[ellip5i5]

One point I’m not sure about is if your friend is looking to have a second car. If not I’d suggest exchanging the Hector for a Hyryder. It’ll deliver significantly higher mileage while being usable in the city (Assuming boot doesn’t matter)

[chinkara]

Tiago EV - it's a no brainer really. Decent car - upto 4 people + 2 bags fit comfortably.
Ride etc. decent like all recent Tatas.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by mgastor2022grey

BHPians, please share your views on this matter and give the right suggestions. Thanks in advance!

I voted for Tiago EV as that is current best option in the market. Now coming to the point should he buy an EV as additional car or not.

There are some contradictions in the data you provided. You said that the car has run 24,000 kms since April 2022. That imputes around 1300 kms per month of running. But you have also mentioned that he is spending Rs. 20,000 on fuel per month based on this data his running should be around 2,000 kms per month.

Why I am asking this because the ROI changes based on the number of KMs run per month. Anyways still I created a model for you and friend to calculate your ROI. Excel attached

It will take 7 years to recover your money if monthly running is 2200 kms (with 80/20 city/highway drive split).



Assumptions
1. Your friend will have access to home charging and will not have to rely on commercial charging for majority of the time.
2. Fuel type of Hector is petrol
3. Hector will be used 100% on highway and EV near 100% in the city. Taken 80/20 city/highway drive split. More the city drive higher is the RoI
4. Have not taken into account the gains made by reducing the mileage on Hector.

a. Service intervals may go to 1 year interval rather than kilometre based
b. Lesser wear and tear on Hector (It will be costlier to repair or maintain Hector in terms of parts like tyres, brake pads etc. )

[GoBabyGo]

Originally Posted by mgastor2022grey

The Hector only gives around 11-12 kmpl in the city and 13-14 kmpl in the highway. He spends around Rs. 20000 on fuel costs alone per month (he drives a lot) and thinks it is a waste of money. So, he is contemplating if he should get a new small electric car or not.

He has a budget of around 10 lakhs, but prefers to keep it minimum. Till now, he has considered the MG Comet EV, Tiago EV, Tigor EV and the Citroen eC3. He is also open to other options.

Thanks in advance!

Hi mgastor2022grey - I would suggest to buy Tiago EV as his 2nd car. I have dropped the idea of buying an EV as in my case I live in high rise apartment in Greater Noida West and getting a personal charging point is not possible in my apartment building.

The vehicle we own are also associated with our social status. However, it is important to keep a check on the expense on fuel. While majority of people drive mostly in City and the ratio as per my belief is 80% city & 20% highway long drives (my case is 98% city & 2% highway long drives). If we consider your friend's annual 18000 km usage as 15000km in City and 3000km on highway, then cost saving on these 15000km in City by driving an EV is big saving. (my estimate is Rs.130000 saving per year by driving EV in the City for 15000km).

I do not consider return of investment in such specific case because if I have money to buy an EV to reduce the running cost by keeping the expensive ICE vehicle (in your friend's case Hector)for social gathering & status point of view, I would not mind investing 11 lacs on EV.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by mgastor2022grey

MG Hector, around April 2022. He has driven it for a good 24000 kms and the car is in brand new shape. However, he has a major issue: low mileage.

He has a budget of around 10 lakhs, but prefers to keep it minimum.....
Till now, he has considered the MG Comet EV, Tiago EV, Tigor EV and the Citroen eC3. He is also open to other options.

He prioritizes on fuel savings and a bit on space. The car will be driven only in the city, so compact footprint is desired. Also, mostly, 3-4 people will be on board, so a little bit of comfort is also needed.

I have the exact same! 2021 Hector CVT and a Tiago EV. Super convenient combo.

[mgastor2022grey]

I'm sorry for net being more clear, but the Hector gives 11-12 kmpl in highways and 5-6 kmpl in city, which makes him tear up. He is not planning to sell the Hector now. So, please give the answers accordingly. Thanks!

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by mgastor2022grey

I'm sorry for net being more clear, but the Hector gives 11-12 kmpl in highways and 5-6 kmpl in city, which makes him tear up. He is not planning to sell the Hector now. So, please give the answers accordingly. Thanks!

Thanks for clarifying. This makes more sense now. Based on these figures, your friend will break even the new car in 5 years.

I forgot to mention in my previous post on the gains if your friend buys an EV
1. Will save valuable miles on Hector increasing its overall lifetime
2. The money that you save each month by reducing fuel expenses can be used for investments which can get you higher returns.
3. After you recover your money in five years, the EV will still have to some residual value and 3 years of manufacturer warranty on battery and motor.

[dicor]

Originally Posted by ferrarirules

break even the new car in 5 years.

We need to consider few more things

• Additional parking space price / rent. (Assuming Rs 2000)
• Insurance cost of second vehicle. (I believe this alone would be Rs 2K-3K a month for a 10 lakh car.)
• Electricity prices will not remain constant for the next five years. It will skyrocket once the government sees a surge in EV sales.

The average hike that MERC has approved comes to 2.9 percent for 2023-24 and 5.6 percent for 2024-25.

https://www.cnbctv18.com/india/elect...1-16314081.htm

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by dicor

We need to consider few more things

• Additional parking space price / rent. (Assuming Rs 2000)
• Insurance cost of second vehicle. (for a 10 lakh car, I think this alone would be Rs 2K-3K per month

I had written in my post before i had not gone into the expenses saved due to lesser running of Hector. These can be equated against the increased expense of second car.

