[SKC-auto]

So finally we see Tata Nexon EV numbers.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4877035 (Tata Motors aims for a top 3 spot in PV sales!)

[jasjotbains]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

So finally we see Tata Nexon EV numbers.

Good numbers despite the lockdown! And with Tata rectifying the initial niggles proactively, the numbers are bound to rise.

Hope Hyundai learns this and starts exploring EV for its i20 and Venue/Creta

[wheelguy]

A small group of Nexon EV owners got together at Bangalore:

ElectricVehicleWeb.in had a conversation with a group member Arun Kumar Somayji, to know about the group and their experience. Few snippets from the conversation:

A month back we did the meet-up, just after the lockdown ended. By then, in Bangalore, we had already 20 buyers we had come into contact with, and we all said that we have to meet to know each other. We have a larger forum where we have more than 100 Nexon EV owners nationwide in a WhatsApp group which is where we got in touch. So we formed a group where all the buyers are from Bangalore, and started the discussion. We thought the best place would be Nandi Hills, in and around the range that Nexon EV can provide or travel across Bangalore city to the place.

At 6 AM, we met near Hebbal with all our cars. Keeping the distance, we communicated, we had some quick chats about the car and our experiences, and then we started our journey towards Nandi Hills. We had a good time. We went around the Nandi Hill premise that is a road track around Nandi Hills and then we had a photo op.

We were able to have an elaborate discussion during the breakfast meeting, where we shared information about the car, including performance. Overall, we made this trip of 130-140 km still maintaining enough charge for commuting through the rest of the day.

There is Adishakti motors, on the Outer Ring Road who were very much willing to allow us to charge our cars in their premise if needed. If someone needed to charge to reach back to their places, they could. But none of us used that because we had enough juice in our batteries. The Nexon EV is able to deliver around 200 km on a full charge, and we didn’t do very spirited driving. It was a fun get-together, and we were driving at 70-80 km/h speed on the National Highway. We didn’t have to use so much power.

One important thing is everyone wanted to do their bit to conserve nature, to not burn fuel further. Many were also talking about how they want to put solar grids at the top of their house and how they want to subsequently travel with zero carbon footprint.

The second important discussion was how to make it not only a daily commuting vehicle but also inter-city commute vehicle. So a lot of discussions happened on where should be the next charging station which Tata Power should come up with because Tata Power is really working towards helping us out. We are recommending Tata Power to set up a charging facility across the National Highway reaching out of Bangalore so that we can go to the next city like Mysore. So one fast charger in every 100 km distance can make this car completely usable for inter-city commute.

People were discussing what options Tata Power is giving and how Tata Power is engaging with each of them. We had doctors, lawyers, software engineers and army personnel in the group, a varied mix of individuals who want to drive green.

Link

[akaushik.in]

Nexon EV is a commendable step by Tata Motors towards the democratization of the electric vehicles.

From a design perspective, unlike its predecessors, the last generation of electric vehicles, the Nexon EV is a 'good looking' automobile. What it isn't is unnecessarily eccentric or oddball, that goes 'Hey! I am electric. I can be wacky.', in that robotic tone of voice.

On the sidelines, a praiseworthy task by Pratap Bose, and his team, with the Nexon FL. Electric, or not, the Nexon now dons an ardent character and commands an undeniable road presence.

I will not comment on the infrastructure or the lack of it in our country. Nonetheless, the recent amends in subsidiary policies or incentives for purchase will go a long way (fingers crossed) in the public acceptability of electric vehicles - though it left the Japanese, betting big on the hybrid technology, high and dry.

I will not digress. The Tata Nexon EV is well priced. In my humble opinion, the price bracket in which the Korean and the British / Chinese counterparts operate expose the potential buyers to many a brand, many a product, and many a time the 'value proposition' goes for a toss!

On the thread, there are many a doubt lingering among the potential buyers, and the early adopters have had their share of hiccups.

Let me also state one of my apprehensions here, apart from the regular range anxiety and others, rightly pointed out by fellow BHPians - the battery is a consumable good with a restrictive life when compared to the internal combustion engine. I have driven ICE powered four wheelers that are more than 70 years of age. I doubt that I will be able to state that for a battery powered vehicle - I am not an expert or aware of any scientific discovery right around the corner.

In such a scenario, how does it affect the resale value of the vehicle, is worth a study. I appreciate that Tata Motors offers an eight years or 160,000 km warranty on its 30.2 kWh li-ion battery. But if I were to buy a second hand vehicle, I would want to know how much juice is still there in it, more so cause the cost of replacement of the battery is still a significant portion of the total cost.

Will I make such an investment, today? No! I will buy a new vehicle. For the owner, it implies that his or her electric vehicle is depreciating at a rate far greater than the conventional drive train of the same age. A premium on the cost of acquisition and poor resale value is recipe too tough to swallow - with the cost of ownership still under scrutiny. Please note, this comment is not directed to any specific automobile manufacturer, but EVs in general, today.

Nonetheless, I reiterate, Nexon EV is a commendable step by Tata Motors towards the democratization of the electric vehicles. I, like many others, am looking forward to the next milestone - a path breaking product from the Japanese, the Koreans, or the Europeans, maybe the Americans, quite possibly the Chinese, or an Indian auto manufacturer.

[wheelguy]

Seems like TML is about to launch some update/new variant for Nexon EV too

[yashcosmos]

Now ill be eagerly waiting for this new update thing! Was about to book this vehicle in this month but have to hold back now.

Tata, if you reading this, please be quick.

