[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

Tata Group has started rapid expansion of chargers. Saw one at Croma Aundh today. It's a 25kW charger (which is maximum Nexon EV can take I believe) and has both CCS and CHAdeMO plugs. Pretty cool.

Good to see public chargers coming up. But also brings up a concern that I have always had with this idea - what works for petrol/diesel refueling won't really work for EV charging. Consider 10 Nexon EVs coming to Croma, Aundh at the same time for charging, each needing 45 min for charging, just imagine the chaos. Public charging stations in city are going to be messy. On highways, in remote areas, these can be manageable.

[ADI7YAK]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

what works for petrol/diesel refueling won't really work for EV charging.

But,what works for EVs doesn't work for any ICE car,that is,charging at home overnight! One simply doesn't need to use public charger. In fact there are only 2 cases where I would personally use a public charger,
A : If I'm doing an intercity trip, I can top up the car in roughly an hour and get back to origin.
B : When I'm in an emergency where I need some charge to get back home in which case I'll use it only for say 15-20 mins to get range enough to get back home.

One more thing we should consider is that India will not have problem found in the US where Teslas line up to get charged, as India simply wouldn't have that many EVs. Sure 8-10 years down the line we might face such issues but till then I'm pretty sure battery tech as well as charging tech (Tesla is installing 150kW chargers already) will be much ahead of current times.

[mohanphadnis]

Originally Posted by ADI7YAK

One more thing we should consider is that India will not have problem found in the US where Teslas line up to get charged, as India simply wouldn't have that many EVs. Sure 8-10 years down the line we might face such issues but till then I'm pretty sure battery tech as well as charging tech (Tesla is installing 150kW chargers already) will be much ahead of current times.

The reason for those queues is that tesla used to give free DC quick charging at the superchargers. Start charging more than the home charging and everyone will stop coming to a supercharger and just charge at home at nights. It will be same in India, if these charging stations are free.

Small correction: Tesla's Supercharger v3 is actually 250kW peak rate, that could mathematically charge my kona in 40/250 = 10 minutes (of course kona's is only a 50kW onboard charger)

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Consider 10 Nexon EVs coming to Croma, Aundh at the same time for charging, each needing 45 min for charging, just imagine the chaos. Public charging stations in city are going to be messy. On highways, in remote areas, these can be manageable.

Charge Rs.20/kwh on DC fast charger, no one will flock to them . of course an EV will still be cheaper to run than ICE.
I think shell charges almost 49 pence / kwh in central london which was 8 times the peak rate. Only someone who has a real need will really charge there. While this may be an extreme case, charging more than home supply rates will keep the freeloaders away.

[speedmiester]

I took a proper test drive of Nexon EV today. This was a test drive car unlike the other car which was media drive car.
This was a XZ+ variant in signature teal blue colour.
Most of the basics were covered in multiple posts earlier, this drive was to check the range and dynamics on the highway as per my driving style.

Some stats:

• Range of car at the start of test drive: 124KMs
• State of Charge: 48%
• Total Kms driven: 22.8KMs
• Drive within city limits(heavy traffic): 8.2Kms
• Drive on NICE road (highway) : 14.6Kms
• Range at end of drive: 96Kms
• State of Charge: 41%
• Range reduction: 28Kms
• SOC reduction: 7%
• AC on at 22C with two adults

Drive observations:

