1.6 Lakh km NexonEV Prime Review

Below Review is by EV & tech enthusiast Manu. :-

You can also access this on Manu's GDrive here. He keeps a good track of his EV things in the folder. You can also follow his facebook for regular updates.

Please ignore the writing errors. Even though this is a long article, I hope this helps at least some of the readers. Special thanks to Mr. Nikhil Chaudhary(TCIN), Mr. Manorenj, Mr. Aneesh J. P., Mr. Reuben, Mr. Arun S., Mr. Rajil Ramesh, Mr. Jayesh Nanminda, Mr. Appu and Mr. Vyshak M. for sparing your valuable time for reading this long article and for giving really valuable suggestions.

Why EV?

My father, an electronics enthusiast, was interested in new technologies. He even bought an electric scooter (‘Yo Byke Smart') in 2008. Those were the initial times when BOV (Battery operated vehicles) came into the market which didn't even need a license.

After that we bought two bikes and two cars. When we were planning for Ford Ecosport, we had our eyes on Nexon but dropped it due to the colour scheme. We again noticed the Nexon as it got a 5 star safety rating. Then one day my brother came with the news that TATA is coming with the Nexon EV. When we heard that TATA is coming with an EV, specifically Nexon, we were interested. But since we were already having a Ford Ecosport Diesel, we just went through the details only. Then within a few months we had a requirement for buying one more vehicle for home use. We discussed  about  the Nexon EV multiple times but skipped it due to additional cost and 1.25 lakh km limited warranty. We were obviously concerned about the 1.6 lakh km motor/battery warranty also as our Ford Ecosport already crossed 1.1 lakh km in approximately 3 years. Finally at the last minute we proceeded with the Nexon EV with the support from our family in October 2020.

We had to buy another car. As I told earlier, we were not interested in the Nexon EV due to the warranty clause and cost. We initially thought about buying Ford Figo Diesel as it comes with the same 1.5 litre diesel engine that powers Ecosport. TATA Tiago was another consideration. I thought about smaller cars as I like to drive smaller cars which are much easier to maneuver in the traffic like our old Renault KWID. We slipped back to the TATA Nexon EV due to the following factors.

• Technology experience - The feeling of driving an EV is something you need to experience. It was really smooth and yet powerful. Lot of people are considering an EV as an automatic ICE car, but it is much more than an automatic ICE car due to availability of full torque from the beginning of the drive (normally in ICE engines’ max power is rated only when engine reaches certain rpm). I didn’t even get time to take a long test drive, but a short trip was sufficient to make a selection. But to those who are planning to buy an EV, I won’t recommend you to suddenly pick the vehicle just due to the power and comfort. There are a lot of other parameters to keep in mind. I will try to explain it as a separate part in this post.

• Eco Friendliness - While buying the vehicle I considered this factor a lot. The way we were driving our vehicle, I felt terrible (especially after getting awareness of an EV).

• Other benefits - Tax benefits under 80 EEB allowed me to save income tax for the interest paid for EV vehicle loan (This benefit is only available for loan sanctioned between 01/04/2019 and 31/03/2023). Another attraction was a small waiver of loan interest rate for EV vehicles. Another owner informed that “In case EV taken as company car, as of now 40% depreciation is allowed every year”. I am not having much information about this.

• Lower running cost - Obviously everyone will ask about running costs. Yes we thought about it but we haven't given much stress on it as our Ford Ecosport Diesel was giving around 18-20 km/l for daily use - Approx. Rs. 5/km (21-24 km/l in long drives outside Kerala highways - Approx. Rs. 4.5/km).

Why TATA Nexon EV?

I already mentioned the reason why I switched to EV. At that point of time (2020), there were only two other new generation Battery Operated Vehicles (BOV)/EV available - The ‘Kona’ from Hyundai and the MG ‘ZS’ EV. Both had really good features and were proven international models. The reasons for selecting Nexon EV are listed below. 

• Price - The price range was above 22 lakhs for the other EVs. Even the 16.56 lakhs for this Nexon EV was the upper end of my budget.

• Safety - As I mentioned, the Nexon was popular for its safety and it had 5 star rating for its ICE equivalent.

• Spare part availability - The Nexon had an ICE equivalent with same exteriors and almost similar interiors. So spare parts availability won’t be a major concern.

• Service centers - Availability of more service centers & availability of service slots. TATA was having more service centers compared to both other brands. (Nowadays, TATA service centers are almost always full of vehicles.)

• Ground clearance - Normally all EV’s ground clearance will be reduced due to the thickness of the battery pack. When you add a thick battery pack to the existing type of vehicle (under the seating position) it may affect the ground clearance and thigh support. In some models, the battery may further decrease the ground clearance as the battery pack may further extend to ground level. In some other models, the battery pack may force the floor of the vehicle to move to a bit top, decreasing thigh support of the passengers (yes most of the battery packs come directly under the floor). But in the Nexon EV, it has a decent ground clearance. It is not affecting the thigh support also.

• Boot space - When TATA introduced TATA Tigor EV (low voltage (LV) architecture), it stole a major portion of boot space whereas here they haven’t touched boot space or spare wheel.

• Battery technology - While both of the other vehicles were using Li NMC cells (at that point of time), Nexon EV was using LFP batteries. Even though performance wise LFP batteries are a bit weaker, LFP batteries are more stable & cheaper and hence it is relatively more safe and has comparatively more charge cycles (Charge cycles means how many times the battery can be fully discharged and fully charged. It is not depending on how many times you charge your EV, it is dependent on how much SoC (State of Charge or simply battery percentage) you have charge). 

In the current scenario there are a lot of EVs available in the market. You should mainly consider the use case before buying an EV. You need to do a lot of homework before buying an EV. (#1)

How to Select an EV?

For all who are planning to buy an EV vehicle, I recommend going through these basic points (detailed ones are available as a separate post (#1). New buyer’s guide is planned.):

1. Price - Vehicle initial cost is a major concern. I won't recommend spending excess cost as initial investment. Please do check the ROI, Resale & Vehicle lifespan in the Risks heading before investing a huge amount.

2. Daily usage - The vehicle should be appropriate for your usage. Unlike buying an ICE vehicle (almost all the vehicle will serve your basic purpose - fill the fuel in few minutes and just drive as you like), you need to ensure whether the EV which you are going to take is suitable for your usage.

3. Distance - Need to consider the distance your are planning to drive in one year. This may help you to consider the warranty aspects, financial aspects (including the return of extra amount you invested in EV) etc. Even though we can't generalize, most of the EV owners’ monthly driving distance increased a lot after owning the EV (due to driving comfort as well as low running cost).

4. Range - The maximum distance you are planning to go in a single charge. The range provided by the manufacturer is like the mileage of the ICE vehicle. You can’t depend on the ARAI value. My Nexon EV had an ARAI range of 312 km, but you can expect 200 to 250 km with decent driving without aggressive acceleration. You need to consider the possible battery degradation in the future and reserve charge while planning daily/routine use. Terrain and driving style will directly affect the vehicle range. You need not to consider terrain & driving style if you plan to use less than the 50% of your car’s actual range. In some steep climbs and too much aggressive drive, you may not even get the 50% also.

5. Time to charge - This is a significant term to be considered by users who are planning to take maximum range out of the vehicle. You need to ensure you are getting sufficient time for charging the vehicle overnight. It may affect those who are having late night/ early morning works. Once in a while you can manage with fast charging, but daily it is not recommended unless your manufacturer states so (In my case, TATA suggests to do one slow charge after four continuous fast charging). Also, don’t depend purely on the charging time provided by the manufacturer. It may vary according to various factors (both slow charging and fast charging).

6. Properly understand details provided by the manufacturer - Your assumptions may not be correct/real. Try to understand the situations where the values provided by manufacturer are applicable.

7. User manual - Try to read the user manual fully before buying the car to understand the suggestions while using the car and there may be some important point which you may not like. Reading the user manual clears your doubts upto an extend.

8. Distance covered in single charge - Manufacturer may tell the range with 100% discharge that too under ARAI conditions. So try to understand the range from real life users and note that 100% discharge is not advisable. The range is highly dependent on driving style.

