[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by siren373

I usually do gurgaon shimla which is around 420 kms. Usually without stopping.

Wouldn’t that take 7 to 8 hours? What’s the problem in stopping once for some lunch or beverage while your vehicle charges?

[rsidd]

Got a Nexon EV Max (XZ+ Lux variant) two days ago. Went for it because facelift had 2 months waiting time they said, Chennai monsoon is here, and they gave a decent discount and buyback on old car (which was non-working, immobilized by its own immobilizer, but that's another story).

So far it's fantastic and I don't regret it (and I had a look at the facelift, I prefer the physical buttons on the old nexon steering to the touchscreen on the new nexon steering, for example).

A few annoyances
1. The Harman audio always starts in FM mode, is there a way around it? I have set it to the least annoying FM station for now. Once my phone bluetooth pairs I can switch to that at the press of a button but I'd rather not have the FM auto-start.
2. Sound is pretty good; the bass is decent but not great. I have a Blaupunkt under-seat subwoofer from my old car, is there any Tata-authorized shop in Chennai that would install it? It must be possible since the facelifts have a subwoofer, and it would connect to the 12V battery not the HV battery, but I don't want to ask an unauthorized place. My dealer was not helpful.
3. Is there a way to turn off the beep sound when reversing? I understand it's only within the cabin and not a "reverse alarm" audible outside, but I hate it anyway.

I think those are the only issues I have right now. Two other issues are some warning about the parking sensor, and one of the two key fobs doesn't work, both of which will be fixed this week.

[ferrarirules]

Trip report -

Just concluded a one night trip to Jaipur. Now there nothing special about going from Faridabad to Jaipur. The distance is 260-280 kms (depending on route taken) and can be easily covered by Nexon EV Max.

Recommended route and the fast charging options




So then what is the catch? The catch is that there is a new expressway - Delhi Mumbai expressway to Jaipur and there is connector to it from Faridabad making it an ideal route to go to Jaipur. Expressways and current Indian EVs are not a good match. With the problem statement set, how to get around it?

You will be thinking here is another hypermiling in an EV story. Na, it is not. Below is how I tackled it:

Now, we started after breakfast at 9:30 AM as the previous day was Diwali Day. Now you get on to the connector to DME, the speed limit allowed is 100 kmph. So I targeted 90 kmph which is decent as per the highway. The challenge comes the moment you get on to DME, the speed limit is 120 kmph. Now I chose to start off at 90 kmph, it is slow for expressway standards but I wanted to be cautious. As the time progressed and I was content with the discharge I drove at 100 as well for some time. Reached the lunch stop on Dausa - Jaipur highway with 14% SOC left, charged to 39% while having lunch and then moved on to the hotel.

Result - Covered 281 kms in 104% SOC. 5 hrs including 1 hr lunch stop

While coming back, we left Jaipur at 2 PM and thought that we will have lunch after entering the expressway which takes around an hour to reach. We reached the rest stop with 73% SOC left, so charged to 90% while having lunch. With previous day's experience under the belt kept speed at 100 kmph for most of the expressway.

Result - Covered 286 kms in 106% SOC. Travel time - 4.5 hrs including 30 min lunch stop

Total trip was 601 kms - I spent Rs 1310 (Rs 1030 on commercial charging and Rs. 280 on home charging). That makes it Rs 2.1 per km of running cost. I didn't need a fast charger to charge my car to 100% because Fairmont had a Sunfuel type 2 charger setup, I charged my car to 100% overnight.

Used cruise control through out on the expressway and as much as possible on the highway. I have attached the zconnect graphs for both the drives.

Learning - I can drive my car at 100 kmph, if there are ample charging options within 200-220 kms of the starting point.

Discharge curve and speed graph - Faridabad to Jaipur




Discharge curve and speed graph - Jaipur to Faridabad

[mally2]

Loved the analysis. I guess it all bottles down to 2 options

1. Drive fast @140whkm & charge one extra time
2. Drive slow @115whkm & charge one less time

In both cases the time taken to cover a said distance will be approximately the same if including the charging session

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by mally2

Loved the analysis. I guess it all bottles down to 2 options

1. Drive fast @140whkm & charge one extra time
2. Drive slow @115whkm & charge one less time

In both cases the time taken to cover a said distance will be approximately the same if including the charging session

You are right. But there are two catches

1. Driving much lower than the speed limit, you are nuisance on the road.
2. You should stop for a break after 2-3 hrs of driving. It could be breakfast, lunch, tea or dinner. So driving slowly you will still have to take that break. Hence overall time will be longer.