• Looks far mature and grown up compared to earlier Nexon.
• Very easy to find the right driving position and all the switches and knobs are within reach.
• Slot into D mode from the rotary gear selector and the car crawls forward easily.
• Within the City under moderate to heavy traffic, the range will fall considerably due to multiple start and stop and acceleration cycles. Regen is pretty useless in this scenario.
• Within the city, the regen can be a bit of a bother as it is quite aggressive and can take people by surprise if you are not used to it. This is equivalent to level 2 regen setting in Hyundai Kona.
• The distance from my home to NICE road toll is 4.3Kms and the range dropped drastically by about 8Kms, which was worrying.
• Once I reached highway speeds of 80KMPH, the power consumption settled down and the regen started to charge the battery quite well.
• It is not easy to hold onto a single speed as the speeds starts dropping with light throttle input, this definitely needs a bit of practice.
• Very easy to attain speeds of 100+ even in drive mode and overtaking is a breeze.
• Rides very well and much better than the earlier Nexon. I am very impressed by the ride and handling of the car.
• I drove till Kanakpura junction on NICE road and returned back to Bannerghatta Road, this is a distance of 14.6Kms with elevation changes and moderate truck traffic. Range has climbed back to 106KMs by the time I exited the toll. That's a range reduction of 18Kms over a drive a 18.9Kms
• I kept varying speeds between 70-100Kmph during the drive.
• By the time I reached back to my place, after a total drive of 22.8Kms, the range has reduced to 96KMs, a reduction of 28KMs. This is primarily due to city traffic.
• With my driving style and at speeds between 90-100KMPH On highways, Nexon EV will offer a range closer to 270-290KMS. With a bit of careful driving, the range can be further extended. This effectively means I can drive to Mysore and back without a charging stop.

Deliveries will start from next week. I have booked white colour one and I want to see one in flesh before making up my mind on the colour.
Subscription pricing and information will be known by end of day. Will update it once I receive the details.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I took a proper test drive of Nexon EV today. This was a test drive car unlike the other car which was media drive car.

Thanks for the nice detailed report. Hope to see a detailed ownership review.

• As per the above image which is showing the trip details, consumption is 120 Wh/km. So on 1kWh (1000 Wh), it can travel 8.33km (1000/120 = 8.33).

• Your total trip consumption is 2.73 kWh (22.8/8.33). At BESCOM's highest tariff rate of Rs 7.8 per unit (kWh), the total trip cost is Rs 21.3 means less than Rs 1 per km.
  Note: These are assuming the ideal efficiency of charging equipment. Even at 10% of losses, the cost will be just another Rs 2-3 higher.

• With a full charge, Nexon EV with a 30.2 kWh battery, can travel ~250 km with such mixed city and highway driving conditions.

Looks like Tata is able to make a very good EV with decent range at a very good price point. Excited to see their EV lineup expand with Altroz and HBX electric variants.

[anandpadhye]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

• Range of car at the start of test drive: 124KMs
• State of Charge: 48%
• Total Kms driven: 22.8KMs
• Drive within city limits(heavy traffic): 8.2Kms
• Drive on NICE road (highway) : 14.6Kms
• Range at end of drive: 96Kms
• State of Charge: 41%
• Range reduction: 28Kms
• SOC reduction: 7%
• AC on at 22C with two adults

Nice! Good practical TD this.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

• Within the City under moderate to heavy traffic, the range will fall considerably due to multiple start and stop and acceleration cycles. Regen is pretty useless in this scenario.
• Within the city, the regen can be a bit of a bother as it is quite aggressive and can take people by surprise if you are not used to it. This is equivalent to level 2 regen setting in Hyundai Kona.
• The distance from my home to NICE road toll is 4.3Kms and the range dropped drastically by about 8Kms, which was worrying.

Two minute silence to all the auto journalists who have been saying that EVs will yield better range in traffic than on open highway due to regen These "mumbo jumbo" guys are completely out of their depth when it comes to EVs! Regen is just a way saving "some" of the lost energy. It's net energy negative! There is no way to put back into battery more than what was taken out during acceleration, unless the trip starts at a higher altitude and ends at a significantly lower altitude.

Originally Posted by speedmiester

• It is not easy to hold onto a single speed as the speeds starts dropping with light throttle input, this definitely needs a bit of practice.

This would be my biggest complaint. I loved the switchable regen in Kona. It can be completely switched off which is extremely useful when there is no traffic as it allows the car to coast. Switch to moderate regen in traffic and heavy when coming to a planned stop like toll gate or speed breaker or on steep downhill. And this is doable simply via software, why Tata skipped this is beyond me.

[DarthVeda]

nice TD review, I have gone for the car through company lease and expecting it by month end and my first road trip is to mysuru, with trickle charge at night. Nice to know that nexon can achieve 8km/kwh efficiency.