9. Time required for charging - There are normally two or more ‘time duration/charging speed’ which is specified by the manufacturer. One is slow charging time duration and other is fast charging time duration. Most of the manufacturers won’t tell 0% to 100% time, keep that in mind and the excluded portion (mostly 80% to 100%) may take more time than the specified portion. The slow charging speed & fast charging speed may have multiple values considering the OBC/BMS ratings and EVSE rating. So you need to understand which one is applicable for your use. As told earlier, these also vary depending on various conditions such as AC voltage, power capability of the fast charger, power acceptance of the vehicle, cell balancing etc.

10. How to charge - Every owner should know how to charge their vehicle both in home as well as in a DC fast charging station. I am having a separate heading for this topic. 

11. Battery type - As I mentioned earlier, each type of battery has its own merits and demerits. For performance and longer range go for Li NMC (Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide) and for relatively safer in terms of temperature stability and comparatively more charging cycle, go for LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate). 

12. Relation between power & range - This is a big topic. I will briefly explain with an example. Consider you have an ICE car with 150 bhp power and ARAI rated mileage of 15 km/l. If you drive utilizing the 150 bhp power (aggressively), you may get only 7 km/l or lesser mileage (instead of 15 km/l). But if you drive light footed, you may get more than 15km/l also. In EV, you may not get more than rated range, but you won’t get even half of the range if you drive utilizing the maximum power of the vehicle (aggressively).

13. Regenerative braking - This is also a big topic. Regenerative braking simply means recovering a part of kinetic energy of the vehicle and using that energy to charge the EV’s high voltage (HV) battery (which would otherwise be lost as heat in the brake pad). From the user perspective, as soon as the user lifts the accelerator pedal, braking starts. So this can be a boon or bane. In some situations we can go with single pedal driving, but it can be a nuisance and reduce efficiency for those who release the accelerator pedal not for reducing the speed. In most of the EVs regeneration levels can be adjusted. So keeping the regen level 0 (OFF) and gently pressing the brake pedal to enable regen while you need to stop the vehicle is an efficient method (Please note the drum brake/disk brake is always available in the brake pedal and will engage if you brake harder). But due to some bug, in TATA vehicles you won’t get maximum regeneration while gently pressing the brake pedal in regen level 0. So you need to keep in regen level 1 for optimum usage till TATA clears the bug (#2). So unless your intention is to slow down the vehicle, regenerative braking is always a loss. This feature will be really useful in downhill as you need to restrict the speed. In layman term, if you are mostly releasing the accelerator pedal for stopping the vehicle, higher regen mode is good for you (keeping your leg mostly in the accelerator pedal). If you are mostly releasing the accelerator pedal for costing, lower regen mode is good for you.

14. Comfort - You will get an added advantage of comfort in EV. But you will miss the engine sound & roaring. However it is a personal choice. Do use the vehicle in different conditions and come to a conclusion. Even though you may take little more time for long drives, you won't get tired after long drives (compared to ICE vehicles)

15. Risks - Understand/Assess the risks/demerits before buying

16. Trip planning, Power failure & Charging halt - Unlike ICE vehicles where you can go anywhere (due to availability of fuel station, low refilling time and good fuel storage capacity), you need to plan your trips (considering charging station availability, fast charging time and range of vehicle). You may be able to club some of your food timing with charging. You may not have a lot of selection for having food (you may need to stick with hotels having DC FC, otherwise you may need to spend separate time for charging/eating). Power failure in home or charging station or even queue in the charging station can affect your charging (these situations won’t know whether you are in emergency or not) 

17. Battery degradation - Battery capacity degradation. Even though the battery and motor are having separate warranty (8 years/1.6 lakh km), normal degradation due to aging won't be considered for warranty. Try to ensure your routine drives are taking less than 60% SoC of the vehicle you are planning to buy.

18. Maintenance cost - Even though the maintenance cost for the electric vehicle will be less than conventional vehicles, there is a risk of replacing damaged electronic/electric parts. There are a lot of other electric/electronic devices (other than battery and motor) which may fail and drain your money. These may be covered under vehicle warranty or extended warranty (3 years/1.25 lakh km). I personally prefer to take maximum extended warranty if it is applicable for you and you have sufficient money to spend on it (as one single part alone may cost more than your maximum extended warranty policy’s cost). Please do try to understand the clauses of warranty as it may not be same for standard warranty and extended warranty.

19. Battery replacement - Usually most of the four wheeler EV manufacturers provide at least 8 years / 1.6 lakh km warranty for the battery pack and you may not need to worry about it for that period. The actual battery pack cost may be really high, maybe around 45% of the vehicle cost. There may be a possibility to change individual cells as required. However, these are fully gray areas and under risk. Battery cost may decrease or increase in future.

20. Technology improvements/Resale - Now all players are working on electric vehicles and trying to come with new technologies. So if better technology comes, it may affect the future/resale of our vehicle (or sometimes our vehicles can be upgraded). If the battery cost is getting reduced in future, that also may affect resale value.

21. Software bugs or technical issues - As a new technology (compared to the refined ICE vehicles), there is possibility for bugs and other technical issues and it may need multiple service center visits and sometimes you may need to leave your vehicle in the service center for a long time. This can be avoided upto an extent if you buy a vehicle which is released 6-12 months ago rather than falling for a new vehicle (or consider the history of the cars from that manufacturer).

22. Return on Investment (ROI) - If you are planning financially, ensure you are getting at least (the excess cost for your EV + resale value after set period (years/km) of ICE) amount in return. When you consider the excess cost, compare it with the same option vehicle with same features and an automatic gear rather than a base model (when you consider a personal view, you need to consider with other vehicle which you may buy, but in a generalized approach this is not correct). You may consider benefit in running cost as well as service cost for the above set period. In my opinion for most users it is really difficult to meet it with high end EVs. 

23. Vehicle lifespan - At current situation, it is better not to buy high end EV for long term use (10-15 years) with very less running. I suggest this as we don’t have an idea about the aging of the battery pack and you may not get any financial benefit if you are not using it. 

24. Driving feel - Driving feel is different from normal vehicles. Driving with little acceleration can help you gain more kms of range, but it won't give you the feel of driving (even 50 kmph and 70 kmph feels the same). But there won’t any issue in climbing steep roads but if your vehicle is not having hill hold assist, use handbrake for safety

25. Sales - You need to consider the sales team of the vehicle by getting opinions from other owners and ensure they are completing all formalities (such as updating all EV related parameters to insurance, KYC for connected car features, EVSE installation arrangements etc.) as required.

26. After sales service - You need to really get opinion from multiple owners regarding this as it is not the same for all owners. Even if the same service is provided to two different owners, their satisfaction level will vary. So when seeking opinion, you can even consider the satisfaction level he expects from the service center also. The main issue is that we don't have any third party service centers for servicing EVs (as of now). So ensuring availability of a good after sales service center is critical.

27. Safety - I haven’t worried about this point and just added as a lot of owners are having concern. Lot of owners might be afraid of safety concerns due to battery pack. I personally feel EVs are safer than ICE vehicles. The energy density in EV is far less than fuel’s energy density. In an ICE vehicle, if fuel tank catches fire, the occupants may not get enough time for escaping. But in EV, the occupants may get sufficient time to react and escape from the vehicle. In case of accidents if some physical damage happens to the battery pack (which even tears the outer shell of the battery pack), it may be risky. But if a similar issue happens to a fuel feed line during an accident, the effects will be devastating.

If you are interested, more details will be shared as a separate post. If you already own an EV, I have shared some suggestions as separate posts (#3).

Sales

As I said earlier, we booked this vehicle at the last minute considering some immediate use cases. The first requirement for my vehicle was to use it for my brother’s marriage. We specifically told the sales team that we need the vehicle in 15 days, otherwise it won’t serve the main purpose. Even though we bought the car expecting 250 km range (rather than ARAI certified 312 km), we had our doubts. At that point of time, the ownership experience videos were less. Since the marriage location is around 90 km away, we had to ensure the vehicle was capable of reaching there and returning before the marriage date. They completed the initial paperwork in 2 days (including loan processing). Even though we got the vehicle in 20 days, there were a lot of transparency issues. We are not getting proper or correct updates from the sales team. Even now  some sales advisors are giving wrong information to the customer with respect to real world range. They are trying to sell vehicles quoting the ARAI range. It's more like cheating at this point of time due to the fact that enough data is available for guessing real world range.

