[hkollar]

Originally Posted by samabhi

They still have one 2014 Blue e2o available at the same discount. Otherwise the discount they are now offering for Jan,2015 is 30k. Not sure whom you spoke with. I PM'ed you the contact details for the sales contact.



I hardly feel this after using the car for more than 2 months now.



I agree on this. The suspension is bad on broken roads. But it gets better with passengers at the back seat.



Believe me when I say this. You need to spend more time with the car to get used to this and after a while you don't feel the difference at all. I don't know if its the test drive car, but I found the braking predictability to be lot better (I won't say great) on my new car when compared to the former.

I don't think 5.8L upfront is the right price to pay for the car. I am sure they will offer a good deal otherwise I'll wait for the Budget to see if it has excise cuts..

Regarding the Suspension. Wonder if there is a way to improve it by using some alternative suspension?

[madbullram]

Originally Posted by hkollar

I don't think 5.8L upfront is the right price to pay for the car.

In chennai, its around 7.5 to 7.6 since we do not have the lease offer How about that!

[naveenroy]

Well, my first drive of the e2o - drove it for around 40 kms yesterday when I'd hired it from Zoomcar.

The experience with Zoomcar was very good and I am a satisfied customer. Hassle free.

Initially, I was a little worried about the brake and accelerator pedals being spread quite uncomfortably. I have a confession to make - I kept using the left foot for braking

First drive was good - once I got over the pedals, everything was smooth. Then came the braking. Yes, I will put this down to something that will just take some getting used to. The bite of the brakes is just a little too much I think. Perhaps it should be progressive - not sure how else to put it. And the problem is that the braking isn't the same at different speeds. I was zipping along and when I had to brake from say 60 kmph, I felt that the car just wouldn't stop in time. Panic! And at other times, I was worried that I would get rear-ended. Wow, that was an experience!

And then the suspension. Bad. No other way to put it. Or maybe we've been indulged by the suspension on modern day cars. Over slightly bad roads, the suspension was pretty bad. But no worries on good roads - even riding over speed-bumps etc.

And steering - a little hard eh? And the accelerator pedal pressed against the footwell? I had some trouble pushing it with my shoe.

Otherwise, ride quality was pretty good. I had no trouble moving from standstill and even keeping up with other cars. Tried Boost once and was nice but I really didn't see the need for it. F was good enough.

All in all, a nice experience.

Would I buy this car? No. Why? 1. Price. 2. Suspension

But would I buy it if it was cheaper by 2 lakhs? Sure!

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

And steering - a little hard eh?

I had driven an E20 that my BIL had hired from Zoom, about 6 month back.
Absolutely similar experiences with the brakes, suspension and all.

The shocker was the Steering. I felt like it was a Truck-Steering.
No matter how much I turn, it would turn the car by a centimetre. That bad it is. And they claim that it is an EPS !! Forget EPS, its not even a HPS !!

I had some panic situations while getting around rowdy bikers and sharp turnings !!

PS: Would I buy it. No, Never. With that much of money, I would spend it on maintaining my existing car to avoid damage to environment and contribute some to the environment maintenance. But never buy 'this' green car.
If I had big money, I would buy a Prius rather.

[samabhi]

Over the last weekend, I got a chance to test the maximum range of the battery. And the results are astonishing. I am so glad about how the car behaved.

My car's battery range is 80 Kms and there is still 8% charge left by the time I reached home. Technically speaking I would have got the complete range of 80Kms and all that with 3 adults and 2 kids seated in the car over the entire trip. I maintained a steady speed of 40 - 50 Kms during the drive and the regenerative braking acts as a big plus.

[kaviprem]

Guys
A couple of Comments about E2O steering is something not right !
I have been using this vehicle for 4 months now, put up close 2000 KMs.

Steering is like a straight fit from "Bumper" or "Go Kart" car ! It cant be any more light.
Initially, I was not comfortable with it due to its very light nature and even now, any speed beyond 55-60 KMPH, I feel the driver should have a strong backing from his/her god

I see that both the cars are from rental. So, not sure if it was well maintained and probably, different kind of drivers on it, etc ...

