[abishek2222]

Über cool , this car is undoubtedly a looker.having seen it up close design wise it rocks. last time I checked the car was not available on sale in a metro like chennai. The phone number for customer care on the website for the car goes to Mahindra customer care for the fossil fuel cars which then takes 15 mins to find anything about the electric car. They definitely need to improve.
Does the performance of the battery degrade as the number of recharge cycles increases or would there be a drop in range once 4 years are up.

[kamyfc]

Originally Posted by RS_DEL

Hello

Congratulations on your new ride.

A very sensible choice, which the times to come will validate most forcefully.

Points you raise about the EV nay sayers are a direct consequence of the tendency of the general population to {a} scoff at change, and {b} try to convince themselves that things will remain the way they are - ignoring the changing dynamics of the environment they exist in.

Hopefully I will some day get down to my dream project of converting an ICE vehicle to an EV or a PHEV a la the Volt. At least I hope this will not remain a pipe dream.

Wish you Happy & Safe driving.

Cheers

Thanks for wishes!
A DIY conversion project! Now u gotta keep us updated on that!

Originally Posted by abishek2222

Über cool , this car is undoubtedly a looker.having seen it up close design wise it rocks. last time I checked the car was not available on sale in a metro like chennai. The phone number for customer care on the website for the car goes to Mahindra customer care for the fossil fuel cars which then takes 15 mins to find anything about the electric car. They definitely need to improve.
Does the performance of the battery degrade as the number of recharge cycles increases or would there be a drop in range once 4 years are up.

Right - they have launched the e2o only in limited cities.

Regarding battery degradation - i can explain based on what i know.

Over time the battery degrades in a number of ways that can affect both power and capacity until eventually it simply can’t perform its basic functions.
The lifespan of a lithium-ion pack depends mainly on the battery’s temperature, state of charge and charge habits.

Battery performance begins to suffer as soon as the temperature climbs above 35 degrees.
A temperature above 35 degrees C affects the battery pack performance instantly and even permanently if it lasts many months.
Here in Pune we only have 3 months of such weather (Mar, Apr, May). The remaining months are very pleasant. The real tests will occur in cities like Delhi.

The wrong charging techniques can also shorten a battery’s life. Lithium-ion battery packs need to stay as close as possible to a 50 percent charge, he said, usually going no higher than 80 percent and no lower than 20 percent.
And due to this, i really like the Revive facility by Mahindra Reva. This ensures that there is not much of a deep discharge happening if the SOC goes below 15%.

Also its a good practice to refrain from doing too many “fast charges,” in which an EV battery can be recharged in under an hour. Although the e2o supports quick charging, i dont know when i will use this facility.

Also Lithium Ion packs have a “second life”, where they are valuable even after they’ve lost too much power to be useful in cars. These applications could include backup power for electrical grid storage (inverter) etc.

[abishek2222]

Originally Posted by kamyfc

Battery performance begins to suffer as soon as the temperature climbs above 35 degrees.
A temperature above 35 degrees C affects the battery pack performance instantly and even permanently if it lasts many months.
Here in Pune we only have 3 months of such weather (Mar, Apr, May).

Places like madras the daytime temperature is quite high specially in the non winter months and peaks to extreme in the summer.Is this a reason why it hasn't been launched here. Either ways its a great car. Here's wishing you many more motoring volts :

[Samar117]

Congratulations on your ride! Looks really good and is for sure a head turner! May you have many many happy miles with her.. Without the horrible gases from the exhaust! It's the perfect car to be in when you're near nature, nothing will be disturbed.
On a more technical note, it's great to see that you've done a lot of homework regarding the battery of the car. It's like you're literally using an alien craft. Most people(including me) have no idea about battery powered cars.
Keep this updated, and congratulations once again!
Cheers

[mohitk1993]

Congratulations on getting EVA home. It takes a lot of courage to take the path untaken; hats off to your will and determination in choosing the unconventional route. Going by your ownership log, you really seem to be loving it to the max. I must say this: the E2O is quite a looker in that yellow shade and must be getting you a lot of attention on the roads.

I have a few questions for you:

1. What are the typical service intervals for an electric car??
2. Are there special insurance schemes in India for electric cars, or the conventional ones just work??
3. Has Mahindra given special instructions regarding its use during rains and in water-logged roads?

