[RishavRBhardwaj]

Last weekend, Me and my dearest friend, Bhpian @SujalDiwan decided to go have a look at the new MG that everyone was talking about, The Astor. As we step inside the showroom we look at a mob of people jostling to sit inside the single Astor available for display. We decided not to disturb them and come again a few days later when all the crowd fizzles away.

On our way back to the exit, we see a White MG ZS EV pulling up right in front. We instantly knew it had to be the Test Drive Vehicle because "Who even buys a boring EV?" Both of us are (or were) of this opinion that we'd rather switch to bicycles than Electric Vehicles.

Why to waste a visit, we thought. "Let's see how bad these things are to drive." Little we had known that this Test Drive would change our perspective to a whole 180 degree.

The first thing that we noticed and appreciated as soon as we sat inside, was how much it feels like a regular vehicle. It doesn't shout, (atleast from the inside) that it's an EV. The interior doesn't look chinese at all and feels like it's made to last years of use beautifully.

One thing that really irks me about most Electric Cars is that they try to scream their "Eco-friendly-ness", They all have some kind of blue/green inserts, Stickers all over the exterior to distinguish them from "normal" vehicles. It feels great to have these, if you are into EVs, Green Future etc. But for the masses, it just makes EVs look toy-ish IMO.

The moment we started off from the Dealership, zipping through traffic in the crowded street, It had around ~27 of charge left. Range Anxiety kicked in, I was worried if It would make it through a sufficiently long test drive but the worry-free look on the salesperson's face inspired a lot of confidence.

As we got to a more spacious street, I flexed my right foot, and in a minute, It got clear, that the future of automobiles isn't all bleak and boring. As Auto-enthusiasts we often talk about fun to drive cars, I now wonder why we never considered to add any EV to the list. I'll let this video recording below, talk about the performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dlMi-z9Gmo

While Space, Practicality was pretty great, just we were not that interested to check that out with a serious eye. I'm not sure if I read this here on team bhp earlier, but I'll say it once again, This doesn't feel like that big of a compromise. Let aside the "mechanical feel" that we love in our ICE cars for a while, EVs are totally worth it for the amount of fun they can give you. When you add in the Low maintenance & running costs to the mix, Owning an EV becomes an obvious choice for anyone who has a daily running (city) of less than 50KMs.

We have made this decision once and for all, We're not getting an ICE vehicle for city driving ever again.

[DevSunit]

Yes, absolutely. The ZS EV is the most sorted of its kind now offered in the Indian EV Market(Affordable Segment). It's Build and Plastic quality is of European standards. And the drive is also so much fun. We can actually extract a range that is somewhat equal to the ARAI Certified Range much unlikely to that of the others. bhpian @jayd has equipped himself a new ZS IIRC

[GTO]

Join the club. Once petrol / diesel heads drive a good EV, 40% of them become full-on converts, 40% of them become accepting of EVs (i.e. EVs can happily co-exist with their petrols) and 20% will stick to their ICE engines. I used to think EVs suck, but am now part of the 2nd category. In fact, my ideal garage will be one with a turbo-petrol, turbo-diesel & an EV, all happily sharing driveway space together.

But it is very, very important to break your EV virginity with a competent electric car. The ZS EV drives well, so do the Kona & Nexon. However, lame offerings like the Reva, E-Verito etc destroyed the early reputation of electric cars in India. No EV virgin should drive those.

The brand that made me a convert was Tesla. After driving their dual-motor FAST models, I became a convert (now, there is a triple-motor Tesla on sale!). You can read about my experience here (Electric Cars...through the eyes of a diehard petrol-head). I followed it up with the Audi E-Tron & Mercedes EQC, so have pretty much experienced the best EVs on sale. Wishlist is to drive a Porsche Taycan - even Ferrari owners on ferrarichat.com are going gaga over it. The Taycan is a real alternative to AMGs & Ms. Porsche has nailed it.

Originally Posted by RishavRBhardwaj

The first thing that we noticed and appreciated as soon as we sat inside, was how much it feels like a regular vehicle. It doesn't shout, (atleast from the inside) that it's an EV. The interior doesn't look chinese at all and feels like it's made to last years of use beautifully.

True, true. The MG ZS EV is the most sorted (affordable) electric car in India.

[Axe77]

I have briefly test driven both the Nexon EV as well as the MG ZS EV - and they are both FUN!!

I am just waiting to buy a proper 18 - 28 lakh segment EV as my foray and keeping it as a proper fun to drive second car in the house. What the Grand i10 A/T does in my garage right now I’d much rather have done by something like a ZS EV. It’s just the right size to self drive in the city, its acceptably comfortable enough to be chauffeur driven in and imagine the massive step down in running costs for your random running around.

The only reason I’m not buying one sooner is I want to fully enjoy my 3GT before I swap it out and the next 2 - 4 year period will allow the EV space to just become that much more mature before I plonk my money. I try to buy cars with a 9 - 10 year outlook so will want to ensure I don’t press the trigger too quickly and also maximise use of my GT.

Coming to both the Nexon and EV, they came with extremely sorted ride and driving dynamics and the torque rush was amazing. Both feel very well put together and they are perfect peppy city cars which will bring a wide grin to your face every time you floor the throttle. As someone who likes using engine braking, I really like the 3 step setting for ReGen in the MG depending on how you want to drive.

EDIT: Haha, even I was getting that fun tyre screeching while taking the sweeping left fast between worli naka and TV tower - For some moments there, I felt like a teenage boy racer again at the wheel of the MG. Had to quickly reign myself in.

[Bibendum90949]

The poll should also have an option "Have not driven an EV yet". I'm sure many have not driven one.