[mally2]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

You are right. But there are two catches

1. Driving much lower than the speed limit, you are nuisance on the road.
2. You should stop for a break after 2-3 hrs of driving. It could be breakfast, lunch, tea or dinner. So driving slowly you will still have to take that break. Hence overall time will be longer.

Is 120 the max limit, are there lanes for 80 and 100 too, Sorry I have never travelled on DME,

Point 2 you are correct! I missed that. I do take breaks every 2-3 hours on my EV and match it with my charging stops, but I don't have the luxury of doing 100kmph, I stick to max 90kmph else my Tiago will last only 150kms

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by mally2

Is 120 the max limit, are there lanes for 80 and 100 too, Sorry I have never travelled on DME,

Point 2 you are correct! I missed that. I do take breaks every 2-3 hours on my EV and match it with my charging stops, but I don't have the luxury of doing 100kmph, I stick to max 90kmph else my Tiago will last only 150kms

Yes 120 kmph is the max limit on the expressway. It is a 8 laned expressway with 4 lanes each side. The 3rd and 4th lane are usually used by slow traffic like trucks. If an EV trying to maximize range drives at speeds like 70-80 kmph in any lane on a expressway, according to me it is dangerous.

[nithishsaba]

Hello Folks,

We had picked up a Nexon Ev Max dark on August of 2023, I know its been a while but it really takes some time to know the car completely. Currently the ODO stands at 20k Kms and I hope it will cross the 50k mark in a year, Currently the range is around 280-300kms per charge. The main reason for choosing the car is that XUV400 is too barebones and MG's Uncertainty of being in India after 5 years. Our other ride is an Ameo diesel and also we had a Polo diesel, So this is our first TATA car or a car from any other brand than VW for that matter.


Ladies and gentlemen, Please welcome DURACELL to the forum!
Charging somewhere in a KSEB Station in Kerala

I know these points have been discussed widely in the forum but, let me share my views:

First the Positives about the car:

1. Features Galore: Coming from a VW, everything was new, from a large touch screen to the ventilated seats, a digital instrument cluster and whatnot.
2. The Suspension feels robust and can withstand abuse unlike the VWs.
3. The Sound quality of the ICE is awesome!
4. The Performance is really great and can leave any 20Lakh car to dust at least till 100kmph.

Now the Negatives:

1. Fit and Finish issues: Coming from a VW, The difference was night and day, The panel gaps are Uneven, Paint quality is horrible, Everything basically looks good from far but horrible when you look closely.
2. Rattles: There are many rattles from all parts of the car, Our 1L km run Ameo still has zero rattles.
3. Charging Speed: The Fast charging speed should be atleast 50KW. The current 30KW is really slow in comparison.
4. The 7Kw charger is way too costly at 54k, So I made my own 7KW charger at less than half the price of the TATA one.
5. Service Shenanigans: I had some idea how this would be since friend owns a tiago and nothing beats VW Service in terms of crappiness but boy I was so wrong, They are even worse than VW. The Steering was really hard and it was really annoying to drive the car, when reported, they first acknowledged the issue and later started straight-away refusing it claiming that every car(Nexon EV) will have different steering hardness.
The other one is a bit hilarious, They just flashed Harrier's Software to my infotainment system and the car now identifies itself as a Harrier and owing to the different positions of reverse cameras in two cars, the Guidelines now point in the air. I won't blame the service center for this since the software package names are weird and its difficult for a service technician to understand them, The TATA Engineers who developed this software should have put some sort of checksum to verify if the software but I'd be really happy if they have flashed the new Nexon.ev software with youtube lol.


The Car Identifying itself as a Harrier!!


Reverse guidelines in the air!!

I Know There are a lot of negatives than positives, but most except the charging speed can be resolved if TATA Changes its attitude towards QC and ASCs. In Summary the Nexon EV is a great car even greater with the facelift if you look past its minor issues and if you can bear with the ASCs.
This is my first long post here, apologies for any mistakes!

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

Yes 120 kmph is the max limit on the expressway. It is a 8 laned expressway with 4 lanes each side. The 3rd and 4th lane are usually used by slow traffic like trucks. If an EV trying to maximize range drives at speeds like 70-80 kmph in any lane on a expressway, according to me it is dangerous.

One request. If you get a chance to do the same route, can you try it without the cruise control ? My experience with CC is bad when it comes to efficiency though that is at 70-80 range. It could be due to the terrain (undulating) that I usually drive in so wanted to see how it will workout on an expressway (which I presume is mostly flat).