Additional parking rent really depends on an individual use case, people living in individual houses don't have that expense.

Electricity cost will not remain same for 5 years. It's going to drastically high once govt sees boom in EVs.
https://www.cnbctv18.com/india/elect...1-16314081.htm

For this use case, the petrol car running cost is Rs.14-15 per km (optimistic number) for the electric car to reach that number, the electricity prices will have to go up ten times. And the news that you have sent is a near 14% increase over two years which imputes running cost to increase Rs. 1.4 per km from Rs. 1.2 per km.

[spaceunicorn]

Originally Posted by DustyWanderer

I voted for Tiago EV, but I have a question. For 10 lakh rupees, he will get 9,803 liters of petrol, and if your friend is getting 11 kmpl as mileage, then he can drive for 1,07,843 km. Also, having one car for all your needs will help reduce pollution. So wouldn't it make sense not to buy another car just to save money spend on petrol?

I was too in a similar situation a year ago. This was when I had a Honda city, which was giving around 10kmpl in city and 14 kmpl in highways. City was mostly used for city drives as I had another diesel for highways. Most of us (middle class) will be taking a car on loan and then filing petrol as well - so the question is how much you are spending on a car every month. 10 Lakhs car, for example, EMI will be around Rs 16,000 and if you run around 500km a month - then its Rs 5500 petrol. So, the total monthly expense will be minimum Rs 22,000 plus the additional expenses of oil and all, which will be yearly. Now coming to EV -

1. Running Cost: Now, if you have an EV - the cost per km will be Rs 1.2 (if no Solar is used). This is based on my driving of Tigor EV (26 KW battery X Rs 9 per unit) divided by 200 km range. My running expense will be like Rs 600. (Rs 5000 saving per month)

2. Tax savings: If you have taken a loan, then the interest will be deductible (Rs 72,000 interest for the first year) and assuming you are a middle class, you save around Rs 1800 per month on tax.

3. Service cost: The paid service for my Tigor EV (4th one) was around Rs 1040, while that of any ICE vehicle will be somewhere around Rs 4000 to Rs 5000. This is another saving.

4. Savings environment: The thought that you are not producing any environmentally hazardous gases, gives you some inner happiness.

5. Driving comfort: The EVs give you a totally different driving comfort - unparalleled by any ICE cars over there. I have gone for 500 KM drives (Trivandrum to Kochi) and the experience was great.

If you have a solar plant, which I have, you virtually run the car for free. Get a full tank vehicle everyday morning which can run 200 km without stopping and costs you nothing (not counting the solar investment, which anyway your household electricity bill will help you) - that is a totally different feel.

Many won't agree, but this made me switch to Tigor EV and so far, a happy customer. Munched around 18K KMs so far - saving Rs 180,000 (1000km per month) and 2160 KG of CO2 emissions compared to an ICE car.

[Chrome6Boy]

We seem to have taken a different approach from the majority here. Our main car is the MG ZS EV, and our second car is the Hyundai Venue DCT. We have driven 27,000 km in our year of owning the ZS, and in that same period the Venue ran for less than 4,000 km.

Almost all of our usage could be done with the ZS including a trip from Chennai to Hyderabad. We use the Venue only when the ZS is not available and also for one trip from Chennai to Sringeri where the chargers are not as prevalent as other routes.

For us the Venue can be replaced by any automatic sedan or hatch on stilts with a reasonable boot space.

The ZS EV is a great car for that price to drive, do test drive if you haven't. The additional range makes a difference for road trips.

We also have solar roof panels at our home which makes the ZS very cheap to drive. Highly recommended.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by spaceunicorn

Many won't agree, but this made me switch to Tigor EV and so far, a happy customer. Munched around 18K KMs so far - saving Rs 180,000 (1000km per month) and 2160 KG of CO2 emissions compared to an ICE car.

This savings, is this after taking in to account the additional cost of the EV compared to an identical IC counterpart? If the EV model is costing 3-4 lakhs more than the IC model, savings starts only after the break even point. Of course, other pros (and cons) stand valid.

[payeng]

TIAGO EV : Go for it

+ Its built Solidly (That Door THUD),
+ Super Silent,
+ Decent Ride Quality,
+ EV Transmission with Creep Function,
+ Compact Enough for the City,
+ Cheap to Run,
+ Good AC
+ Very Good Sound System,
+ 10.5 Lakhs On Road is good price for the XT - LR Variant (Just don't go for the Dealer Insurance, I bought mine from ACKO),


No Niggles on mine (1 month) XT / LR Variant plus my 3-4 Hrs of Daily Commute in the Bangalore Traffic, its a Breeze

[EV Fan]

Would have picked the Tiago but after getting a ride in Punch, i must say that the Punch EV is definitely worth the wait...
Suggest checking out the ICE variants of the Tiago & Punch to take a call....

[Joe367]

Originally Posted by mgastor2022grey

I'm sorry for net being more clear, but the Hector gives 11-12 kmpl in highways and 5-6 kmpl in city, which makes him tear up. He is not planning to sell the Hector now. So, please give the answers accordingly. Thanks!

Even though voted for ec3 , Comet makes more sense as he already owns an MG. 😁 With all the connected car features same across both cars. The interior quality is good as well.