22nd June 2022, 18:22
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| BHPian  | Upgrading from a Volkswagen Polo to a Tata Nexon EV Max When I was looking for my daily driver hatch back in 2014 and shortlisted Polo, I did not consider even visiting Tata that time. But how the things have changed now, one test drive of Nexon EV with no plans of buying one, made me book it the same day. SummaryLikes
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Prologue2014 Polo 1.5TDi was my daily driver for almost 8 years and was running perfectly fine till last day. Never had any major problems with the car and it had just run 65k. Out of this 65k, more than 60k was done in first 5 years after which my daily commute reduced from 45-50 kms to barely 4-5 kms. Only added 5k to the ODO in those last 3 years as most of the long trips were taken care by the other cars. We also own a 2013 Honda City which is sparingly used by my wife but being a petrol can still be kept for more time than Polo in Delhi and an A4 which is my highway / long drives car. 10 year diesel rule in NCR was the primary reason of selling my perfectly running Polo as it neared the 8 years mark and would have rapidly lost its value in last year. Attaching some last parting shorts of the car below. This was the first car I could call my own. Got it on my 23rd birthday and have lots of great drives and memories with it. Almost 64k of the 65k on the ODO has been driven by me on this car.   When I sold the car I had no major interest in buying any car this soon and had decided will be using city more regularly. While selling the car I had approached multiple online platforms and one day dad casually mentioned why don't you check if VW gives any good offer on the new SUV they launched. Listened to him and had registered a request for Taigun test drive. I always used to think that only a VW can replace polo and no other car will come close to the driving pleasure it gave. Moreover we knew we will get a raised car whenever we buy they next car in order to get in and out more comfortably with me and my father both being 6 footers. At the same time we did not want the car to be that big that it becomes difficult to move around in Delhi traffic. Taigun ticked all the requirements asn visiting the showroom would have been a quicker way to get things done but I was in no hurry. But I was so wrong that by the time they got the car for test drive to me, Polo was already sold and gone. Test Drive - TaigunWhen I started the process of selling my car it was end of February and I registered my interest in a test drive of the Taigun. I only chose Mondays as that's my weekly off. Received a call from the VW Dealership around 2 days after my query and I asked that if I could drive both 1.0 and 1.5 at the same time. SA refused to provide both the drives at home and asked me to visit the dealership. This call was on Friday and I asked him to just send the 1.5 GT to me on Monday afternoon around 2 then. Received the call on Monday afternoon that its not possible to send the car but I can come at dealership for test drive. I told him that it won't be possible and I requested him to arrange it for next Monday then. He still sent me his location and requested that I make time and I am welcome to visit. I texted him back saying I know the place as I have been to service centre next to showroom multiple times for my Polo's service. Next week I get a call and he asks me sir you had enquired for a Polo's service and I shared our location, are you coming ?  . Politely told him sir I had inquired for a Taigun test drive and I was supposed to get it today. He apologised and told me the car will be sent positively next week. In the meantime it was almost 3 weeks and had I finalised the deal of the Polo and the car was sold off.Finally the SA called on next Sunday, a month after my request, that he will send the car tomorrow. Polo was already gone but I was still interested in trying the Taigun. The car finally came and it was Topline 1.0 instead of GT DSG. Called the SA that I had specifically asked for GT and not 1.0 and he said that was not available today but it's the same car, so I could drive this one. Disappointed, but took a short drive of 1.0 with AC on full blast (was already reading abut AC issues in 1.0 that time). The car felt familiar but I did not enjoy the drive that much. The SA said he will arrange the 1.5 next week positively but that never happened. During the test drive when I inquired about any loyalty discounts (still had an Audi - VW group) / any other offers, all I got back was "No discounts, Final price applicable at time of delivery might change". Was further told there was a waiting of around 1-2 month for GT but 1.0 is available instantly. But with the replies I got either SA was not much interested in making the sale especially of GT or did not consider me a prospective customer. Moreover the poor reliability of DSG in stop-go traffic where I was planning to use the car most with OTR price of 22 lacs was not making much sense to me. While using my Honda City on my daily 4-5km route I get an average go 5-6km/l. Polo was giving me 8-10 which was pain to watch. Previously used to get 14-15 but the lower average is fault of short route with stop-go traffic and not of the car in any way. On longer drives, both cars still return respectable figures. I knew the Taigun would also be in single digits on this route so I finally decided to let go of the Taigun and use the City for another couple of years. Did not follow up much as I had lost interest in the car even further after the response I was getting. Moreover, I never head back from the SA for my pending 1.5 DSG test drive or if I was still looking to buy the car. The Polo was the first VW car in our family after many Marutis, Hondas and an Hyundai Accent. After I got the Polo in 2014 and my cousin was looking for a new car couple of years later. I literally forced him to buy a Vento DSG over a Honda city. Till today he loves the car much much more than the Jazz he owns, but thankfully he did take the extended warranty as gearbox issues did pop up near the end of his warranty (barely 40k kms). Was of course replaced, but after almost a month of downtime and endless follow ups. With all this and so many other reports of reliability issues, I was skeptical about buying a DSG for city use only and decided that the Taigun will not be a sensible buy for now. Test drive - Nexon EVOnly experience we had with TATA was with 2 Nanos my cousin had bought, first the petrol and then CNG. The car were eventually sold because of the terrible