaoke mode, because apparently cars are phones now
The tech suite list reads like a smartphone spec sheet that learned to drive:
- TEQ_Talk: Gemini-powered conversational assistant, vehicle controls, navigation, music, news
- TEQ_Play: in-car karaoke, a BYOD gaming suite, Private Audio, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
- TEQ_Drive: driver-focused performance and control software
- TEQ_Secure and TEQ_xting: safety and emergency tech suites
- GrooveMe: yes, there is a feature literally called GrooveMe
Karaoke in traffic is either the best or worst idea ever invented, and we refuse to decide.
The Acceleration Boost is the software update we wish our phones got
Here is the part that makes the Freedom Edition special: an exclusive Acceleration Boost unlocks 0-100 km/h in 6.44 seconds. Not with new hardware. With software. The motor was always capable; the special edition just flips the setting that lets it off the leash.
Your phone cannot even update without restarting twice.
The looks: a cyberpunk wedge with tricolour attitude
Design-wise, the BE 6 looks like nothing else on sale at any price. Coupe-style roofline, aggressive LED light signatures, coupe-crossover proportions, and the Freedom Edition adds subtle Indian tricolour exterior accents plus black and firestorm orange trim throughout the cabin.
To prove the racing link is real, Mahindra took the road car around the London E-Prix circuit, the same track where its Formula E team was fighting for third in the Teams’ Championship that same weekend, with wins in Monaco and Tokyo already banked this season.
If smartphones were cars, this is the flagship killer
Think about how we talk about flagships: screens everywhere, AI assistants, OTA updates that add features after purchase, performance modes unlocked by software, colors named like energy drinks. The BE 6 SPORTEQ ticks every single box. Rosso Impulso? Firestorm Orange Satin? Those are phone color names wearing car paint.
| Phone spec | BE 6 equivalent |
|---|---|
| Giant edge-to-edge display | Three-screen coast-to-coast cockpit |
| Built-in AI assistant | TEQ_Talk with Google Gemini, 17 agents |
| Pro performance mode | Acceleration Boost: 0-100 in 6.44s |
| OTA updates after purchase | Software-defined MAIA platform, evolves post-delivery |
| Dolby Atmos speakers | Dolby Vision + Atmos in the cabin |
| Limited edition colorways | Rosso Impulso, Ruby Velvet, Graphite Storm, Firestorm Orange Satin |
The car is so software-defined that Mahindra’s own president described it as something that “keeps evolving long after customers take delivery.” Buddy, that is the exact promise your phone maker makes and then breaks with each laggy update.
Would we drive it? Absolutely. Would we trust it not to ask us to rate the ride on a scale of five stars after every trip? Not a chance.
If this crossover energy sounds familiar, it is because the EV space is moving just as fast here: BYD’s Sealion 08 promises 900km of range, Genesis just revealed a flagship GV90 with coach doors, and the Chery Stockman diesel PHEV is coming for the BYD Shark 6’s lunch money locally. The race-bred BE 6 would fit right in, if only someone in Manila would import it already.
The bottom line
Mahindra built a rolling smartphone with racing pedigree, a Gemini-powered brain, karaoke mode, and a launch price that undercuts plenty of midrange flagships per horsepower. The Formula E Freedom Edition is the version for people whose two favorite words are “limited” and “edition.”
Half of you will call it a gimmick. The other half are already checking visa requirements for India. Both groups are right.
