[thomahawk]

Troubleshooted the issue myself and found the portable charger is faulty. Got it replaced under warranty by sharing the documented videos of car charging without issues with another charger from an EV Max. The issue seems to be gone now.

Originally Posted by thomahawk

Got my car back from its 6 months service. Transmission oil change and general checkup was to be done and it cost me 1714/-.

I had a list of complaints:

• Erratic charging when fan is required to start charging.

Originally Posted by thomahawk

Went to the service center to get the car serviced (6 months) and fix the recurring charging issue.
Link to video:
https://Youtu.be/x2Dfykriqwo?si=ydjTsDV0kH9fldhP

[Passerby4336]

Hey, would you say the Taigo.ev was more comfortable than the Grand i10 for such trips? And how much did range anxiety affect your entire trip?

[mally2]

Originally Posted by Passerby4336

Hey, would you say the Taigo.ev was more comfortable than the Grand i10 for such trips? And how much did range anxiety affect your entire trip?

I’m 5.9” and I’ve sat at the back seat of a grand i10, I feel the tiago rear seat has better cushioning and under thigh support. I can’t comment on the driver seat of the i10. However as a regular driver of the Tiago Ev. I find the driver seat moderately adequate.

Please note I come from driving a Nexon and Hexa. So my yardstick is very different.

[Nanolover]

Originally Posted by thomahawk

Troubleshooted the issue myself and found the portable charger is faulty. Got it replaced under warranty by sharing the documented videos of car charging without issues with another charger from an EV Max. The issue seems to be gone now.

My tigor ev had the charger replaced once that was a year before ( along with the new battery pack). Now the portable charger has started blinking red again 2 to 3 hours into charging. ( This was the case before also that was before the original battery was replaced).

Tried charging with my brother's Tiago portable charger and it was charging with no issues whatsoever. So the charger is kaput

Will be taking it to the service centre to replace the charger under warranty ( hope it will be smooth). Read somewhere in this forum that some owners had to replace this crap portable charger at least 4 to 5 times

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by Passerby4336

Hey, would you say the Taigo.ev was more comfortable than the Grand i10 for such trips? And how much did range anxiety affect your entire trip?

While I'm driving, Tiago seats feel more comfortable (but it doesn't have adequate bolstering/seat width). But if I'm in the backseat, I think Grand i10 feels roomy and is more comfortable due to the height adjustable head rests (on Asta) and rear ac vents. The suspension setup on our Grand i10 was more plush and that makes lot of difference for the rear passenger. Tiago EV feels a bit harsh and bumpy and that affects the rear seat comfort to some extend. Since all my previous cars had fabric seats, I had forgotten about sweaty backs in humid weather. With Tiago's leatherette, you really need a ventilated cover.

Range anxiety is a problem when you are driving a small EV with family for vacation to a hill station. Sometimes it spoils the mood since you might be worried about making it to the charging station. The car also has no spare tire. Then there is the queue, wait times etc. on weekends at DC charging stations - and unless you are charging at a hotel/resort, it is a waste of time that could be spent elsewhere. One can always plan ahead to cover for all this. But once you make it to the destination and the car is charged - then the car makes up for it. You can go visit more places, won't be worried about traffic and can just idle the car with AC and take in the views.

With the EV, we are also travelling more (usually short trips) - thanks to nil fuel expenses. With the Grand i10, we just used to drive from A to B (the car wasn't that fuel efficient and was not really fun to drive). With the Tiago EV, it is usually A to Z with all the stops in between . But if you think about it, you have paid for it all upfront - the EV still commands a premium over the ICE variant of the same car. I'm pretty sure on an Excel sheet an ICE might still make more sense for my usage (I don't have high daily mileage).