after sales and way too many niggles in them. But since then things have a changed a lot, and the customers in TATA showroom clearly show that. After a couple of days of giving up on Taigun, was randomly going though some thread about Nexon EV and I decided to book a test drive. I read some good things about it but was in no way planning to buy one this soon. Registered my interest on Tata website and got a call back within 60 mins. They confirmed they have forwarded my request to a dealer and I will hear from them soon. Got SA details next day over text and a call from him in less than 24 hours, asking when do I want the test drive. It was Sunday evening and I requested him for next day which he said he will try but its 1 EV they rotate between 2/3 showrooms and may not be possible for next day. He called me next day saying that he can get the car tomorrow but I told him to get it next Monday directly. Got a confirmation from him a day before that he will be there by 12-12.30. He reached around the same time but the car was at my place in flat 8 days vs more than 1 month VW took and still sent one with the wrong engine. The first time you drive an EV, its a very different experience than any car you have ever been in before with its total silence and zero vibrations with only sound coming from the AC . Took the car for a semi-long test drive and thoroughly enjoyed it. The SA insisted to try the Sports mode and the wheels went crazy. The car felt very spirited and always wanting to just jump ahead, in fact a bit too much in traffic in Sports. After noticing the reaction, even though the car had a waiting period for 16-20 weeks, the SA was eager to make the sale and was even happy to offer discounts if I sit with a cheque in my hand. Infact he tried his best to get a booking amount but my parents were not there and I was not sure about the color yet but was pretty much sure I am getting this soon. Wife also liked the Nexon better than Taigun for some reason best known to her. Told the SA to call me back after a couple of hours. Thought some more and I decided to make the booking of dark edition as I was not liking teal and white much but wanted to see it in flesh once. Meanwhile SA called and I conveyed the same to him, luckily they had a Dark Edition XZ+ parked in their yard and he requested me to come and have a look. Visited with my parents and both of them were totally against the black color, even though I loved it totally for the looks.  Dad pointed out the car will heat very badly during summers with all black roof inside and out. I agreed with that and there was no way I could defy that logic. Finally decided to book the Teal color XZ+ with some hesitation as I was not sure about the white colour roof combination with Teal color which was parked inside the showroom in the LUX trim. By this time I was already hoping may be Max offers better color options and will make a switch else I would get the roof wrapped.  Mom and dad quite liked the color though and SA offered a discount of around 25k after consulting his Team Leader and we paid the 21k advance amount. During all this I was reading further about the Max and kind of knew I will be switching to Max as long as it doesn't cross 20 lac mark OTR. Conveyed this to SA and he clearly stated the discount will not be applicable which was understandable. Followed up a couple of times with SA if he had an update regarding Max but he was absolutely mum about it till launch day. Switching to MaxSA called me in the morning launch day that they have been called for a brief and he will get back post the meeting. I had been following the teasers and more than the range the new features was what I liked more. As my daily beater, a range of even 150 was acceptable as I never planned to take this car on longer drives. Came the launch day and I found the prices to be very VFM considering the additional features it came with. Within hours of price reveal, the SA shared the brochure and price list and I immediately switched to XZ+ Max 3.3kW Intensi Teal. I liked both the Intensi Teal and Daytona grey better than previous color options. Received a confirmation email stating my model details 2 days later and the wait started. Did not consider the 7.2 variant as I plan to charge the car overnight and the faster charging speed is irrelevant for me. Though I still feel there are some misses which could have been added to the Max version to differentiate it more like full LED front and rear lights / fully digital instrument cluster / a bigger infotainment screen or at least a faster one / Wireless Carplay (having a wireless charger and not having wireless CarPlay is a very weird option to have). But adding more features would have also increased the prices even further. In the coming days Followed up the SA quite a few times for test drive and finally after 2 weeks he confirmed the car is coming the next day which was a Saturday. He requested me to visit the dealership for the same as sending the car home was not possible. Visited him on Monday and took a short test drive. The car felt good to drive in city mode and the regen levels made it even more better. The changes to the central tunnel gave the car a much more upmarket look. Change of colour - Intensi Teal to Daytona GreyOn day of test drive, though I liked the Intensi Teal much more than the old Teal, I noticed it looked way too similar to my A4 and was wondering should I switch the colour? Shared the same concern with my SA casually when we went to check out the XZ+ Max at their yard as I wanted to see the new seat covers. Dad pointed at the yard that it looked like black covered with dust like my A4. I was also requesting the SA for faster delivery as I made the switch on launch day itself. He confirmed that they will get some cars allotted as it was end of month and he will give me an update soon. This was 30th of May and I got a call from the SA in the evening that I had been allotted a Daytona Grey XZ+ Max 3.3kW and asked if I am willing to switch the colour. Now I had not seen the Nexon in this color, but there was a Tigor parked in same color and it looked nice. From the pictures though I felt the blue highlights stand out a lot and I would have to get them wrapped in black post delivery if I absolutely hate them. Asked the SA if he could arrange some real pictures of the car from the plant, but he could not do that. The Tata booking 3D page was the only place where I could find full images of Nexon EV Max in Daytona Grey and its looked quite dark but in a good way.   