[Jekyl87]

Originally Posted by satypal

Thanks a lot. This is a very good and much needed advice. I would also like to add that currently installing a charging point at my parking is not possible as I have an external parking and there are no covered parking area available in our society. So, will it be practical to depend solely on public chargers ?

I've mentioned it elsewhere too, but if you do not have a charging infrastructure at your home/office, DO NOT think about a EV right now. Constant public charging is not feasible. You may be tempted to, but believe me you will rue the decision. EVs, the best of them require extended timelines to refill (except superfast DC charging which will degrade your battery superfast too if done constantly). So, you'll need to drop your car at a public charger, figure out an alternate transport to go home and then come back after few hours to collect the car. Unless you have free hours to burn every time you need to refill, please skip the thought right now. Wait for the next generation of EVs or consider that into your next home when you are able to move.

[roy_libran]

Day 6 Update:
Today was a good test for us of the Tiago Range in real world conditions, despite the somewhat misleading Range reading on the dash.


We (2 pax) started at 100% battery showing about 191 km range, and drove through peak hour Delhi traffic and back home for a total distance of 85 kms, at which point the battery came down to 54%. It was quite a hot day here today, the AC was continuously running, got stuck in endless traffic snarls in South Delhi (EoK, NP, CR Park, Govindpuri Extn. ... you get the drift) and also stopped at a market for 10ish minutes with the AC running in the car.
A couple of interesting things I noted:
1. Whilst we were driving through Noida, the Tiago was consuming between 99-102 wh/km, but when we got stuck in Delhi it gradually shot up to 135 wh/km, and again returned back to about 110 wh/km by the time we returned home. Regen mode set at 2 all through, and no use of 'S' mode today.
2. The range accuracy on the dash seems to be improving. The second day, it showed me 150 km range on a full battery, and today 191. Hopefully this will further improve. Also, 1 km of range drop definitely happens at over a km of displacement, but I am yet to work out the exact coefficient.


The use case for which we bought the Tiago was to do regular Noida-Gurgaon-Noida runs, about 150 km round trip, and my confidence of the car being able to do the trip without needing a charge boost midway, is rapidly improving. And once my workplace sets up the free AC chargers (global policy), my charging cost can potentially come down to near Zero, and the car should pay itself back real real soon.

[MysticMind]

I had booked a Tiago EV back in November and have been informed by the sales team that the allocation is expected soon. Has anyone faced any serious niggles so far?

Past few days I am experiencing serious voltage fluctuation issues at my home. This issue is worse during night times. I am concerned if this could impact the EV charging setup or the car battery itself. Please advise.

[oli.ferns]

Continuing to share my ownership experience yet:

Came across two issues, probably more of a learning experience:

1. The tata power guy installed the point (yesterday) near my parking and after plugging in the charger for the first time, only the first green light on the brick kept blinking. The tata power installation tech told me that this indicated that the power is being received properly but its unable to charge the car and maybe an issue with the charger or the software in the car itself and that I had to drive the car to the service center. He too tried inserting the charger multiple times to ensure that it was plugged in properly but no luck. I pointed out to him that it maybe an issue that the car hasn't fully powered off (as I could see the brake lights on but he said that it should not be a problem) Next day (today) I drove to the service center and to my surprise, the charger worked over there. There was a moment I felt that I may have gotten myself into a problem as I have fitted rear and front parking sensors to aid my wife and I heard the advisor at the tata service make special note that I had those installed. However, since it worked, all is well and I didn't have to argue with anyone . I then got back home, parked the car, ensured that the car was completely turned off (had to turn the dial for the auto headlamps for all the lights to go off) and then plugged in the charger and it worked.

2. The other issue I see is that the brakes don't work when the car is off. So I park on a bit of a slope and have a habbit of releasing the hand brake with the car turned off and using the regular brake. Only when the car is turned on, you can feel it getting pressed on applying pressure, else its hard (hadly moves and the car moves forward). This behavior is completely different from what I've seen in ICE automatic cars that I've owned.