When coming to the positive side,

1. They completed all paperworks including the loan within three days.

2. They delivered the vehicle to the home without any extra payment.

3. They were ready to install the charging socket in the home on the day of delivery but we delayed it due to some other issues (we already made a 16A socket for this purpose so it didn’t affect our usage). Nowadays some owners are not getting support for fixing the charging socket even after 1-2 weeks after delivery.

When coming to the negative side,

1. They informed me that all the paperworks of the car (for delivery) is completed from the sales team/dealership side and the file is pending at the RTO end. But they took my sign for RTO papers after two days. So, do follow up and ensure the information provided from the sales team is correct.

2. I was out of station when the vehicle reached the yard. Due to the covid situation, I planned to take the delivery directly while returning so that I would not need to use public transport for reaching home (I had to go directly to quarantine). I informed him the date and time around 5 days back and everything was going smoothly. Even the day before my return we discussed the timing. After starting from the station, I was not able to contact the sales executive and another executive told me the vehicle can’t be delivered. I planned everything considering the car delivery and finally my brother came with his car and we both went to quarantine together. We got the vehicle after 5 days (I remember so).

3. I was not able to use the zconnect app for the first 6 months due to the KYC issue as well as  faulty telematic unit.

After the punch EV release I am forced to add one more point very clearly. TATA (not just dealership) is clearly misleading customers with non relevant parameters.

1. In the punch EV brochure, it says “Estimated DC fast charging time (SoC 10% to 80% from DC 50kW Fast charger) - ~56min”. Technically it is good to specify the DC fast charger’s power capacity in the brochure for clarity. But since they are not specifying the vehicle DC fast charging capacity, everyone thinks that 50kW is the charging capacity of the EV. Actually it is taking around 27kW only. So they could have mentioned more than 30kW or 35kW  DC Fast charger. So I feel it is specifically kept for misleading the potential buyers, reviewers and sales executives. Most of the owners in punch EV group thinks that the vehicle is having 50kW DC Fast charging capability. TATA should either show their vehicle's maximum charging capability or should show the bare minimum requirements for DC fast charging machine. I think this issue was there with Nexon EV Max and Facelift also.

2. In user manual also the same issue is there and it is not displaying the vehicle's maximum fast charging capacity which again misleading the customer. Another major issue is that the user manual shows DC fast charging time as 0.56 hours which is around 34 minutes which again indirectly says a higher charging capacity. The manufacturer may state that it is a printing mistake.

3. In user manual it says 13A and 3.3kW but the vehicle takes only 2.67kW in 230V. Even with 16A EVSE, the vehicle will take only 2.67kW (less than 13A at 230V). This is applicable for all TATA EVs which are even having 7.2kW On Board Charger (OBC) (#14).

4. Even though the instrument cluster got smarter, there is no option to see the trip meter and power graph at the same time (It is easy to integrate graph in one dial mode but in that mode right side is populated with charging/discharging animation which doesn’t provide much information and can be selected from left menu). 

5. Similar to the Max / Tiago / Nexon facelift launch, the Punch EV also has a lot of bugs which are shared by a lot of owners after the launch. Please include instrument cluster and infotainment system in your testing list before releasing a new vehicle. Most of the owners are waiting for the update to fix issues but the instrument cluster going blank or throwing a set of errors while driving is not at all a good deal (even though driving functionality is not affected).

First impressions

From day one we fell in love with the vehicle due to the ease of the drive and instant torque. After using it for long drives, we realized the range issues. Even though the ARAI certified range was 312 km, we expected 250 km only. But the actual figure was less than 200 km only. So that made a serious issue for our marriage use. However we managed to arrange a 16A socket from the auditorium and charged our vehicle there as the marriage function was happening in the auditorium. Today if this requirement comes, I would be ensuring that the 16A socket is having sufficient wire gauge and will be monitoring the heating of socket/plug top while charging. However, if socket melting or fuse blowing happens while charging a TATA EV from a 16A socket with an 13A EVSE, it would be mostly a wiring issue only. I am not going in much depth as more suggestions are explained separately (#4).

Within a few weeks we were able to harness more than 230 km range from the vehicle easily with effortless driving. Due to covid, the traffic in the road was less and it helped to increase the range. The main benefit of EV is that my driving style changed a lot. It made me realize that there is no need to rush to reach early and my driving style changed from aggressive to comfortable. I think most EV owners will agree that EV changed their driving habits and made their driving better. Even now I do drive aggressively at times, but maybe once or twice a year. When comparing, I used to go up to 100 kmph in our old Renault KWID 800cc. When we switched to Ford Ecosport 1500cc, my top speed reduced to 80 kmph and now when we got TATA Nexon EV with instantaneous torque, it reduced to 60kmph (I still cruise in 80 kmph in 6 lane/open highways - long drives). When we get more power, I feel it is easier to drive/maintain the vehicle at lower speeds.

From covid onwards, our Nexon EV became my travel companion to the office. It reduced the driving effort a lot and helped me save around 1 hour every day (Earlier I used to go with the help of bus and train). Ford Ecosport is a great vehicle but still, it is difficult for me to drive three continuous days to the office in that vehicle. Driving style may be the reason but still I felt the difference when I switched to EV. It was a big difference. I do get tired if I do aggressive drives in Nexon EV also, but it is less compared to Ecosport.

In the initial days meeting new owners in the charging station and some tourist locations were exciting. Meeting an EV user who regularly charged at a free fast-charging station planted the seed for an EV buyers’ guide. It highlighted the need for accessible EV knowledge, empowering everyone to make informed decisions when considering an electric vehicle. Whenever we park our car, someone will come and ask about the vehicle, especially because our number plate is green. I even remember one day a police officer stopped my vehicle and questioned me about the green number plate. Nowadays everyone knows about EV and it is no longer a black swan.

I joined various whatsapp/telegram/facebook groups (#5) and it was a different experience to contact other EV owners and hear their experiences and suggestions. These communities help a lot to demystify some stigmas present in the society regarding the EV and these groups members do help each other when some issue arises without any remuneration. These platforms help to understand issues in the vehicle and helps to identify whether such problems are hidden in their vehicles or not.

Accessories/Additions done for EV

In the vehicle, I haven’t done any functional changes but these are some things you can do when you own an EV.

1. Extension box - Even though manufacturer is not recommending the usage of extension boxes, it is useful if you want to topup your vehicle from your friends/relatives houses or hotels or even from pole mounted charging station in case of emergency (as lot of electric post based charging stations are not having sufficient space to park the vehicle). In a long trip if you are stranded somewhere without sufficient charge, the easiest way is to call RSA (even though they may take multiple hours to reach). But if you just need a quick top-up to reach next fast charging station, this is vital as most of the houses won’t be having 16A socket in the parking lot/entrance. Even though the portable EVSE comes with 16A plug-top and can be used in any 16A socket, there is a slight safety risk while charging from an unknown location. Please keep in mind the following points (#2)

2. Wire gauge  - For 13A EVSE 2.5 sq. mm. is sufficient.

3. No loose connection in the entire path.

4. MCB & RCCB availability in the path.

5. Never coil the excess wire during charging.

6. EVSE (& wire) should be protected from direct sunlight or rain/water logging.

7. Beware of EVSE theft.

8. Try to check the plug point and any other points accessible in the electrical path for temperature in 30 min or 1hr.

1. Energy meter - Mostly you will be charging your EV from home. So it is better to have a separate energy meter for that 16A socket or wall mount EVSE so that you can track the energy usage by your vehicle. It helps you to calculate your ROI also. I am using one L&T energy meter (in a box which can be used as plug & play) with an RS232 interface which alerts me during completion of charging, power failure during charging and even when it feels the charging has been stopped in between. 

Also IOT based WiFi MCB are available which gives you power, energy data/readings,  ON/OFF control, scheduling options etc. But make sure that you are not using local 16A smart plugs as it may melt due to continuous usage of 13A or more.