But with Intensi Teal ruled out and no intention to buy a white car, there was not much of an option I had. I confirmed the grey colour to him after an hour and transferred the downpayment to him and he got the car invoiced in my name. Got the invoice on 31st and the car left from Pune that day. Had clearly told him not to go for registration before I do the PDI myself. Waiting & DeliveryThe Max was launched on 11th may and when I had booked the normal EV the dealership had already started taking unofficial bookings for that around a week before launch. So when I made the switch SA told me to expect waiting of at least 8-10 weeks for delivery. But when I made the switch to Daytona Grey on 30th May, the car had already been allotted to dealer so it was invoiced on 31st may. I was told the car will take 8-10 days to reach the showroom post despatch. Meanwhile got the loan approved with the showroom guy offering the lowest ROI. The loan was approved and ready in 3 days but I requested not to disburse the amount before my approval. The car reached the main yard of dealer which was on the outskirts on 8th of June but due to some change in hypothecation process in Delhi, registrations of all cars financed with govt banks stopped. This lead to overcrowding of the yard dealership had close to their showroom and took them 3 more days to make space for the car. Finally received the call on 11th June that the car had reached their yard and I can come for PDI. Went the same day as the bank guy was also insisting of disbursal of loan because RBI had raised the repo rate further and any more delay in disbursal could mean having all the documents processed again with new ROI. Went straight to the dealers yard and asked the SA to meet me directly there first. The car was covered with dust parked in an open area. Matched the VIN no with invoice and followed other steps of the PDI. Attached some pictures I took that day.    I was happy to note that the blue trims did not seem that odd in person. I was also handed over the home charger during PDI and appointment for installation was scheduled the same day. The SA can be seeing getting the charger in the below picture to hand it over. He clicked a picture while giving it to me and also took my signatures to avoid any sort of disputes further.  The car had done 50kms. After being satisfied called the bank guy to disburse the loan amount.  The seat covers have a very good looking blue stitching with a new tri-arrow pattern. Found the seats to be smart looking, but the interiors were full of dirt, the car being parked in a open dusty space did not make things better. The piano black plastics all around are a magnet for dust, scratches, and marks.  Went to the showroom after PDI to select some accessories and make the balance payment left after disbursal of loan. The final amount paid by me was ₹1876469/- without any accessories. Below is the breakup of the same - Ex-showroom (including TCS) - 1791740/- Insurance (including RTI, Zero-Dep, Consumables) - 53500/- Registration / Fast Tag / HSRP - 6230/- Extended warranty (3+2) - 24999/- Selected the following accessories that day - 1. Trunk 3d Mats 2. Car 3d Mats 3. Door Visor 4. Mud Flaps. The total for these 4 came to around 11k on which SA told he will try to get the best possible discounts. PDI was done on Saturday and the bank / RTO issue was still not sorted so it took another 5 days for the car to get the HSRP. Got the call next day after PDI and the charger was installed and running in less than 24 hours post PDI. Tata Power guys were very efficient and even shared their phone numbers in case we face any issue charging the car post delivery. The cable were very neatly laid out and the charger was installed at a place where its not visible unless specifically looking for it.  Finally the car was ready for delivery on evening of 16th June with HSRP installed and I told the SA will take delivery next day. Reached the showroom on 17th evening with my wife, daughter and mother. It kept raining throughout the day on 17th with light showers. Even after reaching the dealership they cleaned the car twice but it kept raining again and again. Saw the car parked in delivery area near the entry gate and requested the SA to get all the plastics removed form the interiors immediately. They still left the someone which I removed as I got in. Went inside the showroom and started with the formalities. The delivery process was smooth and took around 45 minutes in total. They did the KYC for activation of Zconnect and told me to wait 48-72 hours for proper activation of the same. Had a cake cutting and was handed over details of service centre and senior contacts in case of any problems. SA handed over all the invoices / payment receipts / insurance and other documents followed by a cake cutting. The accessories I had selected were already installed except the car mats. SA had told me the mats are not in stock but when I reached their accessories shop I saw them lying there in open. I enquired regarding the same, and the accessories guy told me they tried installing them, but the EV max has raised floor near the drivers seat because of which they don't fit perfectly. He then even took me to a demo Nexon EV they and showed the floor of that car and showed me the hump in my cars floor. He told me will take 7-10 days for the Max specific mats to come. I further decided to get the following accessories added on day of delivery - 1. Window Curtains. 2. Door Guards. 3. Ganesha Idol. The total of all these came around 15k and I ended up paying close to 11k for these after around 25% discount. SA gave in writing about the pending delivery of mat along with extended warranty which will get activated next day after delivery. Also, due to chip shortage only one remote was given but both the keys were handed over. The spare remote will come with an empty key slot and the spare key can be put inside it when I get it. Have been asked to wait 60-90 days for the same. Got the extended warranty PDF by main within 48 hours and a call to confirm receipt of the same. The door guards could not be installed because of non stop rain on delivery day and we finally decided to take the delivery in rain only. . Could not take proper pictures while taking delivery because of this. Attached below a picture of mandatory key handover and my little one standing all happy next to her new possession.   