Sharing a pic of the parking sensors (silver colour). Goes really well with the tropical mist colour of the tiago ev. These are the ones I got: https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0BS9NT666/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and got it fitted from Poona motors, east street, Pune. He also fitted a button to turn off the front sensors and activate them only when needed.

[satypal]

Originally Posted by abacusv

I own a electric car for 9 years. EVs cannot be your first car they are more suitable for city drives. There are lot of issues with station charging yet.

Any specific reason you said that EVs can't be the first car? is it from practicality point of view.

[abc_xyz]

Hi,
Did anyone opt for the 7.2 kw AC fast charger?

Thing is, my SA called yesterday and was saying that 3.3kw charger and 7.2 kw charger take the same time to charge when charging at home.

Any comments on this?

[Nanolover]

Originally Posted by oli.ferns

Continuing to share my ownership experience yet:

Came across two issues, probably more of a learning experience:

1. The tata power guy installed the point (yesterday) near my parking and after plugging in the charger for the first time, only the first green light on the brick kept blinking. The tata power installation tech told me that this indicated that the power is being received properly but its unable to charge the car and maybe an issue with the charger or the software in the car itself and that I had to drive the car to the service center. He too tried inserting the charger multiple times to ensure that it was plugged in properly but no luck. I pointed out to him that it maybe an issue that the car hasn't fully powered off (as I could see the brake lights on but he said that it should not be a problem) Next day (today) I drove to the service center and to my surprise, the charger worked over there. There was a moment I felt that I may have gotten myself into a problem as I have fitted rear and front parking sensors to aid my wife and I heard the advisor at the tata service make special note that I had those installed. However, since it worked, all is well and I didn't have to argue with anyone . I then got back home, parked the car, ensured that the car was completely turned off (had to turn the dial for the auto headlamps for all the lights to go off) and then plugged in the charger and it worked.

d.

Ensure that the handbrake is fully engaged before charging. Else the car willnot start charging no matter what.

As to the brakes , Tiago and tigor have electric vaccum pump for the brakes that activate only when you switch on the ignition ( hence the initial hissing sound). Brakes will work even without these just need to press a little harder ( same as in petrol car when there is no vaccum in the system).

[abacusv]

Originally Posted by satypal

Any specific reason you said that EVs can't be the first car? is it from practicality point of view.

Electric cars have charging delays. Every journey is a planned one specially with low range vehicles. For instance my E20 is 100km range vehicle. If I travelled even 50km in a day and I forget to charge you are left with travel only 50km, wont work for emergency. And you are limited to use only in city and make sure you come back to have it charged.

Now talking about current breed of vehicle, they give you long range but yet, you need a charging place. Tiago long range will need charging point even if you want to go to mysore and come over a weekend. So all of these become a scheduled, pre planned conscious travel or use.

If you have another car already, then all the flaws I spoke about can be addressed by the primary car while you enjoy the benefits of ev in this car. Thats my point of view.

Originally Posted by abc_xyz

Hi,
Did anyone opt for the 7.2 kw AC fast charger?

Thing is, my SA called yesterday and was saying that 3.3kw charger and 7.2 kw charger take the same time to charge when charging at home.

Any comments on this?

SE are half cooked with knowledge. Not sure who can give right feedback though. From same showroom and branch two executives give two different answers. 1 said, 3 hours for 7.2kw and 6 hrs for 3.3kw unit. And the other says 9 hrs for 3.3kw and 4-5 hrs for 7.2kw dont know who is right.
But logically speaking 7.2kw AC will charge quicker than 3.3kw, its slow charging but quicker. Same can be felt with mobile chargers too, 2.1A charger charges your mobile faster than your 1A charger.

[sumithb]

Originally Posted by abc_xyz

Hi,
Did anyone opt for the 7.2 kw AC fast charger?

Thing is, my SA called yesterday and was saying that 3.3kw charger and 7.2 kw charger take the same time to charge when charging at home.