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by Nanolover

Now the portable charger has started blinking red again 2 to 3 hours into charging. ( This was the case before also that was before the original battery was replaced). Read somewhere in this forum that some owners had to replace this crap portable charger at least 4 to 5 times

Aptiv (previously Delphi) has some facility in Kochi. I heard that the portable chargers have been getting lot of complaints from the field from an acquaintance who works there (I tested the car at his home since they had an EV charged every now and then. I didn't know he worked there. He took the videos from me to see if anybody can figure out the issue, but I haven't heard back from him yet).

I'm still trying to get figure out if KSEB had anything to do with this. Did you check the neutral to earth voltage in your charging point? The charger might be sensitive but may not flash an error with high neutral voltage. The faster AC chargers seems to have some protection against this and won't work.

Originally Posted by sushanthys

The MCB should also be properly earthed using a 10 sq mm Copper cable, near to the meter panel. The earthing is to make sure that the neutral earth voltage would be less than 3V (Ideally zero Volts) without which the AC fast charger would not function.

The guys checked the MCB neutral voltage and found that it was 9V. They couldn’t activate the charger as the neutral voltage had to be less than 3V. They said that the only way to reduce the Neutral voltage is to do earthing of the electric post which supplies power to us (Trivia – If earthing of the electric post also does not bring down the neutral voltage, then the transformer which supplies the electric post will need adequate earthing).

[Passerby4336]

Originally Posted by thomahawk

While I'm driving, Tiago seats feel more comfortable (but it doesn't have adequate bolstering/seat width). But if I'm in the backseat, I think Grand i10 feels roomy and is more comfortable due to the height adjustable head rests (on Asta) and rear ac vents. The suspension setup on our Grand i10 was more plush and that makes lot of difference for the rear passenger. Tiago EV feels a bit harsh and bumpy and that affects the rear seat comfort to some extend. Since all my previous cars had fabric seats, I had forgotten about sweaty backs in humid weather. With Tiago's leatherette, you really need a ventilated cover.

Range anxiety is a problem when you are driving a small EV with family for vacation to a hill station. Sometimes it spoils the mood since you might be worried about making it to the charging station. The car also has no spare tire. Then there is the queue, wait times etc. on weekends at DC charging stations - and unless you are charging at a hotel/resort, it is a waste of time that could be spent elsewhere. One can always plan ahead to cover for all this. But once you make it to the destination and the car is charged - then the car makes up for it. You can go visit more places, won't be worried about traffic and can just idle the car with AC and take in the views.

With the EV, we are also travelling more (usually short trips) - thanks to nil fuel expenses. With the Grand i10, we just used to drive from A to B (the car wasn't that fuel efficient and was not really fun to drive). With the Tiago EV, it is usually A to Z with all the stops in between . But if you think about it, you have paid for it all upfront - the EV still commands a premium over the ICE variant of the same car. I'm pretty sure on an Excel sheet an ICE might still make more sense for my usage (I don't have high daily mileage).

EVs do have a tax exemption on the interest. If we do compare EV with the corresponding ICE variant, we should be choosing the automatic version in the latter.

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by thomahawk

Connected Car Features and App Experience

The Tata group clearly has the capability - but it seems they lack the will.

It seems they are close to finally improving their apps - got the beta for iRA.EV which brings together the features from service (EV TMSC) and ZConnect apps in a modern package. The design reflects their new branding for EV and feels more responsive. The remote control features seems to work faster now - which is a huge plus. The app even has a shop feature to buy accessories - don't think I have seen that in any other apps. One can book service, view service history, view reward points (Tata Neu) and even setup more granular notifications (like 12V discharge alert).

Zconnect had the color of the car graphics synced to the linked car - hope that would make it into this as well (or not perhaps for the aesthetics of the app). Also the annoying boot animation is gone - . There are lot of bugs because it's in beta, but I already love it. The reviews seems to be mixed in the Play Store and some users have indicated that some features seems to be gated based on the model of their EV's - I couldn't verify this though.



Hopefully this will be out of beta by the time the Curvv EV hits the market.

