[JS Kwt]

Delhi Transport Dept issues Show Cause Notice to Tata Motors over complaint from Nexon EV owner for not getting more than 200km range ever

New Delhi: The Delhi transport department has issued a show-cause notice to Tata Motors, seeking its reply in connection with a complaint that one of its electric car models failed to meet the specified range on a single charge, officials said.

The complainant claimed that the model (Nexon EV) of the electric car purchased by him from a dealer at the Safdarjung Enclave and registered on December 3, 2020 has failed to provide the specified 312-km range on a single charge, a senior transport department officer said.

"It has been informed that while the vehicle model is specified to provide a 312-km range on a single charge, the vehicle owned by the said customer has never provided a range of more than 200 km," the show-cause notice issued to Tata Motors read.

The vehicle owner, a resident of Najafgarh, also claimed that he has "duly followed" various advices of the dealer but no improvement was noticed, despite best efforts.

"Therefore, a show-cause notice is issued as the vehicle has failed to provide an optimal range to the consumer as promised by the OEM (original equipment manufacturer," the notice said.

The notice has directed the OEM to depute its representative to appear before a transport department officer at 12 noon on February 15.

In case no representative of the OEM appears before the transport officer on the designated date and time, further action including "delisting" of the said model from the subsidy-eligible e-vehicles' list can be considered, the notice stated.

According to the Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy, notified by the transport department on August 7, 2020, a purchase incentive of Rs 10,000 per kWh of battery capacity is provided on buying an electric four-wheeler with a cap of Rs 1,50,000 per vehicle.

The owners of the first 1,000 e-cars to be registered in Delhi after the issuance of the policy will be eligible for the incentive, officials said.

The electric car model under question was approved under the eligibility conditions of the Delhi EV Policy.

A Tata Motors spokesperson said the notice was received and "all possible measures" are being taken to address the concern.

The range specified on a single full charge (312 km) for Nexon EV is on the basis of the certification received from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which is the official body that independently tests all mass-produced vehicles under standard test conditions, before those can be offered to customers, he said.

The actual range achieved in EVs is dependent on the usage of the air-conditioner, individual driving style and the actual conditions in which the vehicle is driven. The range achievement is also a function of familiarity with the new technology and customers report improvements upwards of 10 per cent within four to six weeks of familiarity, he said.

Source

[shortbread]

Lol, ask ARAI how they got the figures?

While at it send a show cause notice to all Indian manufacturers who quote ARAI figures!

[fhdowntheline]

Hypervigilantism by the babus ! Do they stop to ponder how much money they spend on meaningless and unproductive activities during their work ?

[AZT]

I dont think anyone ever gets the brochure advertised mileage. This is more a systemic issue with ARAI testing than just this one car. But getting 200 km on a promised 312 is probably the worst case of this happening and it's about time car manufacturers start being held accountable for what they advertise.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by AZT

I dont think anyone ever gets the brochure advertised mileage. This is more a systemic issue with ARAI testing than just this one car. But getting 200 km on a promised 312 is probably the worst case of this happening and it's about time car manufacturers start being held accountable for what they advertise.

It is ARAI which needs to be held accountable for creating such an unrealistic certification procedure in the first place. It is the same story with their fuel economy figures for petrol and diesel cars. What ARAI certifies is a dream scenario and that is not the car manufacturer’s fault.

[JS Kwt]

Originally Posted by shortbread

Lol, ask ARAI how they got the figures?

While at it send a show cause notice to all Indian manufacturers who quote ARAI figures!

This does bring the topic of ARAI fuel efficiency figures' usage to the fore.

ARAI figures are largely used by manufacturers to entice people into buying their cars - especially in India, a country obsessed by "Kitna deti hai"

Why not impose a STATUTORY WARNING on these so called ARAI figures

Wherein it is clearly mentioned under ARAI Figures - FOLLOWING are the CONTROLLED CONDITIONS under which these "Figures" have been achieved.

So that the consumer buying the product is not tempted by "Unachievable figures in Real Life".
Does the average joe deserve to make an informed decision ?

P.S. wishful thinking

[aayushnair]

A Tata spokesperson has responded per an article here - https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news

Quoting from the article -
A Tata Motors spokesperson said the company is in receipt of the notice and that it is taking all possible measures to address the concern.

“The range at single full charge (312 km) for the Nexon EV is basis the certification received from the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which is the official body that independently tests all mass produced vehicles under standard/defined test conditions before they can be offered to customers. As with conventional vehicles (with IC engines), the actual range achieved in EVs is dependent on AC usage, individual driving style and the actual conditions in which the vehicle is driven,” the spokesperson said.
The range achievement is also a function of familiarity with the new technology, and customers report improvements upwards of 10% within 4-6 weeks of familiarity. Since its launch a year ago, the Nexon EV has consistently grown in popularity to become India’s highest-selling electric vehicle with nearly 3000 families enjoying the pleasure of owning and driving it. We receive several positive testimonials from our customers and are encouraged to see them exploring places with Nexon EV and sharing their experiences,” the spokesperson added.

