[pikoh]

My Tigor XZ+ has clocked 20,000 kms in approx. 1.5 years and in these 20,000 kms my experiences have been really bad, here are the points (both good and bad):
1) The car charger has been replaced 4 times till date.
2) Boot latch assembly replaced once.
3) HV battery replaced once.
4) There are a lot of cabin sounds that reminds me of the bus that used to take us to the school��
5) Rear suspension has been replaced once (both L & R).
6) Boot hinges were misaligned from the begining which led to contact b/w the body and the boot door, which led to removal of plaint slowly and steadily from one point on car body, and hence in last rusting, informed the SC, got everything fixed.
7) SC experience has been worst, the SC people have zero regard for the cars.
8) Tata customer care will only act when you take up the matter on twitter, all other mediums might or might not work as effectively.
9) The car is really fun to drive. In S mode the acceleration is amazing, trust me, it will beat even a Vento easily (saying from experience)
10) Handling is okay.
11) Ride is not that good due to the additional weight of the battery pack.
12) The car will do anywhere b/w 150-250 kms of range depending on driving style, no. of people it is carrying, weather conditions, tyre pressure, etc.
13) Tyres are not up to the mark, better to replace in the begining itself to get a good value on them.
14) Infotainment is not that good, but the sound system is best in class.
15) AC is a hit or miss, In B2B traffic it might loose its cooling effect.
16) Coming to charging time with standard 3.5 KWS charger, 7-8 Hrs will take your car from 15% to 100% when plugged in. Never fast charged on public DC chargers, so, no data for that.
17) Tata Motors Zconnect app is horrible, still renewed for the second year for tracking feature and pre-cooling feature, i have hope that tata will fix the bugs, but since I have renewed the app, it has only become difficult to use.
18) Per kilometer running cost, assuming the unit @ ₹ 8/- is anywhere b/w ₹ 0.8 - 1.4 depending upon how much range the car is able to return.

The car has potential, but these issues are a headache to live with, IMO the product was still on experimental stage when Tata launched it and all the R&D has been done on the buyers.

We are planning to sell the car and go for a sedan in the city/virtus/verna segement or even Hycross, lets see what the family decides.

[spaceunicorn]

Originally Posted by pikoh

The car has potential, but these issues are a headache to live with, IMO the product was still on experimental stage when Tata launched it and all the R&D has been done on the buyers.

We are planning to sell the car and go for a sedan in the city/virtus/verna segement or even Hycross, lets see what the family decides.

I am too a Tigor EV user, clocked around 17K kms in the last 1 year and 3 months. My experience so far is positive except for few issues as noted in the post.

1. Cabin noise - especially some "thuk thuk" sound coming from the bottom. I complained and SC couldnt find what exactly was the issue. However I figured out it was coming from a lose wheel jack which is positioned underneath the driver seat. While checking that i got a deep cut on my figure from some sharp object underneath the seat. I am not sure what is there to make such a cut - its as if been cut by a sharp blade. Cabin noise coming from the front storage cabin. Looks like the cabin door is making that noise at time. Just learned to live with that.

Initially when i turn the car, without giving acceleration (driving downhill and you just use brakes) - there was a sound coming from the front suspension. I doubted it has something to do with regenerative braking as the same sound is gone the moment I press accelerator. I complained to the SC and they identified it as issue with back suspension and replaced it. The sound disappeared after that suspension replacement.

2. AC has low cooling compared to my other car. I always keep the temp at 23.5 and never opted for the ECO AC. But during peak summer, it takes time to cool the car a bit more than what my XUV 500 would take. AC cooling and performance is

3. Contrary to what you said, I felt the ride good.

4. While i drive I always use "S" mode and while its chauffer driven, he uses "D" mode. We get a mixed range of around 180 - 200. While the car shows around 220 on a full charge, i believe that is not the real-world mileage. I normally put the car for overnight full charging once it reaches 20 - 30%. The S mode is quite good for some spirited driving.

5. I replaced my 12-year-old Honda City with Tigor EV. I used to spend around 10 - 12 Rs per kilometer on Honda city. However, this seems to be quite economical as the cost is relatively Rs 1.17 per kilometer. However, i have installed Solar panel and the electricity cost is Zero for me.

6. I really love the music system in this car. I think it's perfectly tuned by Harman.

7. Coming with a long experience of owning Mahindra's and Tatas, I have learned to live with smaller issues, while looking at the larger benefits.

8. The Tata Z-connect app had its own issues - many of them got resolved. One major issue was asking for OTP and login every two days. Even Banking apps are not that secure
After raising this with Tata, I believe they have taken out that "feature".

9. Key inside alarm: Having a smaller alarm for key inside reminder would have been better than the car horn sounding 10 time. Mostly after night drive, I woke up the whole neighborhood while opening the gate (as key would be in my pocket).