[thomahawk]

Got my car serviced (third free/annual). I thought it would be quick, since there wasn't anything to be done other than a checkup and a quick wheel alignment and balancing. It took them around 4+ hours to give it back - I asked them to skip washing and cleaning, since I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible (they offered interior foam cleaning for ~1,200). My Maruti Suzuki service center takes half the time for a regular service. They should have setup dedicated EV bays for faster turn around times.

I also got a software update (ran into the DET while I was waiting and he remembered me and told me about an update). Not sure what it would fix/break/add - was happy to get one anyway.

My insurance is up for renewal as well, and I'm trying to find EV specific coverage ('Motor cover' instead of 'Engine cover' etc. in policy terms). Haven't had much luck, but I guess I'll have to ditch PSU's.

[donabrh]

Hello!

Enjoyed reading your comprehensive ownership review.

Every time I read someones ownership review about Tata Motor vehicles (ICE / EV) one thing which prominently stands out is the consistent presence of niggles in Tata Motor vehicles impacting consumer experience.

Few of my friends and colleagues own Tata Motor EV's. The HV Battery's being a critical component and expensive, have been a continuous point of worry among owners. What adds to the worry is the T&C of the standard and extended warranty Tata Motor provides for EV's. It's very elusive.

The Owner's Manual mentions about warranty T&C but the exclusions are mentioned separately in what is called an Extended Warranty Booklet which some have not received or are not aware about and is also not available publicly.

Standard and Extended warranty becomes all the more critical for an EV, which requires the manufacturer to be fair and transparent in providing information.

In the event of a damage the owner would be at the mercy of the manufacturer’s interpretation to understand what is covered and what is excluded.

Warranty T&C of manufacturers like Tesla, Mercedes-Benz EQ are comparably more informative and transparent.

With numerous Tata EV owners experiencing issues with their vehicles, it is important for owners to understand the Warranty T&C and Exclusions and all the more important for the manufacturer to provide the information upfront transparently.

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by donabrh

What adds to the worry is the T&C of the standard and extended warranty Tata MotoThe Owner's Manual mentions about warranty T&C but the exclusions are mentioned separately in what is called an Extended Warranty Booklet which some have not received or are not aware about and is also not available publicly.

I usually walk in to the service area and ask for details around parts price, lead times, warranty coverage etc. Sales aren't the experts when it comes to maintenance, and if you have connections at service, that is your best bet to get an insider view. They are a bit more transparent, especially the techs since they don't really care if you end up buying the car.

This is what is on the web:

https://cars.tatamotors.com/service/ew-details.html

And this is what is on the extended warranty document that is shared:


'What is not covered' is perhaps missing on the web.

[thomahawk]

Two major dealer networks of Tata unveiled their Tata.ev showrooms ahead of the festive season. So Kochi gets not one, but two EV showrooms (service facility to start soon). https://www.tatamotors.com/press-rel...ores-in-kochi/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aqnv3Tcerc

The one in Edapally (near Oberon mall) is advertised by the dealer (Luxon Tata) as the largest EV 'exclusive' showroom in India. I wonder why did Tata decide to let both their dealers open showroom not far from each other. I registered for a breakfast drive organized as part of the celebrations. Both showrooms had a breakfast drive (at the same time), and I picked the longer one to Alappuzha (Ramada by Wyndham Alleppey) from the Edapally showroom.

I registered for the event through 'evolve' website on Friday after calling up their support (the website on mobile did not show me an option to register). The drive was on Sunday and the SPOC reached out on Saturday and explained about 'Evolve' and the drive they have planned. The event was supposed to start at 6:30 AM with the flag-off at 7:00 AM. The SPOC had confirmed that the briefing starts at 6:45 AM and reach before that – so we arrived at 6:40 AM. My wife kept reminding me this is India, and nothing starts on time - but I insisted that we make it in time, as this is probably professionally organized and run. My wife was right, and the entire thing was late by 1.5 hrs. There was no briefing, and the SPOC did a showroom walkthrough as a filler.