SA gave the demo going over the basic features of the car and some details about charging / removal of charger properly. I took a lightening cable with me to use CarPlay and thanks to the poorly located USB slot the SA had to plug in the cable for me. Asked me at then end if I had any other doubts and handed me over the fast tag. The car was handed over with 99% SOC showing a range of around 320 kms. Auto-wipers came in action as soon as I moved the car in rain and the smooth, soundless drive is a very peaceful experience only EVs can offer. Installed the door protectors myself the next day after properly cleaning the car. Also installed a set of universal mats for time being till I get the 3D ones. The door protectors come with a small Tata logo and do the job pretty well, specially in tight parking spots.  Also installed the Ganesha Idol which they left on the dashboard. It can with a 3M double sided tape pasted so was easy to install.  The car looks very smart from the front end and I think it will age well just like the polo did.  Parked at the same spot where I bid by polo good-bye a couple of weeks back. The door visors give the car a very smart look.  The door visors are same as the sold with Nexon and there is nothing new about them. Would have liked them better with the chrome strip. They do come with a big Tata logo. Also notice with the curtains installed, anything inside the car is barely visible form out.  Please note the door visors make the blind spot even more worse which is already quite bad because of the thick A-pillars. There is minimal space visible between the ORVMs and door visors. Installing the windows curtains make this even more worse and you have to be very carful on turns.  However the curtains are of very good quality compared to the aftermarket ones I bought from my Polo. They were very flimsy and at times got stuck in door and even kept falling off. Even bigger problem in them was for the from windows they came with a zipper which could be opened up to see ORVMs or handle parking tickets. This was not a very good implementation and I mostly kept the front ones in my boot. The Tata ones come with strong magnets, good quality mesh and a small Nexon branding. They have a giant cut on the front ones to view the ORVMs.  The rear ones complete cover the windows and work very well during summers. The car feels somewhat better insulated form heat with curtains installed than without them. Have paid many fines on my Polo for installing films so did not want to get them installed anymore. Also notice the Nexon branding at top in all curtains.  However, if its not sunny out side, with all black seats and curtains installed the car can feel a little claustophobic and its best not use them at such times. My little one hates them while sitting in the rear as they obstruct her view and have to remove them as she gets in every time especially at night. Went for a customary pooja at night to a nearby temple and felt the heavy weight of the bonet while lifting it.  Last edited by Aditya : 2nd July 2022 at 05:19. Reason: Typos |
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28th June 2022, 13:45
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| BHPian | Re: Upgrading from Polo to Nexon EV Living with Nexon EV after spending 8 years with VW PoloWhen I purchased A4 after using the Polo, the controls felt so familiar with so many knobs and switches being at similar places and performing similar functions. Moving to a Tata from this was a very different experience. And I am not talking here about the turn indicators being on right instead of left. As I always kept switching between City and Polo, I am used to them being on either side. Though if given a choice, I would prefer them being on the right just for the ease of operation as my right hand is always near them. So that ways +1 for Tata. But ergonomically the car is still not that well sorted like the USB port is a pain to access which gets even worse in dark as there are no lights near it. During delivery I took a cable with me to plug in my phone and after 2/3 failed attempts to plug the cable in the car the SA finally did it for me. The place is too narrow since the 1st gen Nexon and still not fixed even though Max received a major makeover in its central console. Wireless charger as well is not the best one and requires the phone case to be removed for most phones in order to work. I have a 12 Pro Max which barely fits inside the charger and most times the side buttons end up getting pressed if use the Apple Leather case. Not the best implementation. Another major miss in infotainment is not having wireless CarPlay even though the car comes with a wireless charger. It defeats the whole purpose of giving the wireless charger if you have to plug in the phone to connect it to the car. Was using wired CarPlay initially few days and there was no place I could keep my phone. It does not fit where the cable is plugged as it is too big and keeping it on wireless charges with cable plugged in is pointless. I had ordered a Carlinkit wireless CarPlay dongle which made the setup much better.  The dongle is as big as the car key with the cover and fits in perfectly near the USB port. Also notice the key cover I ordered to prevent the scratchy piano black plastic on key to get wrose.  Have put on a ultra thin type of case on my phone and the wireless charges now works perfectly along with wireless Carplay. Setting up the device was very easy and it was plug and play. You just have to connect it to bluetooth once for pairing and from next time works automatically. They have launched a new model which works with both Android Auto and Carplay wirelessly and got the same one to make it future proof. This is the setup screen you see when you first connect the device. Once connected the phone automatically connects and CarPlay is open by the time you are ready to drive.  Being very small in size, it fits perfectly in the small space next to the USB port of the car and doesn't move around much. Comes with a perfectly small USB cable to avoid any cables hanging around. The device shows a green light if its booted properly or red if there is any error / during booting. A small double sided tape can also be used to keep the device in its place.  