[vamsi.vadrevu]

Originally Posted by akaushik.in

Will I make such an investment, today? No! I will buy a new vehicle. For the owner, it implies that his or her electric vehicle is depreciating at a rate far greater than the conventional drive train of the same age. A premium on the cost of acquisition and poor resale value is recipe too tough to swallow - with the cost of ownership still under scrutiny. Please note, this comment is not directed to any specific automobile manufacturer, but EVs in general, today.

I think the manufacturers should offer a retrofit for the battery pack at a very subsided cost for vehicles older than 5 or 8 years when the battery degradation is beyond tolerable. (If the manufacturers can't, the government should offer this subsidy since the push for EV is very aggressive). This could be a viable market actually. Buy back existing lithium ion batteries from old EVs and recycle them. In return provide a new battery pack which would have greater energy density and probably be offered at a lower price. Win-win for car owner, environment and battery business owners.

Since the electric motors don't have any degradation, the only issue with EVs today is heavy depreciation on batteries and the prospect of better batteries in future at lesser prices. This is a huge psychological barrier for early adopters as the purchase doesn't make financial sense. It is indeed a bad deal as it stands today. Compared to a gasoline car, the only advantage Nexon EV offers in terms of practicality is ease of driving and less maintenance. There's also the intangible "coolness" factor.

This is why Tesla went for the very high end aspirational market first to prove the capabilities of EVs and then enticed the rest of the segments with trickle down technologies. Early adopters have to bear the cost of R&D.

[CHIRU3011]

An owner managed to clock over 250 kms https://www.rushlane.com/tata-nexon-...-12374702.html

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by vamsi.vadrevu

I think the manufacturers should offer a retrofit for the battery pack at a very subsided cost for vehicles older than 5 or 8 years when the battery degradation is beyond tolerable. (If the manufacturers can't, the government should offer this subsidy since the push for EV is very aggressive).

Keep in mind that a subsidy from the government is simply taking tax payers' money and using it for something. I don't think tax payers' will appreciate the funds being used for someone else's car choices. Subsidy is never the right approach in the big picture for any problem.

[AmitSapre]

Originally Posted by CHIRU3011

An owner managed to clock over 250 kms https://www.rushlane.com/tata-nexon-...-12374702.html

I think 250KM with a single charge is achievable.
I am still figuring out a good combination of setting for this EV where I don't have to compromise on ride & comfort.
Changing a lot of driving parameters during every charge doesn't help much. So I tend to keep a set of parameters for at least 3 charging cycles and see how car responds.

Having said this, let me share current odo status :
For the current charge cycle, I have already clocked 149 KM and still have 40% juice available.

[vamsi.vadrevu]

Originally Posted by Reinhard

Keep in mind that a subsidy from the government is simply taking tax payers' money and using it for something. I don't think tax payers' will appreciate the funds being used for someone else's car choices. Subsidy is never the right approach in the big picture for any problem.

Agreed! I keep forgetting it's our own tax payer money. These governments have peddled us so much as "subsidy" one would think they get the funds from thin air.

[urbanzameendar]

Wow, thanks for the great insights!

No doubt the running costs really sounds too good, specially for people like us who have an average running of 100 kms a day, who are not comfortable with installing the 'White Potential Explosives' in the form of CNG Tanks lol.

However, there are a lot of aspects which needs to be thoroughly perused before opting in for an EV at this stage in India. The per kilometer running cost is definitely lower than the ICE cars, but the average lifespan of the battery is one thing which no one talks about. With such rapid use, say a couple of thousand kilometers a month for an average user, how long will the battery survive before it's rendered useless and needs a replacement?

Point number two, the BIG and pinching question, what would be the resale value of the car ideally after 5 years and 60 thousand kilometers (a lower count though). Since an average time the first owner keeps his car is around 5 years.

Third point, EVs can't be serviced by regular joes with a set of 'paana-pakad' unlike their ICE counterpart. Emergency breakdown on highways, ease of after-warranty service at FNG is questionable, specifically due to Tata's after-sales service's reputation.

The EVs are still at a very infant stage, hence no one knows what sort of issues and problems the car is going to throw at you down the line. Also in my opinion, until the time battery swap is available at every nook and corner like fuel stations, EVs do not particularly make much sense to me. The Govt. should setup an infrastructure in every fuel pump across the country where "swap & go" sort of battery packs are available like LPG cylinders. Getting your vehicle charged every 250 kms is highly impractical.

One more point I'd like to add her . The Govt. should make it mandatory for the battery to be of standard dimensions across all segment of EVs, which will allow a faster penetration of the technology into mass market. If an electric bike needs 1 battery, a car should need 4 or 6 of the same size and power, as per the requirement. Just like the standardized form of USB cable.

The bottomline is, I for one, wouldn't be comfortable with an EV unless it's battery is hot-swappable just like fill it, shut it, forget it. Till then, I prefer to stick to a traditional engine.

[Venkatesh]

Nexon EV owner in Bangalore fitted bull bar and Pratap Bose reacts on Twitter





https://twitter.com/BosePratap/statu...597682183?s=19

[DarthVeda]

I reacted the same to the owner when he displayed his car on the whatsapp group, that's an abomination and doesn't speak well for car safety. These guys are thinking like our auto rickshaw wallas, that it will protect them from small bumper touches but don't see what will happen on a high speed impact.

[AmitSapre]

I saw this video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExMUhCsR7SA

about 1st service updates.

Looks like PDU (power distribution unit) was replaced during first service. PDU seems to be faulty. Total bills around 1.2L .

As warranty covered all these, the customer ended up paying nothing. But why such high cost replacement in 1st service just after 1500 KM ?