1. Spare EVSE - I bought two additional EVSE for my car. Actually one EVSE which comes with the vehicle is more than sufficient for your vehicle. If you are interested in buying one more, you can keep one in your home and another in your car. For those who have wall mount EVSE as well as portable EVSE, another one is not required. When you buy a third party EVSE, do consider the warranty terms and quality of the product. Ensure it has an earth indication for safety. In some EVSE, you can even reduce the current to 10A or even 6A which allows you to charge your vehicle from a remote location without overloading the power grid or the house wiring (This may not be practical always as a vehicle with 30kWh battery will take around 24 hours for filling from 0% to 100% with 230V).

2. Digital Tyre Inflator - It is common for other ICE vehicles also. Checking the tyre air pressure once in a week/two weeks will help you to maintain the tyre pressure for optimized range and helps you to identify small leaks in the tyre in advance. Proper tyre pressure maintenance is important since it affects range considerably. 

3. 12V battery voltage monitor with USB charger - This is a useful utility for most cars. In EVs, this will help you to drain the 12V (Low Voltage-LV) battery in a controlled manner and check the health once in a while (#6). This is just my personal suggestion as in EV, LV battery will be always in full charge and discharging is fairly less as we will keep the whole vehicle in ON condition whenever required (instead of keeping ACC on for listening music). Another reason for the LV battery related issues is that the service center may not check the battery water levels. Ensure your 12V socket is turning OFF when you turn off the car (In our Ford Ecosport, the 12V out was always available - even when the vehicle is fully OFF and locked).

4. Dash cam - This is a requirement in vehicles nowadays as the road accidents are increasing. I personally prefer to power it via USB rather than hardwiring ( especially for vehicles under warranty). This can be done by ourselves and in Nexon, we have a 12V socket in the backside which helps to hide the wires completely. Back camera is a bit tricky, but that's also possible to install by ourselves. Similar to the LV battery monitor, ensure that your 12V socket is turning OFF while turning OFF the car. Even if you are planning to hardwire it, ensure that you are visiting a good accessories shop and they are making proper connections with rated capacity wires. 

5. Jumper cables, Tow ropes, Tyre puncture kit & Hydraulic jack/separate handle for screw jack - If possible you can keep these also in your vehicle for emergencies.

Experiences in EV -  Drives

In the initial days, one of my drive details which I posted on facebook got featured in Rushlane. It was a small drive of around 200.5+20.1=220.6 km km in EV with my father and mother. It was from Kollam to Azhimala Temple in Trivandrum. On the return trip I charged in Kollam fast charging station to cover the last leg. I got around 200 km range in that drive with 83% which can be projected to a range of 242 km (#7). I did multiple drives from Kollam to Bangalore and even some time I extended it to Pulikat lake, Andhra Pradesh also. The last drive to Bangalore was through the Kumali, Dindigul route. I will mention separately about the long drives as nowadays I am having a different opinion about long drives.

Our first high range drive may be our Munnar Trip (#8). On our first trip to Munnar, there were no fast charging stations available in Munnar. After fast charging from Ernakulam, we thought about charging it from the heater or AC power point in the hotel with an extension box (which is specifically made for EV charging). But the hotel which we booked did not have any 16A socket. Finally they removed their inverter input and allowed us to charge the whole night. The return trip was good as we got sufficient regeneration on the downhill which helped us to reach home without visiting any charging station. After that we went to Munnar one more time in EV. Now Munnar has two fast charging options and there are fast charging stations before the uphill also. 

The drive to Idukki was a bit of a crazy experience (#9). On a Sunday we planned to visit Idukki dam as it was open for visitors. Our plan was to fast charge from Kottayam and reach Idukki dam. Our assumption was that the return won’t take much energy as it will be a downhill (from our Munnar trip experience). But in Idukki, the landscape consists of uphills and downhills on the way. The fast charging station at Kottayam was not working. Then itself we could have canceled the journey but with the experience in last Munnar trip we proceeded (Why? In case we feel like we don’t have enough battery, we planned to return in the mid way with the help of regeneration). But since the path to Idukki consisted of uphills and downhills, returning won’t be giving any advantage of regeneration (It will give good benefit only if it is a straight downhill). Finally we continued to our destination with AC OFF from the mid way. We reached there with 13% SoC left. On the return the battery reached 1% (charged from 2% to 5% in between with the help of regeneration) and we stopped near the roadside and called for RSA and they towed the vehicle to the nearest service center (where we tried to fast charge in the morning) and arranged a taxi for us to reach there. Compared to my first towing, this was faster and better. This took less than 2 hours to reach. I will explain about the first towing in the issues portion. Now Idukki has one or more fast charging stations.

Another point I would like to share about the experience in the EV is regarding the way of driving (#10, #11). We should always try to stop tailgating and keep a good space between the vehicle in front of you so that you can slow down your vehicle easily with a gentle touch on the brake pedal. The gentle touch in the brake pedal in regen level 1 will give maximum regeneration (same as regen level 3) and hence stops the vehicle faster without engaging disk/drum brakes (Ideally the regen selection should only affect the accelerator pedal response. I still don’t understand why TATA linked this regen selection with brake pedal response. Now you will get only half of the maximum regeneration in the brake pedal when you select regen level 0 or off (#2)). If you can gently operate the accelerator pedal, sports mode may give you a bit more range than drive mode (#12). Following these may help you get more range in your EV. Once in a while, on an empty road try to do a sudden braking to ensure that your body is still familiar with maximum depth of brake pedal (otherwise when the requirement of sudden brake comes, your legs may not go that much deep - This is a big difference compared to ICE vehicle as most of us utilize almost full range of brake pedal in ICE vehicles at least while stopping).

The DTE is one of the most unreliable readings in the vehicle don’t trust the DTE (#13) and try to understand how long your vehicle drives with 1% in a level road. Take it as a reference and always plan for a drive with 70-80% battery only. Normally I get around 2 km for 1% and I will plan for 150-160 km only. In case of long drives, I plan to charge within 110-120 km as backup chargers are also considered. You won’t get this range while going to a hilly terrain (it may be even less than 1 km per 1% depending upon the steepness) and you may get more than this and extra regeneration while returning from a hilly terrain (try to start your return trip with 90% or lower if sufficient charging stations are available in the route). I still don’t know how far you can believe your AEC. If they are showing a reading, they should explain how a user should understand that reading. Whether you will be happy if your average mileage reading in your instrument cluster of ICE vehicles shows the ‘average mileage of the last few km’ instead of the ‘trip meter average’. I won't be happy and it won't convey any meaning.

Even though I haven’t noticed in the beginning, lot of my EV friends noticed mis alignment in doors and small painting irregularities and fit and finish related issues. I am not concerned about these issues. But it will be a big issue for some owners as everyone is spending a lot of amount in this car.

What to know

Every EV owner should know about some basics about EV so that they can use the vehicle themselves without relying on other too much. Some basics I have shared as a separate post (#3).

1. Slow Charging - This should be your regular charging practice. It is as simple as you just need to plug your EVSE to a separate 16A plug top and other side to your vehicle (Normally this socket and associated wiring will be arranged by the manufacturer). It is really simple to plug the type 2 gun to your vehicle and turn on the EVSE or tap the RFID card which comes with the EVSE. But you need to understand the working a bit. Your vehicle is having an onboard charger (OBC) which is actually converting AC voltage to DC and charging your high voltage battery. It is having a power rating such as 3.3kW/16A or 7.2kW/32A (there are vehicles which support 11kW and upto 22kW). But while charging, your maximum charging power is restricted by other components and the power availability in the source.  

1. Fast Charging  - As an EV owner or EV user, you should know about how to find a charging station and how use one (even though you may not need it) (#15, #16). For those who are really familiar with smartphones, just need the name of an app such as Plugshare, EVarc, EV Yatra etc. But in case of elderly owners, please do seek the help of others and understand the methods and try it yourself for a few times so that you won’t be stranded anywhere. You will need multiple apps for charging as each Charge Point Operator (CPO) is using its own app which is really an inconvenience. Some CPOs provide RFID for easy operation and some provide auto charging. Let’s hope the government will come up with a solution or all of them will allow charging from Plugshare, EV arc like apps.  Before reaching out to a fast charging station,

2. Availability - Ensure the charging station is available and there is no maintenance going on from their own app. Just check the comments of earlier users to ensure that the particular charger is available/accessible. Some charging stations are private.