Prem.

[herculesksp]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Guys
A couple of Comments about E2O steering is something not right !
I have been using this vehicle for 4 months now, put up close 2000 KMs.

Steering is like a straight fit from "Bumper" or "Go Kart" car ! It cant be any more light.
Initially, I was not comfortable with it due to its very light nature and even now, any speed beyond 55-60 KMPH, I feel the driver should have a strong backing from his/her god

I see that both the cars are from rental. So, not sure if it was well maintained and probably, different kind of drivers on it, etc ...

Prem.

Actually, a Go Kart car will have very tight steering. Reason being, the car is on slick tyres (very grippy), and secondly it has no power steering.

I am guessing you mean to say those toy cars in exhibitions and fairs?

As far as the rental goes, probably you guys picked up a T0 variant, which comes with no power steering.

Disclosure: I've not tried the new T2 PS variant, so anyway can't comment on how powerful the power steering is.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by herculesksp

Actually, a Go Kart car will have very tight steering. Reason being, the car is on slick tyres (very grippy), and secondly it has no power steering.

I am guessing you mean to say those toy cars in exhibitions and fairs?

As far as the rental goes, probably you guys picked up a T0 variant, which comes with no power steering.

Disclosure: I've not tried the new T2 PS variant, so anyway can't comment on how powerful the power steering is.

You are right, I meant the play toy car
Anyway, my point is its very light.

[hkollar]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

I had driven an E20 that my BIL had hired from Zoom, about 6 month back.
Absolutely similar experiences with the brakes, suspension and all.

The shocker was the Steering. I felt like it was a Truck-Steering.

If I had big money, I would buy a Prius rather.

E2O 6 months back did not have power steering at all. Now it is smoother, but haven't driven extensively, so don't know how precise is the EPS. I have always found EPS to be a bit of trouble as the feedback you receive isn't very good for high speed drives. But, one can't drive E2O in such high speeds.

Breaking is too abrupt but, probably one will figure it out with a few days of driving.

One thing one can't get used to is that ugly suspension! Wonder why Mahindra chose to put such bad suspension on a car that has to drive on Indian roads. Have a bit of a rough road, the car will bounce around and make thud-thud noise.

[hkollar]

Got my E2O T2 Eco-Green delivered yesterday.

Have driven over 100km already!!

LIKE:
- very good for city drive. Small car, automatic, power steering. eazeeee...
- Took about 1% per km with AC on. So, I don't know if it'd give full 120km on full charge if driven in dense city like Bangalore. But, 100km is still good.
- Boost mode lets me drive just like any regular car, while regular forward mode is a bit sedate, good for stop-go traffic.

Don't LIKE:
- Seats are a bit hard. Need to figure if I can get cushioned seat cover. And Odd posture that I need to sit to reach pedal makes it a bit painful.

- In car Entertainment : speakers are a disgrace. It is supposed to be JBL or Blapunkt, but quality of bass is very poor, and overall sound is rather underwhelming. Checked with a local car stereo specialist and he wasn't sure he can change any of the speakers, as they are small (4inch he said). So, stuck with bad sound.

- Suspension wasn't as bad as the one I saw in test drive vehicle! Breaks worked better too. But, both are not top notch and somewhat disappointing.


-----

I am getting the art leather seat covers for this.

Wonder if anyone has tried putting a Subwoofer with amp on this car?

[Holyghost]

Originally Posted by hkollar

Wonder if anyone has tried putting a Subwoofer with amp on this car?

What would be the power requirements for an average 4ch amp and the resulting drop in range?
Would that be significant?

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by hkollar

Got my E2O T2 Eco-Green delivered yesterday.

Congratulations !
May I know what was the OTR you had to pay ? I believe, you would be paying 2999/- towards Battery EMI in addition to the OTR for 5 years.

Prem.