Congratulations once again, my friend. Have fun with your car.

PS: 30 years?? You really seem to have waited a long time to buy your dream car.

[dZired]

Congratulations on buying the E2O.

I was one of those who was a bit disappointed with the pricing of this breakthrough product. But as you have mentioned, the battery pack itself costs a major share in the overall price, and hence it can't be avoided. What made situation worse is the fact that the Government of India didn't take any serious steps to motivate people to go electric.

All in all, Mahindra has done a superb job in designing and equipping this great technology. All that it needs is some generous amount of subsidy to charge up the sales chart of the E2o.

[mayuresh]

Certainly a paradigm shift, an eye opener for many of us!

A well written review. Thanks.

If the energy storage (aka battery) technology improves further, making them charge faster and last longer, this class of cars would really get a boost. For that "re-fueling" infrastructure would need to build as well. As of now you have to get the car back home to recharge.

If you are living in an apartment, you might have another headache: protecting your electric outlet from misuse or electricity theft - depending on your locality and security arrangements etc. Have you taken any precautions for the same?

[gsurya]

Great review, got me thinking if I shouldnt get one to drive around the city myself.

Why dont you write to Mahindra with an idea that they should cool the battery space with the air-conditioning to avoid overheating the battery?

I wonder why electric Forklifts havent fixed this issue already when they are forced to work in hot environments all day. I have used one in my early career but never saw overheating as a problem.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by gsurya

Why dont you write to Mahindra with an idea that they should cool the battery space with the air-conditioning to avoid overheating the battery?

This is already how it is set up.

Note the part labeled "battery cooling air-duct" that goes from the AC blower to the battery pack:


This pic is from the Official Review.

cya
R

[HighwayofLife]

Greta review. An electric is a great option if you're driving primarily in the city and very limited highway runs, if at all.

What would be great would be if cars like the Toyota Prius, or even a hatchback Petrol or Diesel Electric hybrid could be produced in India. It would reduce the cost of the car considerably, and have very low running costs, along with the range advantage.

Have you asked about the cost of replacing the batteries? My understanding is that these need replacement every two to three years, and that is the time where owning this car would become expensive.

[bharatbs]

The motor is very small, it translates to 25 bhp @ 3750 rpm, and for ~7.5 lakhs on-road Bangalore. It is still extremely difficult to justify an EVA.

I have observed this car being driven on the outer ring road, and with cars zipping past you all around I must admit it is intimidating to drive this small electric car.

I wonder what type of consumer is Mahindra targeting with the EVA? Would it make more sense to produce at least a 100 bhp car with around 250 Kms charge, and how much would something like that cost?

[bblost]

What a lovely review. Thanks for sharing.

Electric cars are definitely the future. The sun charging kit is a super idea from Mahindra. I like the messaging system that sends out alerts and reminders. Its so cool.

[kamyfc]

Originally Posted by abishek2222

Places like madras the daytime temperature is quite high specially in the non winter months and peaks to extreme in the summer.Is this a reason why it hasn't been launched here. Either ways its a great car. Here's wishing you many more motoring volts :

Thanks for the wishes. Yeah hot places can really test the Li-Ion Chemistry.
But u can take precautions like not parking in the sun etc. Chennai, Delhi, Ahbd and to an extent Mumbai will be challenging as they have around 6 months where the temp hovers around 30-35 deg C.

Originally Posted by Samar117

Congratulations on your ride! Looks really good and is for sure a head turner! May you have many many happy miles with her.. Without the horrible gases from the exhaust! It's the perfect car to be in when you're near nature, nothing will be disturbed.
On a more technical note, it's great to see that you've done a lot of homework regarding the battery of the car. It's like you're literally using an alien craft. Most people(including me) have no idea about battery powered cars.
Keep this updated, and congratulations once again!
Cheers

Thanks! Its a different paradigm and an alien craft is exactly the term used to describe it, especalliy when u hear the light whine of the motor (like an eelctric train), it feels like a futuristic mode of transport.

Originally Posted by mohitk1993

Congratulations on getting EVA home. It takes a lot of courage to take the path untaken; hats off to your will and determination in choosing the unconventional route. Going by your ownership log, you really seem to be loving it to the max. I must say this: the E2O is quite a looker in that yellow shade and must be getting you a lot of attention on the roads.