I love the design of the showrooms; they look modern, are spacious and feel more premium compared to the regular Tata showroom. Nexa pales in comparison (comparing since both are branded as lifestyle brands). They are like the La Maison showrooms from Citroen but grander (Blue Tokai barista like the Café in Citroen). The entire second floor of the showroom is for organizing community events, or to chill while your car is getting a top-up using the 60kW charger. The SPOC told there will be lot of events like Yoga sessions, seminars, workshops - something for everyone in the family. The SPOC (who is a dealer employee) seemed very energetic and enthusiastic about building an active local community. The concept seems similar to the Fiat Caffe - guess the two were in a JV at the time.

The staff served us hot coffee and biscuits, and the drive finally started after 8 AM. All the cars were numbered (I believe there were around 24 cars) in the order of arrival. Instructions were shared over radio (each car got a walkie talkie) and everyone followed the instructions to the dot (no overtakes, no peeking over the sunroof, no stops unless instructed etc.). The organizers wanted all the cars to join in on the banter over radio but hardly anyone seemed interested. I think most family members might have slept, since we started our day quite early for a Sunday. The first half of the drive was interesting but towards the end of it, I think everyone got bored - the drive was bit long for a breakfast drive.

We finally reached the destination around 10:45 PM. We had a quick breakfast (or Brunch) but could not stay for the networking and group discussion after, since we had to make it in time for another function later in the day. We got a small potted plant (the pot was plastic though – the irony) as a token of appreciation. I was hoping to get a quick top-up, but few chargers near the highway were either offline or moved due to the highway work. The heavy rains did not help. After driving around a bit, we managed to find a functional EVOK charger, which seemed to take forever to give us a 30% top up. We finally reached our second stop after driving back half the way to Kochi.

[thomahawk]

Tata Evolve

Evolve is Tata EV owners community, and as a member one gets invites to events hosted by various Tata EV stores along with some benefits like premium dining discounts etc. Since the communities are focused around EV stores and member meetups, it lacks the usefulness of something like what Ather has (a forum). Maybe this is in their pipeline, but I haven't heard anything about it. I had received an invite soon after I bought my Tiago, but it was dead until they opened two EV stores in Kochi. I received a promotional message through WhatsApp for a breakfast drive and I went ahead and registered for it. The next day, I got a call from Ashley, who is leading the Evolve community programs at their Edapally store. He added me to their WhatsApp group and since then I have attended 2 more events at their Edapally store.

Breakfast Drive

Read about this in my previous post:

Originally Posted by thomahawk

...I picked the longer one to Alappuzha (Ramada by Wyndham Alleppey) from the Edapally showroom.

Pictures of the event (these are official photographs by the organizers photography team - I didn't capture any):

The event started a little late, but there was something to keep the little ones occupied:



There were a mix of both old and new EV's:



Except the Tigor and the new Curvv, the convoy had all EV models from Tata and it draw lot of attention on the route:



The elder brother leading the little one:



At the destination:

Charging Workshop

Apart from drives, Evolve organizes sessions to educate EV owners about maintaining their EV, charging etc. I attended a workshop about charging (there was another one about maintenance at the same time at their Kalamassery store). It was a class room session conducted by a Tata SME from their Bangalore office. He covered a range of topics including the different type of chargers (personal vs. community, AC vs DC, vendors etc.), charging best practices, the plug-share like functionality being built by Tata, the charging aggregator feature which will be soon available in iRA.EV app, and insights from the analytical data pulled from the cars. He said Kerala has the highest adoption rate for EVs because most houses are independent (hence owners have no problem getting a charger installed) and that solar plants are very common in the state which keeps the running costs minimal. He also credited the popular 'EVOK' community, the only one of its kind in India, whose members have been helping each other out. I was quite amused to learn that the DC chargers are used very little in the state (probably because most charge overnight at home).