The connection does take around 30 seconds when you start the car but still better than plugging in the phone every time. Also the device starts booting as soon as you unlock the car. So by the time you get in, turn on the car, fasten your seatbelt and place your phone on the wireless charges, the wireless CarPlay is ready to use. The music quality is also similar and I have not found any difference compared to the wired CarPlay except a small 2-3 second lag between pressing play and music starting. There is however some bug in the system which at times stops Carplay from activating both wired and wirelessly. Only gets normal after you turn off the car and infotainment for 2-3 minutes and turn it on again. When this happens the phone starts charging on plugging in the cable but the head unit does not activate Carplay option. I could not find any options to force reboot / restart the headunit. This however happens very less and it works fine most times. The only feature missing in this wireless setup is that the navigation is no longer visible on central MID as well as infotainment after exiting CarPlay. When using apple maps with wired CarPlay (does not work with google maps), with wired CarPlay, I could see the directions on MID as well as central infotainment screen even after exiting CarPlay instead of the current song being played as in the picture below.  This was handy on the off chance you got a call while approaching a turn and ending up missing it. Or when co-passenger using the infotainment screen and you can't see navigation. However, after moving to the wireless setup, it only display the music being played even with navigation on in the MID. The central screen shows navigation active but does not display any directions. Not a major miss compared but something to keep in mind. I had upgraded the speakers on Polo and even added tweeters but never upgraded the head unit. So the 8 inch screen in Nexon is a very welcome upgrade for me. The graphics are good but the display is laggy and feels slow some times especially while using Carplay. My only comparison point is the Carplay I use in my A4 which I installed myself through a aftermarket box and was not inbuilt. It feels very snappy while changing pages or opening apps. Wish they had upgraded to a faster processor for the infotainment on the Max. The default speaker set up however leaves no room for complaint and is more than sufficient for most needs. I don't think having a bigger 10 inch screen like Taigun will make much of a difference as even the 8 inch one is enough to view the Maps and other stuff. I have noticed while trying to open the front windows, I mostly end up pulling / pushing the rear windows switches probably because the buttons are located a bit too forward. The lack of illumination on these buttons does not help with only the driver window switch having any sort of lights. Window lock switch which is also the same. A small orange light does pop up when you lock the windows as visible below. But finding these in the dark is not as easy task.  I am pretty sure the muscle memory will get used to the positions eventually but what I will badly miss always is the one touch up / down Polo had for all windows. During summers I was used to rolling down all windows before getting in and then just pulling the buttons once to raise the windows when cabin cools down a little bit.Further, to unlock the door the first instinct is to press the button near the power windows which is not there and located on the central controls below the Head Unit. Having the boot unlock button without unlocking the car is good to have though. Did not got to use the Hill Decent control yet.  The charging gun remove button was also added to the Max after Nexon Ev owners complained about stuck charging cable sometimes. Previously they had to pull a tab manually near the rear tyre in such cases. Tata listened to this problem and added a button to remove the gun which is a very welcome addition. I know with time will get used to the controls like door lock / unlock / window switches but the feel will always remain different. I didn't spend that much time with Taigun but the rotary knobs on Nexon are not that well damped the way Polo had them. Every time I turn the temperature dial / fan controls the different feel in each click is very evident. The same difference in feel is there in the turn indicators / headlight controls and all the buttons on central console. The ones on the Nexon don't feel cheap but the ones on Polo just had a better built / richer feel to them. Moreover the endless places where the shiny piano black plastic is located in Nexon will be a pain to maintain in long term. Polo had them just on the steering and they aged pretty well, but I am not so sure about the ones on Nexon. When I was handed over the car remote, which again has the shiny black plastic, it was already scratched. Had ordered a remote cover same day. The steering wheel has no reach adjustment, which could have made it even better but it still feels very good to hold with perfectly shaped contours. The leather quality feels on par with competition and similar or better than what I had in Polo. It is very well put together and the blue stitching looks very smart. During my test drive I remember the SA pointing out you can just press near the thumb for horn instead of moving your whole hand towards the centre of the steering. Now that I have gotten used to doing it this way, I understand why he specifically pointed it out. Having it near your thumb makes it very easy and effortless with minimal hand movements.  The location of ORVM controls is also not the best and requires stretching the hand all the way to operate them. Also notice the driver window switch being the only lit button at night with even ORVM controls having no lights.  I know the most newer cars don't have them but was used to it in my Polo, have it in my Audi, and makes it so much easier to increase / decrease volume when in a hurry. Not having physical rotary knob for volume / basic Head unit controls and choosing to have "N E X O N" written on the dash is not the best choice they made. The most welcome change for both me and my dad wanted was the increased height which leads to easier ingress. Dad faces back pain problem almost in every season change and getting in a low slung car with back pain is a very very difficult task. Nexon seats are at a very comfortable height where neither you have to sit down or climb up. I loved the front end of Nexon since the update came. The first gen felt little boring but since the front update the car felt very upmarket and subtle. Looked a little land-roverish from some angles but in a good way. The rear however I still don't feel is the best part of Nexon. I was hoping they might update the tail lights or do some cosmetic changes to the Max but that never happened. Even though after all these years, have gotten used to it, still find the front to be much better designed and executed than the rear. Another weird miss I found was no indictor of boot being open on the MID. Found this out in a very weird way. I visited a mall where they check the boot while entering the parking. They did the same