Any comments on this?

I have a 7.2KW charger installed. The charger can be configured to charger at 3.3KW and 7.2KW using an app that the installers have access to. They set this depending on the approved load for your meter from the provider.

Check your electricity bill for approved load. You can see in the image below it's 6.5 KW for me.

They have set the charger to charge at 3.3 KW since my approved load of 6.5 KW won't allow to charge at 7.2 KW. Once I upgrade my approved load to 15 KW they can set it to 7.2 KW.

Here's a pic of the charger being installed in a weather proof box in my open parking.


Also, the cables need to support 7.2 KW load, so ensure the right cables are laid from the meter to your charger. The cables for 7.2 KW are thicker than the ones used for 3.3 KW. You can see the cable connected to the breaker from the bottom in the pic above.

Hope this helps clarify your question. Cheers.

[DarthVeda]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Day 6 Update:
The range accuracy on the dash seems to be improving. The second day, it showed me 150 km range on a full battery, and today 191. Hopefully this will further improve. Also, 1 km of range drop definitely happens at over a km of displacement, but I am yet to work out the exact coefficient.

The DTE is an estimate based on the wh/km consumption for the last few kms. It keeps varying on the way you drive. Don't expect it to be exact. You can test it yourself, drive downhill for few kms and then charge to 100%, you will see numbers beyond your belief, likewise, if you drive uphill and charge up, you will see numbers which will give you heart attack.

Don't trust the DTE, calculate based on your trip meter's wh/km consumption and the terrain ahead.

[satypal]

Originally Posted by sumithb

I have a 7.2KW charger installed.

So, this is in your open parking? may I know how you pulled the wire from your meter and did it require some special provisions to pull the wire from your meter room to your open parking? If it's possible then could you please post some pictures of how the wiring runs from your meter to your open parking. For curiosity sake I just wanted to get an idea of how it's done in case of open parking. Thanks.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by DarthVeda

The DTE is an estimate based on the wh/km consumption for the last few kms. It keeps varying on the way you drive. Don't expect it to be exact....
Don't trust the DTE, calculate based on your trip meter's wh/km consumption and the terrain ahead.

I should have perhaps elaborated a bit more. It will absolutely vary by a large extent depending on where one drives and how.
When I said I am yet to calculate the exact coefficient, I meant it from the perspective of my standard use case, that involves peak hour driving from Noida to Gurgaon and back in the lovely North Indian summer. It is of more than just an academic interest to me to get to a fairly accurate range estimation to avoid surprises.
By the way today again I had a 100 km round trip and a total average consumption of about 120 wh/km. Empirically speaking, that looks to be like the coefficient I am after!

[wocanak]

Originally Posted by DarthVeda

Sorry that is just plain wrong, Tata cars all use LFP battery which can be charged using DC all the time to 100%. My first few charges on my Nexon EV was all on DC. It can happily do it. However, what needs to be is to ensure you take your SOC to below 10% once in a while and charge all the way to 100% to ensure cells are calibrated. You can do an occassional top up to 100% on slow charger.

I don't have that 16A socket that TML puts up at my house, I rely on charging at BESCOM charging station and office's 16A socket.

From Nexon EV Owners manual, Starting and Driving/Important Tips/EV charging, page ~136:

• Battery performance and durability can deteriorate if the fast charger is used constantly. Use of Fast Charging should be minimized in order to help prolong high voltage battery life.
• After a maximum of four continuous fast charging cycles, it is recommended to use Slow Charging and charge the car to 100% State of Charge for optimum performance of high voltage battery pack

Going below 10% and charging all the way up to 100% is another recommendation, but that does not remove the need to slow charge after 4 fast charging cycles.

My statement was not about charging to 100% SoC, it was about continuous use of fast charging (needed when you don't have access to slow charging at home and work/office)

[crazydevil]

Originally Posted by crazydevil

I am thrilled to share my PDI experience with you all....