He was even patient enough to hear about concerns that didn't fall into his expertise. Ashley had to bring in a knowledgeable sales advisor since there were too many off-topic questions. It was quite clear that sales and service teams had shared conflicting information to them and most were quite confused. What made the whole session more interesting were the tidbits shared by owners like: one can take the legal route to get a charger installed, if an association is against getting an EV charger installed etc. Also it seemed quite a lot of them were EVOK members and knew how to use the fallback mechanism for unlocking charging gun etc.

They wrapped up the session with refreshments (quite a spread for a snack pack) and a quick demo of the store's DC charger. I think one can attend these session for networking alone and it is always interesting to hear about the stories and experiences others have to share.

Festive Special - Sustainable Crafting Workshop

It seems the stores will be hosting some kind of event every month, and the last one I attended was a crafting workshop. Missus and my little ones were very enthusiastic about this one. Ashley also brought in a service manager for answering any technical questions, if one was feeling creatively challenged to participate in the crafting workshop.

Again the photographs are by the official event photographer - I spent the time hearing stories shared by fellow owners.

How hard it can be? I didn't find out :



I thought my wife will make me one of these nice little bags, but they were just making coasters:



I killed time walking around the showroom, checking out demo cars:



Windsor hit you hard, didn't it?:



I didn't want to look at Punch much since I always felt guilty about not waiting for this one. This is indeed the new Wagon-R:



The dealer had a customized Curvv EV parked in-front. It was drool worthy:



I see what you did there - budget Urus:



After couple of hours they wrapped up the workshop with refreshments and a potted plant (this time in Ceramic; we got a plastic pot during the break fast drive and had shared a feedback about that. They seem to take all the feedback seriously). We were happy with the event and thanked Ashely for being a great host.

I really love these events and meetups organized by Evolve (and their EV stores). Hope there will be lot of them in future too; I think this could even be a great differentiator for the brand, since Tata seems to be serious about this.

Note: If you are a Tata EV owner (from around Kochi), and would like to know more about Evolve, go ahead and contact the PoC at Tata EV Edapally (+91 8289915316).

[PaddleShifter]

Wonderful write up!!

Originally Posted by thomahawk

I see what you did there - budget Urus:

Around 3 weeks back, I was driving through the Sarojini Nagar area in New Delhi at night during a weekend (heavy traffic) and spotted a red car with very rich colour quality. As I started admiring this Curvv thinking finally I saw one on road, realized within a few seconds that its an Urus.

[thomahawk]

Our Maruti Suzuki Brezza had a loyalty card which used to give us some points on every service, insurance renewal, accessory purchase, referral etc. Looks like Tata also have the same in the form of a NeuPass Rewards program. Neu is Tata's super app which combines all their digital platforms under a single app. Anybody using the Tata Motors iRA.ev app will find the reward points earned under Social > tml rewards section. You can also login to Neu using the number linked to TML's services and view the rewards points you have earned.

Key Benefits:

• Earn 1000 Neu Coins when your referral takes home a new Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle.
• When you buy Tata Motors Genuine Accessories (TMGA), you earn Neu Coins worth 2% of Invoice value. (max. 2000 Neu Coins).
• Purchase AMC to get 1% Neu Coins (max. 2000 Neu Coins).
• Purchase Extended Warranty to get 1% Neu Coins (max. 2000 Neu Coins).
• Earn 1% Neu Coins (max. 2000 Neu Coins) on servicing your vehicle (excluding Free Service, Warranty, Accidental case, Bodyshop work, Insurance claim).

You can read more about rewards program here.

Since Neu is a super app, you can redeem the points for lot of things.

I recently redeemed the points I earned from purchasing accessories and extended warranty at a Croma store. I only saw points credited for transactions done after delivery - so all the accessories purchased at the point of delivery were not accounted for. I think this is probably because an account didn't exist on the number - or the showroom staff didn't link the purchase. Would have been nice if the sales were knowledgeable about this (when I purchased my car an year back) - perhaps they are now.