and closed the boot but it did not end up closing properly. When I opened the MID did show boot is open but it goes away after 4-5 seconds. I moved further and only on a breaker I realised the boot is not properly closed. Tried to find any sort of notification for this on the MID but none. The light inside the car does remain on but it was too bright to notice that. Also, the auto headlamps are way too sensitive and I have to turn them off manually many times. Even inside my parking in bright day light they turn on and only get turned off when I move out of the parking. Could not find any way to delay this or decrease the sensitivity. The light are decently bright and I find them to better than the default setup of Polo. When the infamous VW diesel gate scandal happened, VW did some updates, which made the engine louder than what it already was in a diesel. I have an indoor parking with a small recline at entry where I reverse park my car. On an incline when you reverse park the sound a diesel makes while revving is loud, and after getting down I could smell the gases a diesel exhales inside a closed area a lot. These same was noticeable when standing near the rear side of car or putting something in the boot with ignition on. Never was a good feeling and the way I was using my my turbocharged Diesel engine (4-5 kms a day / stop go traffic), I felt I was doing more harm than good by driving it. Nexon EV comes home, absolutely 0 silence during parking in / getting out and no smells at all. Once the AC is off you simply can not hear anything and have to double check whether the car is even on. Zero vibrations / zero sounds / zero emissions are a boon when driving inside the city. I love turning off the AC and parking the car and it still feels like the engine if off every time I do it. Driving the Nexon EV MaxHave still not taken the car on a proper highway drive so not sure how much I will miss a good engine sound note. In the city though, driving an EV is a great experience. The instant torque on a green light never fails to put a grin on your face. Took the car for a semi-long drive at night the day after delivery and it was a great experience. Drove till 100 and the car never lost its composure and felt confident. The way the car accelerates you often don't realise the speeds you are on till you see the speedometer. Sports mode specially takes the game to another level. Infact when in traffic sports mode feels too eager to move. Turn on the car and you are greeted with an absolute silence. The Nexon EV comes up in blue on the MID and flashes its light. They could have made this animation match the color of the car to make it even more cool though.  The change of theme / lights according to driving mode is very nice touch (Red for sports, Green for Eco, and Blue for City). The same is reflected both on the new rotary gear selector screen as well.  The rotary knobs follows the color theme even in reverse but you can not change the drive mode when in reverse. The new gear selector is very well built and will look good even on cars a couple of segments above the Nexon. The start-up animation is simple and classy and the display is readable even in bright day lights.  I have never felt so major changes in the cars behaviour after changing the driving modes. ECO feels buttery smooth in the city and the car simply glides over everything. The pickup in ECO mode is very refined and it feels great to drive in the city. I have found regen level 2 to be the most comfortable and instantly switch to it as soon as I turn on the car now. The breaking feels very natural and especially smooth in ECO mode. There are no sudden movements in this mode and is best when you are looking for a relaxed drive. Even while revving hard in ECO the car picks up speed in a very linear way and never makes you feel any jerks. CITY mode offers the perfect mix of both worlds and feels both fast when you accelerate hard and smooth when you are gently on the pedal. You do feel the instant torque here much more and are pinned to the seat if accelerating hard. If you use city mode with regen level 2 properly, you never have to press the break pedal unless you want to come to a complete stop. Turn on to SPORTS mode and the car becomes a different animal. The change of gear selector and central MID to red adds to the feel. I have turned on the audible notifications though of changing the modes as they feels a bit overdone to me. But the way the car changes its characteristics in Sports mode is something I have not felt even in my A4. It completely feels like a different car and having the same torque all the way from 0-120 makes it feel even faster than it is. And even at triple digit speeds the car feels very well planted and completely in control. The lower centre of gravity and 50-50 weight distributions makes the car feel even more confident and the breaking feels powerful enough to stop the car quickly at any time required. Even with ESP you can hear those tyres screech on turns under hard accelerations, though they are stopped very soon with ESP. Having an option to turn ESP off would have made the drive more fun when you wanted it but would have come at the cost of burning out those from tyres very fast. Using the sports mode though, does end up taking a toll on your battery. I reached form 50% SOC to 37% in only around 30kms of drive (63% City mode and 37% time sports as per the connect app). This did involve a lot of sudden accelerating and breaking and is in no way an ideal condition to test the battery. Driving the car like I did on my Polo I loose a battery of 1% after every to 3 - 4 kms. The car should comfortably do 275- 325 kms if driven sanely. The MID is full of information, in fact a little too much is displayed all together. It displays the current drive mode along with logo (leaf for city, building for city, running man for sports), regen level (0,1,2,3), current gear (P, R,N,D), current battery, current range, time, ODO, outside temperature, current song played / phone call details, power used curve line, the effect on battery during drive or regen all of which are all aways displayed together.  Some of the bottom control lights are way too small to even read easily like Auto Hold. See the pic above and you can barely read it. Once you know the light for auto-hold is there and what it means you get it, but reading so small fonts is not an easy thing to do. The white light turns on when you activate it and remains in the same state even after you turn off the car. It does turn green from white and when its in use on a stop and hand break is not active. Once you pull the hand break button it becomes white again. The green headlamp indictor on extreme left turns on when in auto mode.  