[Holyghost]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

Deliveries will start from next week. I have booked white colour one and I want to see one in flesh before making up my mind on the colour.
Subscription pricing and information will be known by end of day. Will update it once I receive the details.

Thank you for the review. Did you check whether the AC charger is compatible with the E2O charger? I guess the Wattage requirements are almost similar (2KW vs 3KW supplied via the 16A power socket). I already have an E2O charger setup at my parking place. If this is compatible, I would like to setup the Tata supplied charger elsewhere.

[mohanphadnis]

Originally Posted by Holyghost

Thank you for the review. Did you check whether the AC charger is compatible with the E2O charger? I guess the Wattage requirements are almost similar (2KW vs 3KW supplied via the 16A power socket). I already have an E2O charger setup at my parking place. If this is compatible, I would like to setup the Tata supplied charger elsewhere.

As far as I know, nexon EV uses CCS type 2 connector. That would mean something like below.

E2O actually uses the industrial plug IEC60309.

[speedmiester]

Originally Posted by Holyghost

Thank you for the review. Did you check whether the AC charger is compatible with the E2O charger? I guess the Wattage requirements are almost similar (2KW vs 3KW supplied via the 16A power socket). I already have an E2O charger setup at my parking place. If this is compatible, I would like to setup the Tata supplied charger elsewhere.

Yes, Nexon EV comes with 3.3KW charger which plugs into a normal 16A power socket.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by anandpadhye

Two minute silence to all the auto journalists who have been saying that EVs will yield better range in traffic than on open highway due to regen These "mumbo jumbo" guys are completely out of their depth when it comes to EVs! Regen is just a way saving "some" of the lost energy. It's net energy negative! There is no way to put back into battery more than what was taken out during acceleration, unless the trip starts at a higher altitude and ends at a significantly lower altitude.

True that. What these journalists said goes against the principles of conservation of energy. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, just transformed. Basic school physics. Wonder how they got it so wrong.

[chandu1382]

Anybody knows any equation that tells us how many metres in regen generates how much power and hence how many extra metres can be run?

[Senna4Ever]

Nexon EV Type Approval document:

[wheelguy]

Originally Posted by Senna4Ever

Nexon EV Type Approval document:

Attachment 1969689

Thanks. Interesting. Can we get the same for Kona and ZS EVs.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by psbali

Have sent a screenshot of your post to my wife. Her primary reason to reject Nexon EV is that if we cant drive to Goa or do road trips in a car then we are not gonna buy it. She likes Nexon EV as it is an automatic and can be driven by her sometimes.

Its a very valid reason and the reason for which I bought the diesel Nexon even when knowing a good EV Nexon was right around the corner. The same would be the case for anyone who likes to drive long distances ever so often & not just stick to daily office runs.

For now IMO, EVs are only for city drives - daily runs to office. And the 230 odd kms range that the Nexon is giving is fantastic for it, no doubt. But - vacations & intercity drives are still a long time away with EVs in India with our infrastructure state. So if I was intent on buying an EV - I'd rather pick a small one like the ill fated E2O with a sufficient range for daily use & complement it with a large ICE touring car like the Nexon.

IMO a large SUV + EV is a bold attempt. A commendable one. Altroz EV is also a step in the right direction, with a more practical hatchback. But for more viability - Tata should look at a small car - Tiago sized, or Tiago itself - for EV with Ziptron specifications and a range around 200kms real world. That's the EV size & capability that a huge number of urban users will immediately pick. An office, school & mall runner that gets charged peacefully overnight at home.

Even I'd replace the Alto K10 with an EV Tiago. Then the larger car (Nexon in my case) can continue to be the highway cruiser. (Of course my argument limits the target audience to the upper middle / even higher class that think of spending upto 15-18 lakhs into depreciating assets called cars. But then - realistically right now the EVs are still primarily looked at as the 2nd car. Not as the ONLY car by larger proportion of consumers. A smaller group so far is thinking going purely EV.)