3. Charging gun - Ensure that particular charging gun which is required to charge your car is available in the charging station. CCS2 will be suitable for most of the EVs in India today. Some operators also mention it as CCS/SAE. Type 2 is another type of gun which helps you to AC charging which will be slower (but useful in case of emergencies) 

1. Charging power - Always try to use the least power gun available in the charging station which meets your requirement. Otherwise you may be blocking another high power EV owner’s slot. If your vehicle is having only 20kW receiving capacity and you have option to select 25kW and 50kW CCS2 charging points, go ahead with 25kW charging point so that you won’t block another EV which is having more power capability. Here also TATA interfered with the charging standards mandating Nexon EV Max/LR to use 50kW fast charger to get maximum of 32kW. It supports only 26-28kW in 30kW fast charger.

2. Backup chargers - Locations with nearby chargers might be a good option to consider, depending on your individual needs and priorities. 

3. Last minute charging - Try to avoid last minute charging where you won’t be able to reach another charging station. Keep some buffer for reaching one or two more charging station in the way.

4. Amenities - Getting amenities like food court, kids play zone, washroom etc. will be useful as you may spend quite time there.

5. Queueing - When you reach the charging station, if your expected CCS2 gun is engaged, try to get the benefit of ‘type 2’ (similar to our AC fast charging gun (image shown above)) gun (if available). If you are not available near your car while charging in public locations, it is a good practice to put your contact number or other methods of contact in your car dashboard. It may give you a chance to help someone. It may be either emergency or you might be blocking another vehicle’s charging/parking slot.

1. Best practices for charging (fast & slow) - Always follow the best practice provided by the manufacturer. For some vehicles it is better to charge upto 100% always and some vehicles are better to use from 20% to 80%. Make sure you get the procedure or recommendation written from the manufacturer. My personal suggestions for Nexon EV prime is to charge from 10-20% to 100% whenever possible and do a deep discharge of upto 5% once in a year or before a long drive to ensure the battery is working properly in that area (Ensure you are checking this in an area where you have charging options available nearby. In case the vehicle throws an error you should be able to move the vehicle to a nearby house and slow charge). I have written more about charging in a separate post (#17).

2. User manual -  All EV owners/users need to read the user manual at least one time. It contains vital information about your vehicle.

3. Driving style/Range - As I told earlier, all EV owners/users should understand their own vehicle’s range for 1% SoC by driving more than 50% of SoC and dividing the trip meter with that value (km driven➗SoC used). Understand that these are an approximate value for a certain terrain at certain speed/traffic in certain driving style. If you keep the same driving style, you need to consider the difference in traffic and terrain only. Going too slow and too fast can be less efficient. It also varies depending on drive modes. In Nexon EV prime, I personally feel Sports mode with feather touch acceleration and regen level 1 works the best (as long as regen 0 bug exists). Regarding the driving style, an old post (#10, #11) is currently available, planning to make a new post including prime features.

4. Electricity billing - Even though you need not to spend money on fuel stations, you may need to spend a lot of money on electricity bills (you will feel the difference only if you are currently a low electricity user and billing under telescopic rates). The difference will be around 500 rupees once you jump out of telescopic range. If you are already out of telescopic range, it will increase only according to your car usage. You can think of around 1.3 rupees per km increase in electricity bill (it may increase or decrease depending on your driving efficiency). The basic idea is that your per unit cost may increase as your consumption increases (in some areas due to increase in connected load also). But I don’t think it will significantly affect you. If you want to know the detail calculation, it will be posted as a separate post.

5. Solar - A lot of EV owners are saying that they are running at zero cost due to the newly installed solar plant. But either they should add the solar investment to the vehicle cost or shouldn't consider it as zero cost till the solar makes sufficient return on investment (ROI). If your electricity usage is more (per unit rate is high), you can install solar plants in your home but you may need to use EV, induction cooker etc. to get ROI faster.

Service tips

Basically all TATA EVs (as on 01/01/2024) need two main EV related services. First one is Transaxle oil change at every 2 years / 30,000 km (except second service in 6 months / 7,500 km). Second one is coolant changing every 4 years / 60,000 km. Do check the quantity required in your user manual and verify with your bill. Service duration is every 6 months or 7,500 km (whichever is earlier except first service). First service is  1-2 months / 1000-2000 km. Whenever possible try to do service at least 15-20 days before the date or 400-600 km before your service due so that you will get sufficient time for rebooking in case the slot is not available. In case you have some issue in your vehicle, if possible, try to show it to the service advisor/technician so that they will be able to troubleshoot easily (especially regarding the sounds while driving) and try not to club it with regular service as regular service itself may take one full day. In case you want to reduce your service cost, while submitting the vehicle to service advisor, clearly instruct them to do the mandatory services (please check user manual and find mandatory services before going to service centre) only and in case some extra services/parts replacement is required, contact and get confirmation with you before proceeding. (#18)

Benefits

1. Comfort, driving style - The driving comfort is the main benefit of the EV. Noise, Vibration etc. are less compared to ICE vehicles. You won’t feel tired even after a long 700 km drive on a highway as you will be taking a break in between and you won’t feel any effort due to less vibrations and cruise control. It also helps us to make our driving style better. 

2. Low maintenance cost - As your driving style gets better and you practice predictive braking with low regenerative braking (regen level 1 with gentle braking), it helps you to increase your tyre life. ABS can potentially increase tire life by preventing skidding and uneven wear, but my driving habits haven't triggered it enough for me to observe this benefit. I got around 1.29 lakh km range for my stock tyres (#19). I replaced it with three new tyres and a stock spare tyre. As you take the benefit of regenerative braking, your brake pad life will increase. My brake pads lasted for around 1.4 lakh km. Service cost is lesser compared to ICE vehicles (#20). The main costs are transaxle oil change in every 30,000 km and coolant change in every 60,000 km. 

3. Low running cost - Running cost is also less which comes around Rs.1/km (or even lesser with efficient driving and slow charging at home) (#20). You don’t have to visit fuel stations for your routine drives. When charging from fast charging stations for long drives the running cost may increase to a range of Rs. 1.2/km - Rs. 5/km depending on the CPO rates(Rs. 10/kWh - Rs. 30/kWh) and lower range (180km) in the highways due to high speed(>80kmph) in a Nexon EV prime.

4. Eco Friendly - When it comes to ecofriendliness, broadly pollution from ICE engines can be classified as two types:

Carbon dioxide: which causes global warming which is non linear and global phenomenon i.e., pollution due to an ICE engine running at particular location is not only affecting that particular location, but the entire country & earth. Tackling it requires huge effort by all nations.

Particulate Matter and other gases: ICE engines particularly diesel engines emits soot, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxides which produce local pollution. These impacts mostly in urban areas (such as Delhi). EV’s can improve this situation very much (power is produced in far distance from urban centers) and pollution scrubbing techniques can be better implemented in large scale plants than cars.

Kerala generates a lot of electricity using hydroelectric power plants but still it has to buy electricity from other states to meet the demand (which may be thermal power plants). So it may not be clean energy, but it will definitely be better than ICE vehicles. Another aspect is that EV helps to reduce the pollution in urban areas and we can implement pollution prevention strategies in power generation plants. I think even the thermal power plants will be more efficient than these smaller ICE engines. Normally when everyone compares the pollution between ICE vehicles and EVs they consider the CO2 emission due to ICE vehicles and thermal power plants. But we need to add up the CO2 emission of the below components also.

1. For ICE - 82% of crude oil is imported

2. Pollution while mining & processing of the fuel

3. Pollution while transporting the fuel via sea

4. Pollution while refining the fuel

5. Pollution while transporting from refineries to fuel stations

6. Pollution while using the ICE engines

7. For EV (even considering usage of coal power plant) - 70% of coal is domestic

8. Pollution while Mining & processing of coal

9. Pollution while transporting the coal to thermal plant

10. Pollution while operating thermal power plant

• will be more efficient than small ICE engines

• transmission loss will be less

1. Pollution while Lithium mining, processing, transporting via sea etc.

• applicable only a few times (and comparatively less quantity required) in the lifetime of an EV.