I have a few questions for you:

1. What are the typical service intervals for an electric car??
2. Are there special insurance schemes in India for electric cars, or the conventional ones just work??
3. Has Mahindra given special instructions regarding its use during rains and in water-logged roads?

Congratulations once again, my friend. Have fun with your car.

PS: 30 years?? You really seem to have waited a long time to buy your dream car.

Thanks.
a) Maintainance - there is none. This bout this. an eletcric car does not have all these moving parts - oil based engine, coolant system, oil filters, fan belts, exhaust pipes, transmission changes, oil changes, and nothing to do with oil!
The electric motor does not need tune-ups, just like a Fan. You supply power and it keeps running.
So the only maintainance i need to do is to change the Break Fluid once a year.
Also we have 2 services provided by Mahindra once a year for free. That too the service is done at our home.

Ofcourse if there an issue (unexpected issue), the Mahindra servers will know much faster than me and i will get an alert. Its an all digital car and the computers in the car
keep sending error reports and other stuff to the support guys, who can debug issues remotely.

b)I got the standard insurance. I did not get an PUC certificate

c) Rains - Nope, just use it like a normal car. The battery pack is sealed off.

Originally Posted by mayuresh

Certainly a paradigm shift, an eye opener for many of us!

A well written review. Thanks.

If the energy storage (aka battery) technology improves further, making them charge faster and last longer, this class of cars would really get a boost. For that "re-fueling" infrastructure would need to build as well. As of now you have to get the car back home to recharge.

If you are living in an apartment, you might have another headache: protecting your electric outlet from misuse or electricity theft - depending on your locality and security arrangements etc. Have you taken any precautions for the same?

Let me tell you, 're-fuelling' ur car at home is one of the most coolest aspects of owning this car. Trust me going to a Petrol pumps and giving your money to the oil companies sucks!
I have a line from my electric meter, which goes into a socket near my parking lot.
And opur society has 'good' people and i'm trusting them

Originally Posted by bharatbs

The motor is very small, it translates to 25 bhp @ 3750 rpm, and for ~7.5 lakhs on-road Bangalore. It is still extremely difficult to justify an EVA.

I have observed this car being driven on the outer ring road, and with cars zipping past you all around I must admit it is intimidating to drive this small electric car.

I wonder what type of consumer is Mahindra targeting with the EVA? Would it make more sense to produce at least a 100 bhp car with around 250 Kms charge, and how much would something like that cost?

Let me tell you, from 0 to 30 kmph, the e2o will smoke any normal casually driven sedan.
So u will never get left behind in traffic lights.
Now i dont find any issues with cars overtaking me
Whatz the hurry? I'm not in any rat race and life is best experienced when taken nice and easy!

[guyfrmblr]

Congratulations on the car. A very well written review. It answered most of the questions I had about an electric car. Thanks for sharing.

Since my home is very close to Reva factory, I have been spotting this car from past 1.5 years on roads while testing it. The first model I spotted was a Maroon one. This may be around 2 years back. It was parked near a shop near my house and was without any badges. I was wondering what car it was. After few months I spotted one more at Jigani-Bommasandra road in Bangalore. Again it was a Maroon one. The car went inside the Reva factory. This time I confirmed that it was a Reva. The other encounter was around 8-9 months ago at Hosur road. A car with powerful headlights was following me. I thought it was a Fortuner but the size looked too small for a Fortuner. I let the car overtake me and noticed that it was a blue test mule. This car looked very impressive at night.

The day after this car was launched, I saw a brand new e2o right behind my house. The gentleman owned an old gen Reva and a Fiesta classic. He sold his Fiesta and bought a new e2o instead. He is now a proud owner of both old and new gen Reva.

[k_ajay]

All said and done you've made a wise decision and only hope you enjoy EVA for all the benefits you found while purchasing her, Kamyfc. Congratulations.

Apologies for my ignorance (and laziness) but is Mahindra also supplying any 'solar charging kit' with this car for additional price? If yes, then this car makes a lot of sense for city driving. Your justifications and reasonings are spot on and wasting money on oil, is indeed .... Well, we know what, right

Nice review, was a good read. Have a great time with her. Those automated SMS that you receive based on your 'handling' of EVA is brilliant. Nice name for the car, btw, specially if you fancied it from the animation movie 'Wall-E'.