Further you can choose to view between energy flow animation / Trip A or B Details along with average in Wh/km.  The cruise control light further pops on the MID in green when you turn it on and you get your cars picture with the set cruise speed on the MID instead of trip details at centre. But I really think there should be a simpler theme / view option which displays much lesser info. I really don't need to see Energy Flow / Power curve line / Regen-Drive effect together all the time. A full digital instrument cluster might have been better with speedometer taking lesser space and all this information visible in one mode and lesser info with full size speedometer in another simple mode. The display quality however is very good and crisp and you can ready everything easily on the display. There is a noticeable lag once you move the gearknob and the gear changes. You can shift from P to all the way to D in one go but it happens with a slight lag. Shifting to D is easier as its in the end but quickly shifting from D to R is more tricky. If you leave the break pedal too soon, it shift to N and stops. If you rotate the selector one extra click step in a hurry, it shifts to P. Having a quick 3 point turn does require some getting used to. And I still end up leaving the break a bit too soon and the car getting stuck in N when switching between R and D quickly. A physically moving gear selector would have been better functionality wise but might not have looked as cool as this one. Form over function here was chosen here I guess. The ride and suspension feels very well sorted and it never gets very loud in the cabin even over bigger bumps. The car feels planted all times and very silent. I find the ground clearance of 190mm more than sufficient as all my previous cars have been lower than this. The car does feel heavy and solid to move around but in no way difficult to manage during city drives. The auto hold is a boon in stop-go traffic and being already used to in my A4, feels great to have it in my daily driver. Infact I find this to work in a more smoother way with regen than in my A4. The multi level regen is another very useful add-on and unless you need to come to a complete stop you can pretty much drive the car with a single pedal. Tried level 3 for first couple of days but found to be a bit too intrusive and have finally gotten used to Level 2. However, if the car is fully charged and does not reach around 95-96% regen stops working even at level 3 as there is nothing to charge. If you are used to the regen stopping the car, have to be very careful when driving with full charge. Having driver modes / profiles with all these setting pre-stored would have been very cool as the car switches back to Regen level 1 and city mode everytime it is restarted.. I don't miss the powered seats much as the car is primarily driven by me. Another thing to get used to is wearing the seatbelt even when getting out of parking or moving the car in D for just 1 metre. The car will switch to D but will refuse to dis-engage the parking break if the driver is not wearing his seatbelt. You will keep getting a notification on MID to wear your seatbelt every time you try to accelerate. At times when I am just moving the car around in my parking, feels very irritable. Don't know how valets will react to this who seldom use seatbelts. I know it is a good safety feature to have, but does get annoying at times. Another irritant while driving is the way too thin seat backs of front seats. It is done to maximise space but I can feel very nudge / kick and movement if my 1.5 year old is sitting behind me during a drive. I can literally feel both my hands if I press the seat from both sides. The seats do have good cushioning and are comfortable to sit on. My wife and mother both around 5 feet 6, and find the rear seats very comfortable. My and my dad at 6 feet do notice the raise floor and missing under thigh support. But as this is primarily my city car, I did not find this to be a deal breaker even after many reviews pointed this out. The range of normal Nexon EV would also have been sufficient for my usage but both me and my dad prefer to buy the latest tech / models as we feel they offer a better return over a longer period of time. Moreover honestly, I felt the max to be very VFM if we look at the additional features it offers, most of which no amount of money can add later like - 1. Multi-level Regen 2. Auto Hold / Electronic parking break. 3. Much better looking Gear selector. 4. More Range / power. 5. All disc breaks. 6. ESP (lesser wheel spin / longer tyre life) 7. Cruise Control I don't think any other car maker except Tata or Mahindra can add so many features at such low price difference. Infact while watching the launch presentation I remember thinking it might cross 20 lacs OTR and loosing the VFM advantage. Using zConnect and ChargerzConnect app took around 3 days to get activated. I tried opening it the same day of delivery and it was still showing my car as parked in Tata Pune plant with 37% battery. I asked the SA regarding the same and they asked me to wait 72 hours. Once it started working I tried to charge the car. Also wanted to try out how to use the charger in best way while the car is parked without causing any hindrance to any one else. I live in a multi level apartment so the parking is shared by other flats. The car was ay 61% SOC when plugged in and took around 3.5 hours to reach 81% when I removed it as I did not plan to charge it over night. Having all these details on your phone is very useful specially in an electric car. Tried firs to park straight than in reverse to find out the way I can be least obstruction to anyone else while charging my car.   The next week I charged the car from 36% to 100% over night. Plugged in the car at around 8.30 PM with this time cable passing under the car instead of over it. The app showed around 11 hours time to reach 100 but got the notification at 6.45 am (10 hours 15 mins later) on zConnect that the car is fully charges and I can remove the charger now. This is how I usually plan to charge my car when it reached between 25 to 35% SOC and top it up to 95-100% over night with a slow charger. Took the cable below the car this time instead of above it.  