[07CR]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Bangalore to Ooty is around 260-280 kms. So I guess the Creta can make it to the top. On return, it should regenerate quite well till hitting the plains at Bandipur.

I have stayed near Majestic Bangalore in the past. Closest path from there as per Google is 346 Km. I am not sure if there exist any alternative route. With 346 Km and the uphill climb one charge is definitely required. Even with 270~ odd km, it would be touch and go incase of a huge rush of vehicles and the associated traffic jams in the Ghats.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by 07CR

The 473 Kms range is ARAI I guess. around 350 Kms in theory, but would involve some steep inclines which won't make the 370~ odd kms sufficient without a charging stop.

If I am not wrong, won't the Creta EV be inferior to your Kona WRT range? Also, can you also share the Battery degradation information you have faced till date? Thanks!

Blr to Ooty is 295 kms via Sigur ghat. The Kona has a 39.2 KWH battery and requires one charge-up at Mysore to get to Ooty since the climb is pretty steep.

Kona can do 280 kms in the plains on one full charge but there are folks on this forum itself who have pushed it to 350 odd.

If one drives Blr to Madras or Blr to Coimbatore one can manage on one charge. 320-340kms. Because it is downhill.

But personally I would prefer to charge up for a short while when the battery comes to a level of 30% or so.

The thing with an EV is that one just charges a bit and keeps going. It is not necessary to charge up fully each time unlike our habit in an ICE car where we tend to fill up the tank.

That's why I said the whole mind set changes when one drives an EV. No longer is it about endurance driving and reaching the destination in one shot. Even if an EV or any ICE car has the range to take me all the way to Ooty from Bangalore, nature itself will make me stop at least twice on the way. So if Im stopping anyway, I can take the opportunity to charge the car.

My Kona is only 5009 kms run and 11 months old.
Im not at all sure what the battery situation is because Ive simply not checked.

[navinmra]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Is NVH really a factor in EVs?

Absolutely. EVs have no vibrations and harshness associated with ICE engines and transmissions. On long commutes whether in stop and go traffic or intercity, this alone contributes greatly to reducing fatigue.

From my own experience every time I did a long drive in the Civic I would reach home tired and irritable, especially entering Bangalore in peak traffic. Mind you, it is a very refined car. All that went away in the Nexon EV despite it being a segment or two lower than the Civic.

Coming to the Creta, it already has low NVH (less wind and tyre noise, which also contributes to NVH) so I suspect the EV version will be even more pleasure to drive.

[navinmra]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

That's why I said the whole mind set changes when one drives an EV. No longer is it about endurance driving and reaching the destination in one shot. Even if an EV or any ICE car has the range to take me all the way to Ooty from Bangalore, nature itself will make me stop at least twice on the way. So if Im stopping anyway, I can take the opportunity to charge the car.

Well said. EVs tend to make you a relaxed driver despite the fact that they are significantly more sprightly than their ICE counterparts.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

My Kona is only 5009 kms run and 11 months old.
Im not at all sure what the battery situation is because Ive simply not checked.

I think most folks have overcome battery degradation fears after seeing the experiences of the early adopters from 2020 onwards. The unlimited warranty on batteries have also alleviated the fears greatly. My Nexon EV battery has seen a 1% degradation after 30k km. Absolutely no need to worry about it.

[navinmra]

One thing that befuddles me is why Hyundai chose to go the NMC route instead of LFP for the Creta? Mahindra learnt it the hard way on XUV400 and have switched to LFP for their new lineup.

LFP is a more stable chemistry and works well in tropical conditions and the power to weight ratio is not too bad unless you want absolutely Porsche 911 like sports car performance.

[Chrome6Boy]

​Great offering by Hyundai. India really needed Hyundai and Maruti to launch mainstream EVs because of the general public's reluctance to switch from ICEs.

It is also really good to see Hyundai offer a full size spare wheel, very good safety features and tiny frunk.

The pricing is actually decent. The Creta is a fairly premium car with great sales and reputation. I think Hyundai went with the logic that people will compare this EV with Petrol and Diesel Cretas. There was no way they were going to offer a price which is 8 - 9 lakhs lower than the Petrol version.

Trump's EV policy in the US is clearly pandering to his base which doesn't believe in climate change and wants to drill all the oil they have. He is a bad example to follow and I hope common sense prevails in India.

I hope this sells, and India follows China in the EV revolution.

[Shresth_EV]

Originally Posted by navinmra

One thing that befuddles me is why Hyundai chose to go the NMC route instead of LFP for the Creta? Mahindra learnt it the hard way on XUV400 and have switched to LFP for their new lineup.

LFP is a more stable chemistry and works well in tropical conditions and the power to weight ratio is not too bad unless you want absolutely Porsche 911 like sports car performance.