I do not like CC and prefer using the regen-0 instead when in highways.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

One request. If you get a chance to do the same route, can you try it without the cruise control? My experience with CC is bad when it comes to efficiency though that is at the 70-80 range. It could be due to the terrain (undulating) that I usually drive in so wanted to see how it would work out on an expressway (which I presume is mostly flat).

I do not like CC and prefer using the regen-0 instead when on highways.

This expressway is not flat at all. It is mostly straight but very undulating. There is no point of regen on this expressway currently as you seldom touch brakes. Think about it while going and coming back I drove above 90 kmph for 150 odd kms.

Finally, cruise control may use more battery on an undulating expressway as compared to controlling speed yourself. But I find it mentally tiring to keep track of the amount of accelerator vis-a-vis speed

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

This expressway is not flat at all. It is mostly straight but very undulating. There is no point of regen on this expressway currently as you seldom touch brakes. Think about it while going and coming back I drove above 90 kmph for 150 odd kms.

So did you drive with regen-0 and CC.

Finally, cruise control may use more battery on an undulating expressway as compared to controlling speed yourself. But I find it mentally tiring to keep track of the amount of accelerator vis-a-vis speed

With regen-0 instead or cruise control, you can take your foot off the accelerator and get most of the benefits of CC. You will have to press the accelarator only once in a while but it requires you to leave a large safety margin. However, I admit it can be scary at times mostly due to our experience driving an ICE where engine braking is always there.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

So did you drive with regen-0 and CC.

No I drove with cc and regen 1

With regen-0 instead or cruise control, you can take your foot off the accelerator and get most of the benefits of CC. You will have to press the accelarator only once in a while but it requires you to leave a large safety margin. However, I admit it can be scary at times mostly due to our experience driving an ICE where engine braking is always there.

The coasting with regen zero on highway, only works on speeds below 80. Above 80 the aerodynamic drag slows you down much faster. Nexon isn't an aerodynamically efficient car.

[navinmra]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

No I drove with cc and regen 1

The coasting with regen zero on highway, only works on speeds below 80. Above 80 the aerodynamic drag slows you down much faster. Nexon isn't an aerodynamically efficient car.

Folks I just drove my Nexon EV Max from Bangalore to Manipal. Managed to eek out an incredibly low 89.8 Wh/ km for a 400+ km trip

What worked:
1. Regen off all the way
2. Anticipate traffic and adjust throttle to avoid unnecessary acceleration and braking
3. Regen level 2 or 3 while descending the ghats. This was more for ease of driving with single pedal
4. Tried to be within 80 kmph most of the time
5. Managed to tail buses doing a brisk 85-90 where possible. I wasn’t planning on going faster than them so this was not a sacrifice. This dropped the watt hrs tremendously.
6. Avoided unnecessary overtaking that requires heavy acceleration; rather overtaking when the roads opened up.
7. Left home at 05:30 AM before notorious Bangalore traffic picks up. Did Whitefield to Nelamangala in 45 mins without any rash driving.
8. Driving time reduced from 10 hours to 08:30 hours thanks to early start and less traffic in general.
9. Charged for 34 mins at Shantigrama toll - Relux.

In the past, the same drive has returned 113 wh/ km so this is a material improvement in efficiency with simple driving changes.

This is my 4th trip to Manipal and the numbers have been getting better every trip.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by navinmra

Folks I just drove my Nexon EV Max from Bangalore to Manipal. Managed to eek out an incredibly low 89.8 Wh/ km for a 400+ km trip

Is this one way trip ? Because there is a whopping 1000 m descent from banglore to manipal. That makes a big difference. I would assume you will get about 130 on your way back. And that is fine because 110 Wh/km is not a bad figure.

I have done Coimbatore-Palakkad multiple times and I usually get a round trip efficiency of about 110 Wh/km. One way to Coimbatore is about 130 which and on the return about 90. This change in elevation is about 400 m

[navinmra]

Originally Posted by electric_eel

Is this one way trip ? Because there is a whopping 1000 m descent from banglore to manipal. That makes a big difference. I would assume you will get about 130 on your way back. And that is fine because 110 Wh/km is not a bad figure.

I have done Coimbatore-Palakkad multiple times and I usually get a round trip efficiency of about 110 Wh/km. One way to Coimbatore is about 130 which and on the return about 90. This change in elevation is about 400 m

Yes this is one way and you are right, a 900 mtr descent to sea level. But surprisingly, I get same efficiency on the return, unlike what you are experiencing. Maybe because Bangalore to Hassan is uphill and also has a lot of headwinds which negate the gradient drop advantage of Charmady ghat.

Here’s what I got on the return last week. Hope to better it.