Another useful feature in the zConnect apps is pre cool during hot summer days when my car is parked in an open space since morning. I turn this on 10 mins before going to pick the car and its very comfortable to get inside it in evening by the time I reach. However it does take 25-30 seconds to send the command to car most times and is not very snappy. Have driven the car for just 250 kms till now and loving and enjoying every bit of it. The running costs make it almost free to own once you pay the cost of the car. I know with my usage if I compare the cost of owning a top end petrol or diesel Nexon I might not even reach break even. But I chose this over the Taigun and saved 3.5-4 lacs + running and service costs.I think this is the best car this side of 20 lacs without compromising on the fun to drive factor if long range is not a deciding factor. The test drive car had no squeaks or sounds over potholes even after crossing 23k kms and expecting the same from mine. The lower ground clearance than the regular Nexon / 50-50 weight distribution / instant torque / makes a very good case for this car and a great update moving from Polo as long as you don't plan to take it on more than 300 kms of long drives regularly. Have read and seen reviews of people taking the regular Nexon over longer drives but it requires way too much planning as of now. If one of the fast charger you planned to use is busy you need to wait another hour or so. And if by chance its not working, the whole trip might have to be rethought. I personally will never taking this risk till the charging infrastructure is improved further. Till then this remains to be one of the best / fastest and cheapest to run and maintain city cars you can buy with a budget of under 20 lacs OTR. Last edited by Aditya : 1st July 2022 at 19:33. Reason: Typo |
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1st July 2022, 06:45
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| Team-BHP Support  | |
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1st July 2022, 11:47
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1st July 2022, 12:08
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1st July 2022, 14:24
| #6 |
| BHPian Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Bengaluru
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| Re: Upgrading from a Volkswagen Polo to a Tata Nexon EV Max Congratulations on your new ride. Wishing you loads of happy miles. Looking forward to a comprehensive report on miles munched, range etc. that could help many more IC owners get electrified.  |
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1st July 2022, 16:35
| #7 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Perth, WA
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1st July 2022, 19:12
| #8 | ||
| BHPian Join Date: May 2019 Location: KL-40 | KA-03
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| Re: Upgrading from Polo to Nexon EV Congratulations on your new EV Max, great review! I might get mine in a week or so!  Quote:
Quote:
I reached out to the following insurers and got quotes all over the place, all with ex showroom price of the Max Lux 3.3 kW as the IDV. Confused at the moment on which insurer to choose. SBI General - 44k (All available addons) ICICI Lombard - 58k (All available addons, and including some dongle which you can use for tracking and geo fencing etc, may not be relevant in case of the EV Max) HDFC Ergo - 62k (Nil Dep, RTI, Consumables) Acko - 49k (All available addons) | ||
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1st July 2022, 22:20
| #9 | |||
| BHPian | Re: Upgrading from a Volkswagen Polo to a Tata Nexon EV Max Quote:
It rained very bad in Delhi yesterday and a scooter coming on wrong side in full speed banged the left side of car and fell on a crossing. The first scratch on a new car hits the heart much more than the car. Upon confronting he pointed out I was using the dipper, but I was on the right side of road, had my blinkers on, and was barely at 10kmph. The passer-buys further pointed out that I was not at fault. The rain was so bed couldn't get out of the car at that point and went towards my car park. The bang that came after the hit I expected a decent bump and lots of scratches. A part of scooter got stuck under the car and while trying to remove it I could hear even more bad sounds damaging the car. When I finally got the courage to inspect my new car, couldn't find a single thing except a broken mudflap. Was pleasantly surprised with this as I had already started in mind counting the days I will have to live without the car when it will go for a paint job now. Guess the "Desh ka Loha" applier very well to Nexon.   Did notice some scratches below the car.  Quote:
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Got the device directly from Carlinkit website for around 7k. You can get it for around 6k locally as well but I found carlinit to have the best reviews online. Also they are the only one who offers option of both Wireless Carplay and Android Auto in one single device. Did take a good 25 days to reach me though. | |||
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1st July 2022, 22:40
| #10 | |
| BHPian  Join Date: Feb 2022 Location: Kochi
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| Re: Upgrading from Polo to Nexon EV Quote:
One point with specific reference to running cost I would prefer to wait and watch on an EV is, the battery life and replacement cost. Tata Indica was my first car and it definitely lived upto it's, 'more car per car' tag line and never let me down. Even with the dealership it was - you get what you demand. I find it no different with Mahindra now. Wishing you a wonderful ownership and driving experience and will look out for more EV updates  | |
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1st July 2022, 22:44
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| BHPian Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Bangalore
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2nd July 2022, 12:12
| #12 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Nagpur
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| Re: Upgrading from a Volkswagen Polo to a Tata Nexon EV Max Quote:
Kudos for penning down a well-articulated review. | |
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2nd July 2022, 12:16
| #13 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Nov 2019 Location: Nagpur
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| Re: Upgrading from Polo to Nexon EV Quote:
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2nd July 2022, 20:41
| #14 | |
| BHPian | Re: Upgrading from Polo to Nexon EV Quote:
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2nd July 2022, 21:42
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