[abhishek46]

Unless there is an EV charging station at every 50Kms of every highway of our country, I refuse to be a convert.

Intra-City runs can be easily managed via Home Charging.

It is lack of Charging Infrastructure on the Highways that is the impediment.

[RishavRBhardwaj]

Originally Posted by Axe77

The only reason I’m not buying one sooner is I want to fully enjoy my 3GT before I swap it out and the next 2 - 4 year period will allow the EV space to just become that much more mature before I plonk my money.

Yes EVs are far from making sense as a primary vehicle for a lot of people (including me) anytime soon, due to the lack of charging infrastructure on highways. They do make a great cars to run errands with or do city runs in stop & go traffic. That's where zooming past everyone else as soon as you see a green signal puts a smile on your face.

But yes, this is the time to fully enjoy our Diesels/Petrols while they are still available, There will certainly be a time in the next 6-10 years when we wouldn't really have a (real) choice.

[krishnakumar]

I have no questions about the "fun" part of EV and definitely find them to be a good replacement for ICE.

However, for now EVs are best used as a city commuter or short distance trips. My primary usage will be long distance hauls, some of them a stretch of 750km one way.

Unless there is a reliable network of fast charging stations across all major highways (which I suspect is 4-5years from now), EV is no-go for me.

I'm planning to buy a Nexon Diesel pretty soon while completely accepting that my next car is most likely going to be an EV.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

The poll should also have an option "Have not driven an EV yet". I'm sure many have not driven one.

Please don't vote in the poll if you've not driven an EV . Thank you!

[Indian2003]

I was converted the first day at work with the EV. It felt as if I was driving home in an old tractor. It took only days for me to buy my wife a diamond ring as a bribe in an efforet to convert her.

Her first reactions were, "why did you do this? "what are you going to buy and so on. She was suspicious from the start.

For the next few days I was talking about electric cars. A few days later I found out that all the ground work was a waste of money. She just said a big NO.

With tools I can buy a 200 euro charger and tell her is costs 20 which was still too expensive for her. In her world none of my tools costs more than 50 euros.

This will be difficult with an EV. I cannot come home one day with an EV and say it cost me 1000 euros.

[Mik]

Voted Yes!

I was/am a dieselhead. EVs were for aunties and tree-huggers as far as I was concerned.
Last year, my wife had had enough of her Nano and wanted something more 'car' like. So the usual suspects were the i10, Swift and the Polo among others.
The Big Boy Compass was to patrol the far reaches of the kingdom while the missus wanted a convenient city runabout. The rising petrol prices and this particularly wild review by Faisal-wring it out-Khan of this new Tata EV piqued our interest.
Oh boy what a thing of beauty this EV is.
What sealed the deal for us was that we were getting 'two cars in one'. The raspy flat handler with serious wheel-spin capability in S mode and a quiet, convenient city runabout with excellent economy and green creds.
The deal was done.

The future is electrifying. While I will miss the aural pleasure of the V8s and the shenanigan's of slotting the gear correctly to get the kick out of a corner on a turbo-diesel - The quiet efficiency of the EV with its ability to catch you out with its power surge will more than make up for it.

[Kannan]

I am preferring to convert to an EV as the route to my home city (470KMs approx. one way) has a couple of 50kW chargers en route. The only problem is they are far apart that EVs like Nexon cannot drive between them. Maybe ZS EV or Kona might be able to.

Hence I'm kind of waiting for the right EV within a price bracket of 15L which can travel around 250KMs while being able to do 90KMPH average with AC before it requires a charge.

I didn't vote since I have never driven an EV but I did sit inside the ZS EV one time in the showroom.

[audioholic]

Voted Yes. I have driven quite a few electric cars in Germany and most frequently the Mercedes EQS. It changed my perception of electric vehicles to some extent. I would by an EV, but never as my primary mode of transport at least in the next 5-10 years. Everything is fun with an EV until you glance at how the battery range drops when we start enjoying the car. I do not want to buy an EV and head out on a 1000km road trip with planned stops in the middle to charge the battery or try to hypermile by switching off all accessories and driving behind a truck just to prove to my friends that my decision was a good one.

When it comes to mass market cars, I have driven the Renault Zoe, which is an excellent city car as well as the Smart EQ. Both these cars convinced that I should have something like this. My Celerio is for sure going to be replaced by an EV since it would work as an excellent beater with a maximum drive of around 50kms a day or worse 100kms. But would I replace my Innova with an EV? No thank you

[speedmiester]

I was an EV fan even before proper EVs were in the market. I had an E2O, so the new gen EVs are way way better than the E2O and cannot be compared on the any parameters other than price.

My next purchase will be an EV and I am waiting badly for an EV which will go 300Kms without compromising on speed and comfort. While I can hypermile to extend range, I don't want to be doing that more often.

As for charging stations on highways, close to 70% of my highway driving is between Bangalore and Mysore. This distance can easily be covered by even Nexon and Tigor EV.

But still for the peace of mind, I will only be plonking my money on an EV only when my criteria of 300Kms range is met.

[Samba]

Voted No.

I have driven EVs quite a bit.
No doubt they are fun to drive. I can very well relate to the wheel spin! If not a car, even I thought of getting myself an electric two wheeler quite a few times.

But for my type of usage, EVs are not the right vehicles yet. My usage in city is less. If I get a two wheeler with a range of minimum 200 km or a car with a range of minimum 700 km with my driving/riding style unaltered, I will definitely consider one.

Plus, am a kind of person who refuels when the DTE shows 200km.
I admit it's my mental blockage.

But again with my above mentioned range, am sure it will cost a bomb! I have nothing against EVs, except the range.