[hkollar]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Congratulations !
May I know what was the OTR you had to pay ? I believe, you would be paying 2999/- towards Battery EMI in addition to the OTR for 5 years.

Prem.

No I bought it out-right. Not with Battery lease.

After discount I paid 7.62L in Bangalore. But, It will cost more for extended warranty on Battery. Default is only 3yr/36000km. Additional 2yr/20,000km battery warranty costs another 18K, which I have 15days to decide on.

With battery lease option, up front costs are 1.8Lakhs less (i.e. 5.82Lakhs), and you pay Rs2,999/month for 5yrs (for 50,000km). Makes sense if you are salaried individual. But, if you have business and can depreciate the car, then out-right purchase makes better sense.

EVs have 80% depreciation per year. You can almost write off car in 2-3yrs. That results in 30% tax saving in 2-3yrs.

They are now only selling the 120km range battery version. No 80km or 100km versions available right now.

This is an steal of a car if the prices were less by about 2Lakhs. At this price it barely makes financial sense. Hopefully budgets will remove duties/taxes and also provide some subsidy to make this more attractive in future.


But, as a compact city drive about this is pretty good.

Originally Posted by Holyghost

What would be the power requirements for an average 4ch amp and the resulting drop in range?
Would that be significant?

Shouldn't be too significant. A 1000Watts RMS amp, is rated to drain 36Wh of power. i.e. If you drive for 100km, at 20km/hr average, a 5 hour consumption would be about 170Wh.

E2O runs approximately 1km for every 100 Watt-Hour. So, perhaps your range will reduce by about 2km for every 5 hour music listening!!

[samabhi]

Originally Posted by hkollar

Got my E2O T2 Eco-Green delivered yesterday.

Congratulations on getting your new car. Wishing you many more HAPPY and GREEN MILES in it.

Got to know from the Reva contact yesterday that they are now offering 1L discount on the On-Road price till Feb15th, after which there will be an increase of ~ 40k due to the Govt Excise Hike.

With the GFHE scheme, the onroad price will be ~ 5.14L and I think its a pretty good deal given that one can get 120Kms range car at this price.

[hkollar]

Originally Posted by samabhi

Congratulations on getting your new car. Wishing you many more HAPPY and GREEN MILES in it.

Got to know from the Reva contact yesterday that they are now offering 1L discount on the On-Road price till Feb15th, after which there will be an increase of ~ 40k due to the Govt Excise Hike.

With the GFHE scheme, the onroad price will be ~ 5.14L and I think its a pretty good deal given that one can get 120Kms range car at this price.

I had got a written promise from them that they will refund any amount more than the discount they had given if in Feb/Mar the prices come down. I am going to hold them to that promise.

Having said that, the price increase talk may not be real. They told me the same thing in January - that they are increasing the price. Instead they decreased it!!


But, the worry is elsewhere. I have realized that the 120km claim isn't accurate. The actual range you can realize in city traffic is far lesser.

Here are the reasons:

1. You need to have 100% charge to get maximum range. But, you never get 100% charge!! The reason is simple. Once the car charges batteries 100% (which may take upto 5.5hrs), it shuts of charging ciruit.

From then it starts leaking charge from battery! It looses about 2.5% for every 12 hours or 5% in 24hours.

So, if you left your car to charge at around 6pm after returning from office, by midnight, batteries are fully charged and the charging is shutdown. If you drive out the car at around 8am, it'd have already lost 2% charge!!!



2. When you drive with AC on it loses another 15% efficiency. This is loss of another 20km in range. And in city, with all polution I rarely drive with windows down!


3. Apparently, E2O has something called Charge Levelling (as told by their tech guys). i.e. post 99% charge of battery, they take about 1.5hrs to level the charge in all battery to make it most efficient.

This also means, if your battery has leaked the charge from 100%, you won't get maximum range because the efficiency goes down.


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My calculation is you'll realistically get about 80-90km with AC on.

Good, but when battery efficiency goes down to 80% in about 5 years, the range would drop to 70km. :(

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