• Possibility of reusing.

1. Pollution while transporting the coal via sea

• only for importing coal

Recently one study published that EVs pollute more than ICE vehicles due to tyre/brake pad & excess weight. I agree with that if all EV owners are making use of excess power of the EV and wearout their tyres and brake pads earlier than its ICE equivalent. But in my personal experience, most EV owners (especially TATA EV owners) are getting more tyre mileage than their ICE vehicles. Even though the study is correct technically, I feel most of the EV owners drive their vehicles conservatively and hence reduce tyre/brake pad pollution considering the ICE equivalent.

1. Free updates & Genuine accessories - TATA provided a major prime update to all the EV vehicles which were not having certain features such as cruise control, regenerative braking & iTPMS without extra cost. While delivering the vehicle, ‘door auto lock’ feature was not available in the car, it was added to the car later. TATA provided a cover for ‘charging port locking actuator’ as the particular part failed in a lot of vehicles during monsoon season. Similarly some terrosat updates and breather updates were provided free of cost as part of fighting the monsoon season. I think these are done due to the feedback from owners. Since the low beam light output is less, TATA provided an option to change the halogen bulb with LED light as a genuine accessory without voiding warranty (#19). 

2. Loaner car policy - The service center is having a policy to give a loaner vehicle or compensation to the owners if the service is getting delayed under warranty. Once the service center arranged a car with the driver to drop me home (around 80 km far) with my family as an unexpected problem happened with the vehicle while servicing. There is a free RSA package including towing and taxi for immediate use for warranty period and owners can extend it further by paying service cost for each year.

3. No more fuel station visit - This won't be a big advantage for those who charge a lot in charging stations. But for those who are doing regular charging at home, this is an advantage which helps them to save time as well as to reduce the detour for visiting fuel stations (which is mandatory).

4. Owners meet - TATA sometimes calls for EV owners’ meet or EV rally in some of their dealerships and once they even allowed some of the early owners to visit their manufacturing plant in Pune. Some of the old owners are still in touch with TATA which sometimes helps other new owners to get their problems resolved quickly. 

Issues/Demerits - This is going to be a long list

1. Personally experienced repairs/replacement

2. First high voltage error / towing - I had to tow my car on the third week after delivery. Luckily it was after my brother’s marriage. While fast charging, the fast charging stopped and the vehicle showed a high voltage error. So I had to tow my vehicle to the service center and the towing vehicle took around 8 hours to reach and tow my vehicle (The timing may vary depending on the number of vehicles needing towing at that point of time. But I was near the center of the city). The issue was due to the first generation charging station of that particular company (Now it got updated with a newer machine). I got the vehicle the next evening. Since my family was on the Ecosport on that day, it didn’t affect their plan and they took me from the service center on the way back - nowadays rare.

3. Charging gun locking actuator replacement - Sometimes the vehicle won’t get charged and sometimes the charging gun won’t be properly unlocked after slow charging. These are the indications I felt. In slow charging, manually re-locking may help you at times, but in fast charging it is a big issue as the protocol may need the locking at a particular timing (sometimes that is possible by assisting the lever). Please note that the manufacturer may not advise you to manually lock or unlock. I had to replace my charging gun locking actuator seven times (including one time after warranty which cost around 8000 rupees) (#20). Earlier it was a big issue and nowadays it got reduced due to introduction of actuator cover for that particular part - nowadays rare. Another major issue related to this is that the user does not have any status to know whether the gun is presently locked or unlocked (the unlocking gun button also not sufficient to know the status of gun lock) - not resolved yet.

4. DC fast charging issues - I had various issues regarding this. Sometimes my vehicle had problems but there was no indication. So I had to go to the service center one day before the trip to check and clear the errors in the vehicles (nowadays that requirement is not there). Recently I had an issue with my vehicle (or charging station) where I was not able to charge my vehicle from certain charging stations. But other Nexon EV Primes were charging there without any issues (My car was charging successfully from some other charging stations). It actually spoiled one of our family trips and forced us to stay in a luxury hotel leaving the car for slow charging - there is no indication yet but I think the problem might have reduced in newer vehicles (not sure).

5. Battery pack replacement (#21) - I had to replace my battery pack at 85,000 km under warranty (8 years/1.6 lakh km). One day I had to drive a little bit more with my friends. While returning I thought about charging at home with 5% remaining rather than fast charging and I haven’t drained my battery below 10% recently at that point of time. At 11% it gave a limp mode which was not expected above 10% (Actually I haven’t noticed that first time). Then the drive mode shifted from Drive mode to Neutral mode automatically at 10%. I manuared the vehicle to the side and tried to change back to Drive mode and it worked. Then at 7%, this issue happened again and at that time even after turning OFF the vehicle and ON, the issue persisted.  After locking the vehicle I called RSA for around 10-20 minutes while walking away from the car with FOB with me. After the call when I returned and tried to turn ON the vehicle, it worked. Next day I booked a regular service appointment and I submitted the car for regular service and I mentioned this issue also. While returning, they informed me that there was no issue with the vehicle. Then after one month I tried it again and then also the same issue happened. This time limp mode came on 12% (then i remembered about the previous incident) and Drive to Neutral switching happened at 10% and 7%. Since I had to go for an official tour the next day, I submitted the vehicle with 20% and proceeded with my official tour. Next day they informed me that there was a battery issue there and in two days they told me it was confirmed by the concerned team and as one spare battery is available in the nearby dealership, they replaced the battery pack (refurbished) in a few days. Since I was out of station, I had to just call and follow up (didn’t affect my usage). The major issue related to this is about the down time (it may vary from one day to more than two months). Under warranty, we can demand for a loaner EV car or daily compensation. But I don’t know how an owner will manage after the warranty period.

My battery’s SOH before replacement was 94% and the newly replaced refurbished battery was having 95%. Initial few charging cycles I felt a bit range degradation but after a few charging cycles, I felt like I am getting old range (You may cross check with my 3 year charging data (#20)). The year of manufacturing of the battery pack (external shell) was around a few months newer to my old battery pack. I am not sure about the cost as there invoice mentioned HV battery handling charges only which was around 500 rupees which is also covered under warranty. But I am not that happy as the battery pack clocked less than 400 charging cycles only (whereas I expected 1500 - 2000 charging cycles). Please note that TATA is not sharing SOH details with owners. Earlier service centers used to show us while scanning but nowadays sometimes they will orally inform and sometimes they will refuse to share the information. As per the information from SC, my battery SOH is around 89% after clocking 1.57 lakh km (I saw the value) - still trying to get maximum data, no comments now. 

1. High beam not turning off - This is a miscellaneous issue but I am pointing it out as a separate issue just because I had to visit the service center more than 5 times to clear this issue. Sometime after giving a pass signal, my high beam got stuck in ON position and it will continue to glow even when we fully turn OFF the car. It will come randomly only and sometimes if I operate the lever a few times it may go OFF. I took video of this and indicated this issue on two services and they told me they were not able to replicate the issue. Then I haven’t mentioned it for a few services. One day while going to the office I got this issue and then I drove directly to the service center and waited for DET (kept the car in ON condition or else my LV battery may get drained) and showed the issue and was informed that the issue may go away if you operate the lever a few times. Instead of troubleshooting, he operated the lever a few times and the issue was gone. He informed us that since the issue is confirmed in the service center you need not to worry and we will clear it in warranty and they checked the vehicle that day and ordered the spare lever under warranty. I had to go again to fix the lever and the next day when I was going to a waterfall with my friends, the light was ON and it drained my LV battery and spoiled my day. I hadn't noticed as it was daytime and it was an outing with my friends. I had to jumpstart my vehicle and next day gave them my headlight relay and asked for a replacement. They gave me a new relay and charged me as the relay won’t come under warranty. So I had to waste my 6 days due to this small issue and I had to find the issue myself.

2. Miscellaneous - 

3. For enabling door auto lock I had to request it multiple times in the service center (3+ times).

4. My steering wheel cover coming under the steering wheel was loose. I submitted the vehicle for clearing the issue. While returning my left horn was not working, then I again submitted for clearing that issue and got my vehicle back with the right horn not in working condition. 

