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Ownership review: My Tata Nexon EV Dark Edition

4th January 2022, 21:15 by Dev Shah

There was no problem of plenty and decision was to be made between the Nexon EV and the ZS EV. But, both cars were competitive enough to cause confusion.

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Take me home on country roads:

While living in a village nestled between areca nut farms and paddy fields is encouraging, there was one fly in the ointment. The Figo 1.5 AT we bought in March 2020 with city usage in mind was turning out to be a bad decision. Usage of this car went up significantly to 40 kilometers a day (from 6 kilometers a day in Bangalore). After using the car daily for a month, understood that clocking these many kilometers on narrow roads (where one has to get off the road sometimes to make way for an oncoming vehicle) and mud roads needed a lot of patience and increasing fuel prices were burning a hole in my pocket (car returned a 'healthy' mileage of 8 kmpl). This usage was there to stay for coming years and there was no relief in sight from bad roads or increasing fuel prices.

I had two options, continue with the Figo or replace it with a fuel efficient high GC car. Did some excel work to find that using the Figo for some more time is the best option, financially. I was fairly successful in convincing myself about my decision of staying with the car by recalling the fun to drive factor, safety, power and so on. But the climax came in the form of Ford deciding to shut shop. Though it should not have bothered my car ownership, I used this opportunity to convince myself again to sell the car.

One fine morning, I drove the Figo to Mysore, negotiated a good price with Spinny, received RTGS transfer in my account, signed all documents, handed over the keys to them and returned home midnight by 'Karnataka Sarige'. All in a day.

Figo - During the drive to Mysore.

Long story short - I prepared myself up for another car hunt.

Requirements were simple - In addition to being comfortable, safe and fuel efficient, the car had to withstand 40 kilometers of daily rural usage. I planned (!) to hold on to this car for as long as possible and resale value was not one of the primary concerns. These requirements were matching with what a mass market EV (Nexon EV, ZS EV and Kona) has on offer and I decided to evaluate only EVs (At this stage, I have to admit that I am fascinated by EVs and I wanted to align my requirements to what an EV has on offer).

Out of three EVs, I decided pursue the Nexon EV and ZS EV first, and Kona later if the first two did not fit my requirements.

Test Drives:

Nexon EV: Called Tata showroom 50 kms away and was surprised to hear that their branch near my village too has started dealing with EVs. Got contact details of sales advisor assigned to EVs and requested for a test drive. And told him that I wanted to drive the TD car for ~50 kilometers, on the roads I drive every day. He agreed without a blink and we agreed on TD timeslot, which was after two days.

The day arrived and I was updated as soon as the car was available at the dealership. I wanted to drive the car for maximum possible distance. Though SA offered to come home, I chose to drive to dealership and drive TD car myself to home.

TD car had ~16000 kms on the odo. No squeaks or rattles. Clean exteriors and interiors (those white seats !). Car was handed over to me with SoC of 90% and showed a range of 248 kms.

I drove the car for 55 kms on single lane roads, narrow roads and mud roads. Car was silent (with very faint cooling fan noise sometimes), picked up pace very quick and attention magnet. MRFs that came with the car offered just adequate grip (wheel-spins in 'S' mode were common). SoC was 60% when I returned the car to showroom with 140 kms of range.

Positives:

Cheaper to own.
Comfortable seating.
205 mm of ground clearance.
Decent ride and handling.
Decent feature list.
Good build quality.
Been with TASS for more than 4 years and comfortable with their service levels.

Negatives:

200 - 220 kms of real life range.
Lack of traction control.
Lack of cruise control.
All white interiors.
No selectable regen.
Only two airbags.

Nexon EV TD vehicle charging at home.

No earthing issue. Charging initiated after plugging in. Looks like charger can take decent amount of abuse.

MG ZS EV: I visited the MG showroom after taking a prior appointment and the vehicle was ready for TD. The SA gave a quick walk through of the car and he drove the car for initial kilometers to give a demo on how to drive an EV. Hopped on to the driver's seat and immediately understood this is a fun to drive (amongst two) car. Multiple driving modes, select-able regen, multiple airbags, cruise control, traction control and a 'P' on gear selector added more good vibes to an already better experience. Bigger battery with about 80 to 100 kilometers of additional real time range made things even attractive.