...I am very excited about taking delivery of my new car on Tuesday. It's been a long wait, but I know it's going to be worth it.

a bit of prologue...

Had completed all the paperwork, to-and-fro with the bank for the disbursal of the finance amount, selection of accessories etc. etc. Mine was supposed to be the FIRST Tiago EV to be delivered in Gujarat. I had requested a delivery time of 11AM but the dealership requested me to accept the delivery at 4PM because some higher-ups from TML plant were expected to be present for the delivery event as it was the first delivery for Gujarat. I rejigged my patient appointment schedule to oblige their requested time.

So the big day was today -- and it brought with it a BIG disappointment

And out of the blue, I receive a phone call today morning from my sales guy saying that delivery will not be possible today because the car has "a pending software update" and hence Tata has "asked to keep all deliveries on hold." I was utterly dismayed. Immediately got in touch with the senior sales team lead and his manager, and realized there was something fishy. I rushed to the dealer workshop and there was a group of Tata technicians working on the vehicle, trying to resolve some issue.

A senior sales executive (Tata employee) met me and explained that during their internal PDI they detected some noise issue in the car when it was being driven. They had been working on it to resolve it since the past few days but they had been unable to identify the cause/reason for the noise. I instantly understood why I was refused a test-drive of the vehicle during the PDI that I did a few days back. Also, no wonder my PDI took place at the workshop and not at the stockyard, as I believe the vehicle must have been at the workshop for them to resolve this very issue itself.

The team was very apologetic about the situation and they insisted that they will deliver the vehicle only after the issue is identified and rectified. I immediately informed both the Tata sales executive and the dealer sales team that I will not accept the delivery of this vehicle, and I would need a new vehicle VIN allotted to me. They were very accommodating and accepted my request because they said that as they have not been able to identify the cause, they would probably need to send the vehicle back to the plant for further diagnosis / repairs.

Unfortunately, the dealership did not have a similar specced vehicle in their inventory - they requested me to change the color to white or teal blue, or downgrade to XZ+ instead of Tech Lux. I thought long and hard but I was not convinced about either of these compromises. Because the HQ in Mumbai is closed today on account of Holi, and the plant in Sanand Gujarat will be closed tomorrow for the same reason, the Tata executive requested me to wait till Thursday, and he will give me an approximate timeline when he would be able to allot a new XZ+ Tech Lux Tropical Mist to me.

As all payments have already been done, I requested the dealership to send me an email which mentioned that the delivery scheduled today has been deferred due to technical fault with the car and a new car will be allotted to me on a priority basis.



The Tata executive has also verbally committed to me that if the new car allotment would mean that the delivery would be delayed by a significant number of days, I would be provided with a loaner car till my vehicle arrives, and the company will suitably compensate me for whatever EMI interest payment that I will have to bear till my vehicle is delivered. I have requested a written email confirming both the above commitments, but because of the two holidays he asked me to wait till Thursday when he would be able to provide me more clarity regarding the same.

All conversations during the entire episode were very cordial, and I must say the TML team is quite proactive to ensure that deliveries don't go ahead if there are any issues with the car. I was disappointed that I did not get the delivery today, but I am hopeful that the Tata team will make it worth the additional wait and allot a new VIN vehicle to me which would not have any issues.

Shall keep the community updated on how things evolve...

[sumithb]

Originally Posted by satypal

So, this is in your open parking? may I know how you pulled the wire from your meter and did it require some special provisions to pull the wire from your meter room to your open parking? If it's possible then could you please post some pictures of how the wiring runs from your meter to your open parking. For curiosity sake I just wanted to get an idea of how it's done in case of open parking. Thanks.

Here's the schematics of how the wiring was done. Worked with the society to come-up with the plan, they were kind enough to create the schematics which I then shared with the installer. Took about 50 meters of cable out of which 15m is free, had to pay for 35m. Also, 7.2KW charger requires a higher gauge and the cable is more expensive than the one used for 3.3 KW.