It is simple, because HMG doesn’t have any existing LFP battery in house yet. HMG doesn’t sell any EV with LFP other than the Kia EV5 in china

They have started R&D into LFP too, though the fruits of that R&D will take few years to be realised https://electrek.co/2024/10/14/hyund...-ev-batteries/

If you see, the battery capacity of the Creta is exactly identical to those on the Hyundai inster. No wonder all EV enthusiasts feel it’s small because it’s used in a much smaller car in Korea proper

[navinmra]

Ah I see… and buying an LFP blade battery from BYD would’ve been anathema for Hyundai. So this is just a catch up move quite literally. Thankfully Mahindra has no such compunctions. And TaMo buys the cells and has their auto comp division build the pack…

[car_guy1998]

One of my friends has booked Creta EV 51.4 kw on the first day of booking and is expected to get hands on it by Feb as per him though his current garages comprises of 2023 MG ZS EV and a 2022 MG Hector CVT.

BTW, he is replacing his 2018 Celerio AMT with Creta EV.

As soon as he heard that Creta EV is releasing, he saw it, TD'ed and booked it right away as he loves Creta so much that he booked one before in Diesel AT guise in 2021 but due to personal reasons, he couldn't lay one on his hands and instead bought MG Hector CVT stretching the budget in 2022.

I feel we too might end up buying a Creta EV, mostly this year, as dad is keen on getting one as second car and he felt Creta is the best choice according to him due to being proven despite its shortcomings.

[guptad42]

Originally Posted by navinmra

I regularly touch 100 to 120 wattHr per km on the highways at 80 kmph in my Nexon EV Max. Just that wind resistance plays a very big role in the efficiency. If you have headwinds at even 20 kmph then you can kiss those numbers goodbye. On the other hand if you have tailwinds, you can easily to 100 wattHr per km.

This is also why EVs return more efficiency in crowded ring roads and maybe tree lined state roads as opposed to open highways - it’s the wind resistance. So, as an illustration, you will get better efficiency if you drive right now from Nelamangala to Hasan than the other way around! See the wind map below:

Crowded roads mean lower speeds. Wind resistance rises with the square of speed. At triple the speed, wind resistance is not 3x - it is 9 times higher! So, 90kmph on the open highway is 9 times more drag than 30 kmph on the crowded road!

Tailwind vs Headwind also works the same way. The relative speed of the car vs the air increases in case of headwinds, and reduces for a tailwind.

High resistance at higher speeds also affects petrol cars, and shows up if you carefully measure the fuel consumption. But, the petrol engine is so inefficient at low speeds that the gap is smaller. An ICE car wastes ~75% of the fuel energy from the tank to the wheels. EVs are super-efficient with low wasted energy. So, any additional energy wasted in EVs is that much more obvious.

[Contrapunto]

I thought Hyundai has better grasp on their production and supply chain- but the local dealer is quoting 16 weeks/ 4 months for delivery. What's the word on the street in other cities on delivery timelines?

[nidhikapoor]

Originally Posted by navinmra

One thing that befuddles me is why Hyundai chose to go the NMC route instead of LFP for the Creta? Mahindra learnt it the hard way on XUV400 and have switched to LFP for their new lineup.

LFP is a more stable chemistry and works well in tropical conditions and the power to weight ratio is not too bad unless you want absolutely Porsche 911 like sports car performance.

Originally Posted by navinmra

Ah I see… and buying an LFP blade battery from BYD would’ve been anathema for Hyundai. So this is just a catch up move quite literally. Thankfully Mahindra has no such compunctions. And TaMo buys the cells and has their auto comp division build the pack…

The benefits of LFP over NMC are over rated IMO. Nothing at all wrong with NMC.

[navinmra]

Originally Posted by nidhikapoor

The benefits of LFP over NMC are over rated IMO. Nothing at all wrong with NMC.

You’re right in a way. I’ll maybe say it the other way - NMC doesn’t offer significantly more advantages over LFP especially in the mass market EVs in the country.

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by nidhikapoor

The benefits of LFP over NMC are over rated IMO. Nothing at all wrong with NMC.

Let me put it this way, with newer battery packs the one big advantage that NMC had over LFP is slowly becoming irrelevant. The only other advantage for and NMC battery is the better SoC predication. With better BMS and better cell packing (prismatic cells and blade batteries) this too can be patched. So the advantages of NMC are marginal at best.

On the other hand the lower cost of LFP would mean that if an OEM is planning to address the mid/low segment LFP is a must. So I think Hyundai needs to work on their LFP chemistry if they want to continue to be a mass market OEM in the EV sector.

[Sabyasworld]

Hyundai probably had to choose the NMC battery due to the size considerations compared to LFP, since they had to fit it inside a ICE platform. While the battery do protrude out at the bottom, going for the LFP chemistry would have been a bigger eyesore for the same capacity. Additionally they have more experience in the NMC chemistry from their global product. On the flip side, this choice also contributed to the price (which I feel is quite high for what it offers)

LFP batteries have higher charge cycles and is a more stable chemistry. Hence as a customer, if you what to keep a car long (over 10 years) or will be driving a lot, you should opt for a LFP battery car.