The TD car had 6000 kms on the odo. Interiors were clean and nice. Car had SoC of 95% and showed a healthy range of 305 kms. Car came with Michelin tyres and felt better than the Nexon in handling. The swing of the rpm needle seemed to be a work of art. But, there was mild rattle coming from the steering column and rear suspension was squeaking over bad roads. Also, sunroof actions were not silent.

Positives:

Bigger battery and associated higher range (When compared to Nexon).
Higher 'driver's car' quotient.
Better interiors, panoramic sunroof.
Traction control.
Cruise control, select-able regeneration (KERS), driving modes.
6 Airbags.
Michelin tyres.

Negatives:

Build quality: Squeaks and minor rattles on such a low run car are not acceptable.
Lower ground clearance compared to the Nexon.
MID needs some better graphics. Nexon's MID felt better (from my point of view).
Higher purchase cost.
Average rear seat comfort.

Confusion set in once test drives were over. There was no problem of plenty and decision was to be made between Nexon EV and the ZS EV. But, both cars were competitive enough to cause confusion.

Price tag is your friend.

The Nexon is significantly cheaper than the ZS. Approximately 4.5L cheaper than lower variant and a whopping 8.5 L cheaper than the top variant of the ZS (compared to the top #Dark variant of Nexon). Though cheaper, the Nexon aligned to my requirements and I decided to go with the Nexon.

Why Nexon:

It is cheaper to own.
Range covers my current and future needs. Even if I need to drive to Bangalore, there are three charging stations in Mysore, and I can charge in any of these and continue my journey. (Either of the cars will have to be charged somewhere in between).
TATA service center is just 10 kilometers away (not that they will be able to fix every problem instantly).
I can live without cruise control and select-able regeneration.
2 airbags are ok for me.
ZS is a very competent car. It is better than the Nexon in some aspects and lacks in some. I decided against it primarily because of higher initial investment. Since EVs are still evolving, I wanted to play safe by going via the minimum viable route.

Why not ZS EV (my PoV):

It is costlier to buy.
Lower ground clearance than Nexon.
Worries of long term sustenance (personal view).
Rattles and squeaks observed on a low mileage car
I won’t lie, its origin too added some weight-age in deciding against it.

Booking a Nexon EV:

I booked a Nexon EV XZ+ LUX Dark (Yes! 5 Words / acronyms). Booking process was very simple. Paid 21K booking amount and the waiting period was 2 months.

I was told about the waiting period of 2 months while booking and the dealership tried to maintain absolute radio silence for this duration. But, I ensured disturbance by frequent following ups.

The dealership had only one answer of all follow ups - " Car bill aagilla saar !" (Car is not billed yet !).

I could get clear delivery timelines only after contacting TaMo officials. Tata officials mentioned that they were dealing with semiconductor shortage, which may add two more weeks of delay.

The SA called after 2 and a half months to inform that the car had been billed and would reach the yard in few days. There were few requests for payment after this call and it was my turn to give one answer - " Car nodida mele duddu ! " (Money after seeing the car).

The SA called again in few days with a different context. Car was unloaded at yard and ready for inspection. Drove to the yard same afternoon to get the first look of my latest adventure.

Here it was! A dusty black Nexon EV, parked between another white Nexon EV and a Safari.

Car had 56 kilometres on the odometer. Felt this number was unusual for a brand new car. Cross verified with other EVs and every car had odometer reading between 56 to 60 kilometres. People at the yard told that all EVs come with similar reading as they are tested (driven) at factory before dispatching. Quick check of VIN revealed that the car was manufactured in November 2021. Inspected the car inside out and found it to be satisfactory.

First look at the odometer.

Ensured that the charging cable and wall box were in the car, as they were supposed to be.

Legrand wallbox.

Processed the the balance payment and requested for delivery on an auspicious day.

Reached dealership at 10.30 am on the agreed day and was greeted by a garlanded Nexon EV.

Car was clean (with some overload of wax polish inside out) and ready with 100% SoC. SA gave a walk through of the car and explained all features. Key handover happened at the time I wanted, with a box of sweets. Handed over a token of appreciation and a box of sweets to the SA and left the dealership.

Car came fitted with MRF Wanderer Street tyres, which as I observed during test drive, did not offer good grip on gravel roads. Decided to change these tyres to Micheline Primacy 4 ST immediately. Headed to my regular tyre store, traded MRF tyres to Micheline, finished pooja and went home.

MRFs.

Michelin Primacy 4.

I was able to notice positive change in grip levels immediately after tyre swap. Car did not loose traction where the TD car lost and road noise (or whatever left of it) reduced by good margin.