Honestly feels like this instruction/notice is a forced one on Tata (I don't own any shares) from competitors who're trying to get negative publicity on the Nexon. Anyway, I don't think the company has done anything out of the ordinary by quoting ARAI figures and perhaps the course of action is to check this owner's vehicle for issues.

Another one to add to '100+ uses of Hard-earned tax payer money'

Cheers,
Aayush

[gjnnbagal]

Highly unlikely to get the claimed mileage (ARAI figures) on actual usage of the car whether it's ICE or EV.
Some factors like No AC usage, low average speed while testing, gradual acceleration and deceleration, kind of hype the claimed mileage figures.
The guy in this case is from Delhi, so one can understand his AC usage. I'm afraid, seems like his case is going nowhere.

[gkveda]

Looks like most of us are accepting to hear the lies by ARAI and manufacturers since they have been lying since so long for many years. I always get this feeling when people writing review "Manufacturer says fuel efficiency of 15 kmpl but in reality, it is 12 kmpl"

What does it take to the manufacturers to announce the real life fuel efficiency. They always talk about ideal scenario which the owners never get to see in their life time.

Are we going to keep quiet if the manufacturer claims 1200cc as Engine capacity and it is say, 1000cc?

Are we going to accept if the brochure says 5 seater and in reality, it is just 4 or 3 seaters?

If the manufacturer OR ARAI claims the range as 315 km, the car must give 315 with Same conditions and +- variations.

It cannot be 200 km versus 315 kms.

A nice lesson to all manufacturers and certifying agencies to have some integrity while announcing the data.

But I am not sure if manufacturers really learn from this court decision.

[JS Kwt]

Originally Posted by gjnnbagal

Some factors like No AC usage, low average speed while testing, gradual acceleration and deceleration, kind of hype the claimed mileage figures.

Originally Posted by gkveda

They always talk about ideal scenario which the owners never get to see in their life time.

The point is -
Can No AC , low average speed , gradual acceleration and deceleration , less braking be called an IDEAL situation ? That would be more like a torture situation for Indian conditions!

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by JS Kwt

The point is -
Can No AC , low average speed , gradual acceleration and deceleration , less braking be called an IDEAL situation ? That would be more like a torture situation for Indian conditions!

That is what it is! Ideal conditions. Infact, add to it a tail wind to drive range.

In an "IDEAL" world, we would get KMPL / Range numbers based on real driving conditions.

I also sense that there could have been an influence of competitor/s in this, whose products have real world vs claimed range without so much deviation. (There is only one company which comes to my mind, and it is Delhi based )

[shortbread]

In that case let the two Government departments fight it out with each other rather than target a specific manufacturer or product!

Originally Posted by JS Kwt

This does bring the topic of ARAI fuel efficiency figures' usage to the fore.

ARAI figures are largely used by manufacturers to entice people into buying their cars - especially in India, a country obsessed by "Kitna deti hai"

[SKC-auto]

Both ARAI and the manufacturers should be responsible for this. When Europe was using NEDC the cars are certified for higher mileage, I guess NEDC would have certified Nexon for 300km, manufacturers would always try to show real world mileage on their advertising material.

What's stopping Tata to say real world mileage of 240km(even if it's on the higher side). Many people just believe what is advertised and make a purchase.

ARAI should have adopted WLTP procedure instead of these unrealistic testing.

[_abhishek]

I believe as consumers we have to understand how these mileage figures are derived.

One of my car is a diesel now. When I drive my to office, I can take the route within Bangalore city, with much traffic throughout, which will be approximately 28kms. The other route that I can take is through outer ring road and this adds an additional 10 kms, but with less traffic.

When I use the route within the city, I get a mileage of 13 kmpl and when I take the ring road, I get a mileage of 16 kmpl. When I go on highway trips, with modest driving, the mileage is approximately 20 kmpl which is close to the claimed mileage of 21kmpl. On the same highway, if I do high end triple digit speeds, the mileage is as worse as 14 kmpl.

If some else is driving on the similar route in the same type of car, I am sure the mileage figures will differ because the driving style differs.

So I understand that ARAI and manufactures market the mileage in "ideal" driving conditions. The driving situation and driving manners differs for everyone and so does the mileage.

[starke]

I see two scenarios in this case,

1. The individual driveability pattern and its dependence on the autonomy

2. The strictly ideal ARAI autonomy figures vs the expectation from a common customer


The first one is very limited to the driver's ability to understand the best efficient drive pattern to achieve balanced performance and range, one example is to understand the gradual acceleration than the complete pedal to the floor which results in higher current draw with very similar performance if it was the other way.

The second one is a strategy and political implementation to attract as well as fool the customers in a legal way. After having some direct experience with ARAI and their EV testing parameters, I could say that it is so ideal and illogical when compared to NEDC or WLTP cycle. But the OEMs do understand this and they also didn't want to correct/help them instead, exploit the unrealistic numbers to their advantage in a legal way.

There is also one sub-peer to add to the second scenario is a defective battery pack/ePowertrain which TATA trying to blame the customer by exploiting the "Individual driveability factor"

A proper dyno with some additional software changes can do some EV autonomy test by interpolation method which is widely used globally for durability and endurance. Hope someone will come up soon.