5. Some motor related to AC got damaged and cleared under warranty. I had to go multiple times to service center regarding the AC issues. One time when I submitted my vehicle for two days (as they requested 2-3 days to check the AC complaint earlier), I got my vehicle back after 10 days only. Since my outstation work got extended one week, it didn’t affect me, but after 10 days when I was about to take the vehicle they were requesting for half a day more for completing the work.

6. I had to go to the service center three times to rectify the problem with central locking (doors were not locking, they changed fuse two times and then ordered for replacement of some parts under warranty).

7. I had to follow up more than two months to get my warranty claim on stabilizer assembly as service center initially denied warranty stating suspension related parts are having only warranty upto 50,000 km. It is not mentioned in the user manual which states about standard warranty. I paid the cost initially and constantly followed up about the warranty (or to share the official document which limits warranty for this particular part upto 50,000 km. Finally it got reimbursed (These are limited to 50,000 km in extended warranty and are mentioned in extended warranty brochures).

8. Infotainment system, Central locking and Instrument cluster misbehaves at times. While driving (or sometimes while turning ON), the infotainment system won't show bluetooth devices. After manual force restart, it may work. The central locking system sometimes locks the vehicle automatically when closing doors (without any lock command from key FOB or front panel). Sometimes the key may get stuck inside the vehicle (luckily zconnect app helped me in all those cases). Sometimes the instrument cluster boots up fast and sometimes it will be slow and even sometimes it restarts while driving (two times in entire driving). One time the instrument cluster was replaced under warranty.

9. Spare parts delays, Motor mount bolt got broken two times while trying to insert an updated part. Currently at 1.5 lakh km, my boot door opening switch is not responding. I am not planning to go to the service center for this as the inner switch is working fine (don't wanna come up with more problems). After last service they have changed my front wiper alignment also which is now extruded from the transparent part of the windshield (while wiping). Unreliable data shown in instrument clusters such as DTE, AEC etc. Some vehicles also have errors in odometer accuracy also.

1. Service - This is the major issue in TATA vehicles. This is our first TATA vehicle. Normally when we talk about an issue, we can suggest some solutions. In the case of TATA, I don’t know what the solution is. I had to visit the service center multiple times for the same complaint which is a basic complaint which can come to any ICE vehicle. When we submit the vehicle for some complaint, we get the vehicle back with some other complaints. I had to visit the service center more than 60 times in 3 years / 1.4 lakh km instead of around 20 times. I think there is no proper escalation matrix in TATA or I think they have an illogical escalation matrix. The matrix is CRM, WM, SM, GM/CEO, CSM. In this everyone except CSM are the staff of the concerned dealership only. All the complaints we mail to customercare@tatamotors.com will be redirected to the above staffs. So literally we are telling the complaints of the dealership to the same dealership only. Above the CSM there is no escalation available for a normal TATA car owner. There are some owners who send mail to a lot of TATA staff directly. But in the official channel you won’t get any escalation mail id from CSM who is a TATA staff (I got one recently after I started writing this review. There are some positive updates but the questions are not yet clarified properly. I still don't know how a regular owner will get escalation contacts) (#img1). Some other owners will post the issues in twitter or facebook or other social media. Due to these issues, there are new groups forming on a membership basis for running behind these issues only. These problems may reduce in future due to new dealerships. 

Now also I know some owners' batteries are sent to the Pune plant with an estimated time of 2 months or more for repair (#img2). Please note that there are cases where battery related issues are solved in a few days by  replacing the pack. As I told earlier, under warranty we can request for a loaner vehicle or compensation. But after warranty (or in case of insurance claim), how can an owner survive one month or more without a vehicle? For checking AC related complaints, the service center is requesting at least 2-3 days and takes more than one week. In case a problem happens, an owner will need to visit the service center at least two times. First, the owner should go to the service center to show the issue (If a slot is not available on that day, he may need to come one more day). In case they are able to find the problem that day itself, they will order for the part which may take one week to more than one month (one small metal bracket of my car’s spare took more than one month). Once the spare part comes, the owner can visit the service center again and get it changed. Another issue is that this problem exists for the user till the replacement. The situation gets worse if the problems are random. After checking the connectors or logs they will simply tell they couldn’t reproduce the problem and come with the vehicle when the issue is present. Just think of an owner who is experiencing SoC drop. If he doesn't have the zconnect app, they don’t have any proof. How is an owner supposed to show this to the service center? - Let’s hope these problems may reduce in future due to new dealerships and new diagnostics methods.

1. Inadequate information (Cost, post warranty, usage, working) - There are a lot of gray areas in EV. It includes but not limited to post warranty repair policy, post warranty repair duration, warranty for repaired high cost elements such as PDU, battery pack, DC-DC convertor etc., best charging patterns, illogical connection between regen mode selection and brake pedal response (#2), illogical reduction of slow charging power (#14), reliability of the AEC, DTE etc., increased time out in gear shifting after prime update etc. There is no logical response from TATA regarding these questions. All the mails are just redirected to dealerships with an automated response and there is no proper response. I mailed these concerns multiple times with follow up mails, but there is no proper response from their end (Started the mail chain in August 2022 for Prime update related cases) (#img1). 

2. Unavailable status in the vehicle - There are a lot of status which are not displayed in the vehicle but are mandatory requirements. - there is no indication yet 

3. Mandatory

4. Charging lock status - There is no option for showing the charging lock status indication. Currently after pressing the unlock button or after full charge, the owner imagines that the charging gun is unlocked and tries to remove the gun. Sometimes it ends in physical damage of the charging gun or the lock. As long as the TATA is not providing the status, these issues will continue to happen.

5. Error code or reference code indication or logging - Presently when some error happens in the high voltage side, it shows an indication which can popup due to ‘n’ number of reasons. If they provide a reference code there, the owner can take a photo of the code and show the service center for easy rectification. Or atleast keep that error as a log in the vehicle. Currently in most cases, after restarting the car, errors will disappear and when we go to the service center and mention the issue, they will scan the car and tell there is no error in the vehicle. What is a user supposed to do in this situation? Reproducing these situations in service centers may not always be possible.

6. Optional 

7. Version details/Update availability information to owners - Currently if any update comes to the vehicle, the owner may not know about it. In case an update is rolled out to the vehicle, it should be informed to the owner via SMS or email. Currently there is no option for users to know the version number of the vehicle modules.

8. Zconnect app - First of all this app is buggy and the company itself says to wait upto 2min for each command/status update. However it is useful for data logging and sometimes it helps for remote AC ON also. But, we are not having any option to restrict the bandwidth usage or limit the update interval or even know the balance data or to know the data usage split-up. We can’t export the data from the Zconnect app. So effectively we don’t have any control over the e-sim taken under our KYC and recharging with our money and our data in company’s server. The remote AC ON command while fast charging was a good feature which got disabled few weeks back in an update. There is no notification for charging failed or stopped (It is announced for newer models but it is not available for newer vehicles yet. We are paying the same amount as a subscription for the zconnect app but we are not having these features.). - there is no change yet.

9. DC fast charging issues - This also includes in the 3)a)ii) point. Sometimes the vehicle may have some issues for fast charging but the error won’t be displayed in the vehicle. It is really hard to show these issues to service centers as this issue may not always repeat. The only way an owner can understand that the issue is with their car is by checking the charging status of the next vehicle (same brand/model). Chargers are intelligent to show their problems with error codes if they have some problem. Are the cars not smart enough to display them? As I told earlier, my few trips were negatively impacted as some issue with my vehicle was not allowing ABB chargers to charge my vehicle (it may be vice versa also). However the case was my vehicle is not charging from most of the ABB chargers but charging from other make chargers. In the ABB chargers where my vehicle is not charging, other TATA vehicles are charging seamlessly. However sometime after clearing error from the vehicle and sometimes even without clearing the errors from the vehicle, vehicle starts charging from the next ABB charger onwards - I think the problem might have reduced in newer vehicles (not sure).

10. Rusting - In three years my car started rusting in many places. It is not the entire vehicle but some parts. So I think it is definitely not my location, it’s more like the uneven quality of painting in various parts. My CCS2 port holding metal bracket rusted around 30% so that one of the holes is no longer usable (#22). It may not be there for all vehicles, but I think it is there for a lot of vehicles.

11. Long drives (#23) - After three years of usage I won’t suggest anyone to use EV for long drives using more than one FC when your full charging time (0% to 100%) is more than one hour. If you don’t have time constraints and everyone in the vehicle is enthusiastic about EV, there are no issues. Otherwise I won’t recommend that due to time loss & not having a big financial saving when compared to a decent mileage providing diesel car. If you have a lot of extra time, you may plan for frequent long drives. Otherwise I won’t recommend buying an EV mainly for long drives - applicable for all EV - the time issue is depending on vehicle range at high speeds as well as the fast charging speed.

12. Battery degradation - At the end of the day, battery is a consumable item. After its life, you need to change it (If everything goes well, this may happen only after a long period such as 3-4 lakh km - considering 1500 charging cycles). It may be cell/module wise replacement or entire battery pack replacement.

13. Lag in drive mode switching - There is a lag in switching from Drive mode to Reverse mode. It is a big inconvenience while taking two point or three point U turns. Majority thinks it is due to the circular dial. But I feel it is due to the software sensing delay of the dial. The same issue exists in the Nexon EV 3.0 facelift (which is having a lever) and saw a post about an owner damaging their boot door (an found another owner in same condition with circular knob in comments) (#fbLink). In Nexon EV Prime it will switch to Neutral even though it is not switching to the other mode, but in facelift I think the mode stays the same. That might have caused these incidents. - I think the problem might have reduced in newer vehicles (not sure).

14. Touch buttons - This is not related to my EV and is not present in my vehicle, but still I want to mention that newer vehicles comes with the touch buttons rather than physical buttons. It is not providing any response while pressing a button (not haptic response as well as blinking of the button light) and finding a button with muscle memory is really difficult. I personally feel that the physical buttons should be kept or at least available as a separate addon. Especially regarding the charging gun unlock button, when we press the button you won’t feel anything so we will be confused whether the pressing happened or not. Basic solution which can be implemented is blinking the light of the respective button or an haptic response also can be added as an advanced solution - there is no solution yet.

After 3 years / 1.5 lakh km

I am not feeling much change after 1.5 lakh km of usage. As I told earlier my battery got replaced on 85,000 km. But my old battery was having around 94% SOH and the refurbished new battery was having around 95% SOH. So technically, I should get around the same degradation of battery at this point of time. My current SOH is 89% and hence effectively 88% SOH can be considered. Since my routine driving to the office (82 km) in the morning does not have many variables, I was taking the morning drive details for benchmarking my vehicle. But due to recent highway extension works, there are a lot of deviations and bad roads. This even made me go back to Drive mode. So my benchmarking is no longer comparable. I am able to get upto 2.4km for 1% SoC under controlled drive. I think my battery pack may have 15-20% degradation. This is the value I felt, but I am not sure as the benchmarking reference is not correct. In simple words, earlier I used to reach office with 67-70% remaining easily with 4-5 passengers in the vehicle (with empty highway and controlled speed) but now I am getting around 59-62% remaining with single passenger in the vehicle (with a little traffic and not much controlled speed). But as I mentioned earlier, the benchmarking reference is not correct.

The main difference the EV made in my life is that it changed my driving style. The driving style benefit and comfort offered by the EV made my drives effortless. I don’t know how to describe that. Once you realize that you can even catch the BENZ or BMW (in Kerala roads), you won’t even care which vehicle is overtaking you (even if it is an Auto 800). This helped me to get an amazing tyre life of 1.29 lakh km (#19) and brake pad life of 1.4 lakh km (#22).

My whole three year ownership cost, service cost etc. are posted separately with whole three year charging data (#20). As a summary, as on 03/11/2023 when I clocked 1,40,000 km

• I have spend around 3.66 lakh rupees as ownership cost (Rs. 2.60/km) - Including insurance and service cost.

• I have spend around 1 lakh rupees as service cost (Rs. 0.71/km) - Including tyre change, LED low beam, LV battery also

• I have spend around 1.92 lakh rupees as charging cost (Rs. 1.37/km)

• I have using around 511 slow charging cycles and around 133 fast charging cycles (combinedly 645 number of cycles) with two battery packs (331+56=387 cycles in first battery pack and 181+76=257 cycles in second battery pack).

Upcoming challenges

There are some major challenges which may come in the near future in the EV ecosystem. As we all know, 

1. Electricity grid enhancement - As more owners are switching to EV, the electricity energy consumption requirement may increase exponentially in near future. So the electricity production as well as the grid should be enhanced accordingly. This may result in an increase of electricity rates also. The owners should be educated to choose the slowest possible charging method for daily use and to do that outside peak time whenever possible. If proper education and enhancement were not done, in future power outages and other electrical issues may arise.

2. New rules/clarity in rules - The regulations for installing slow charging points in apartment parking lots are still not clear. In some cases there is issue with approval from resident association and in some cases issues with approval from DISCOM. Just because of these issues some owners are using their EV fully depending on fast charging. I don't know whether it is practical to provide an independent slow charging solution to each owner in the flat, but new solutions should arise. I hope providing slow charging provision in the office parking lots will help upto an extent.

3. DC fast charging station saturation - As the load in the grid increases, there will be restrictions on allowing newer charging stations. So further charging stations may not increase as per the current trend. This may directly affect upcoming latest vehicles with higher charging power.

4. Queuing - I have already mentioned this in the Demerits section. Just due to the above two points, I am mentioning it again. If sufficient DC fast charging stations are not available, the queue in the charging stations may increase a lot in holidays or long weekends and this will be majorly affecting EVs with relatively slower fast charging capability. This also affects super fast charging vehicles if the available fast charging station is not having sufficient power capability.

5. Battery recycling and usage as secondary storage - There needs a proper plan for recycling the battery packs which completed its life cycle. If not properly reused or recycled, it will lead to another type of pollution.

6. Lithium scarcity - Let's hope new technologies will arise so that this won't be a challenge in the future. The Sodium based battery is already in testing.

7. Accidents - EVs as everyone knows are high performance machines which will respond as you push the accelerator pedal. So in next generation EVs, acceleration rates will be too high and if handled by incompetent drivers or on small roads can result in accidents. There should be some restrictions or some specialized license requirements that need to be enforced for next generation high performance vehicles. This is applicable to ICE vehicles also but the high performance ICE vehicles are too costly and won't reach the hands of an average buyer.

EV Crossroads - Upgrade or Renew?

In financial aspect, it is good to move on to a newer EV due to following advantages

1. No need to worry about vehicle warranty and motor/battery warranty for 1.6 lakh km (with extended warranty) as my vehicle will be fully out of warranty in 3,000 km. The cost for upgrading the car will be less than the entire battery pack replacement (only in the worst case scenario where entire battery pack replacement is required after 3,000 km).

2. The next benefit is that I will get a better resale value for this vehicle now. The resale value will decrease as newer EV vehicles are launching. But please note that my new vehicle won't be having much resale value at the time of its resale as a lot of newer EV vehicles and newer technology might have launched by that time.

I am not planning to upgrade as I would like to know how long I can keep this vehicle. It's like family now. In the worst case I may even replace the battery pack. 

Suggestions

I have been mailing a lot of improvement possibilities to TATA via their mail id but I don’t know whether it is reaching the design team. Few of them are implemented but most of them are still not implemented. In my understanding, most of them don't need much accessories or additional resources. I have shared suggestions to some CPOs also. But there are not many upgrades seen in their side also. I am not posting the suggestions here as I think that is not the right way. However, I am slowly porting my suggestions list to the public suggestions list for EVs (#24). Anyone can comment here and add their suggestions. I don't know whether the manufacturers will check these. I hope someday they may come up with some platform like owners only forums enabling owners to give suggestions/bugs/future requests directly to designers.

Footnote

If you ask me one word answer for my EV experience in the last 3.5 year/1.57 lakh km journey (#20), I would say ‘I am happy’. But still there are a lot of other concerns that need to be solved and all the potential owners should study a bit about EV before buying an EV (#1).

Thanks a lot to everyone who was patient enough to read upto this point. Please leave your feedback and suggestions as comments.