10. One major issue with Service is that - they are quite incompetent to handle EV issues. All issues are reported back to the "Head office" and they repair the care precisely as per the instructions from there. "Head office" is the term used by SCE. Derik Motors, Trivandrum is quite helpful so far in addressing my issues.

However - this is my city and regular drive car and has saved me around INR 170K in the last 1.3 years ownership. The fourth paid service was only Rs 1040 - which was again quite cheap compared to ICE cars at the same price point.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by pikoh

We are planning to sell the car....

Will be interesting to see what the market offers and will you accept it and sell a relatively new EV.

[ashutoshb]

Originally Posted by pikoh

IMO the product was still on experimental stage when Tata launched it and all the R&D has been done on the buyers.

We are planning to sell the car...

It is widely known that the initial batches of Tata cars are full of niggles and flaws. Then, they sort things out one by one at the customers' expense of those initial batches. The customers who trusted them instilled faith in them and bought a new product from them. It's high time Tata Motors stopped this practice and started doing thorough testing before they started selling a product.

Fire the entire testing department if they have to. Customers like these are their gold customers, who, despite the hundreds of choices elsewhere, chose them but still ended up being Guinea pigs. Tata is making a great effort with their design. But this practice of testing now has to stop.

[pikoh]

Originally Posted by spaceunicorn

I am too a Tigor EV user, clocked around 17K kms in the last 1 year and 3 months. My experience so far is positive except for few issues as noted in the post.

I myself am amazed at why my particular unit is susceptible to all of the problems to have been ever recorded by Tata, I don't know if you are part of the Tigor EV Owners whatsapp group, but what I feel is that the user experience of the members is very mixed, most of the folk are happy, but some have very bitter experience (the likes of me).

Now, to add one more point to the above list, which turns out to be a repeat issue: The boot of the car is locked since last 20 days, pressing the unlock button (both on the boot door and inside the cabin) does not trigger the unlock mechanism, relevant parts have been ordered by the SC but just imagine how hard it will be for someone to manage without a boot on his daily vehicle for such long durations considering the fact boot latch assembly has already been replaced a few months ago and I had to go through same pain back then. Repeated issues, though may sound minor to some, leave a bad taste in the mouth.

When the HV battery issue occured the SC obviously working on direct instructions of Tata's official team itself, first changed the AC compresor, then they changed the entire wiring harness of the car, and i have lost track of what not in-between, and in last when they ran out of options and a couple of tweets tagging Tata on twitter they finally agreed to replace the battery which solved the problem. This entire process itslef kept the car off the road for approximately 45 days!

Now coming to suspension replacement, from the very first time in the begining of ownership experience, when I identified some wierd sounds coming from the back side of the car, I sent the car to the service centre, they failed to identify the issue and told me the car was perfect and had absolutely zero sounds, I took them for a ride to demonstrate to them precisely where and when they could hear the sounds, this time they agreed but for one entire year failed fix the issue. Every time the car went to the SC they promised they would fix the issue but failed. I also went silent for some time, but every time I sent the car to SC for service or whatever reason, I always reminded them of the sounds, on several occasions I even asked them to check the rear suspension, which they said they did but did not. At one point I have had enough and had to write a very "Polite" mail to the Tata customer care, after which service centre agreed to change the suspension which finally fixed the issue. Just imagine it took them 1 entire year to identify the cause. 1 full YEAR.

Now, my household has a few cars, So every time my car is off to the service centre I have a couple of options at my disposal. But just imagine if someone decides to buy a Tata car as his only car, and has to go through this pain, just imagine, being without your car for months (not days, MONTHS) in a span of only 1.5 years of ownership.

Originally Posted by spaceunicorn

Contrary to what you said, I felt the ride good.

Now that i think of it maybe you are right, I might be a bit too spoilt.

Originally Posted by spaceunicorn

One major issue with Service is that - they are quite incompetent to handle EV issues. All issues are reported back to the "Head office" and they repair the care precisely as per the instructions from there. "Head office" is the term used by SCE. Derik Motors, Trivandrum is quite helpful so far in addressing my issues.

Now this is a very important point when it comes to buying decision of Tata cars, If you have a supportive and reputed SC in your area then you don't have to worry as much as I have to.

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Will be interesting to see what the market offers and will you accept it and sell a relatively new EV.

I don't think I have any other options brother.

[nilforgreen]

My Tigor EV completed 23500 kms within 9 months. The 4th service and the first paid service is due but honestly I do not want to talk to the so called Service Advisor in the service centre again!
My experience so far -
Pros:
1. Range is easily 200+ with fair driving style in D mode.
2. Cost of driving is slightly over just Rs 1 per km.
3. Goes to around 100 km/h pretty fast and smoothly.
Cons:
1. AC is not efficient at all. Had to take the car to service centre multiple times, once they even kept it for 3 days, captured various data but finally one of their senior manager accepted that this is how it is designed and nothing can be done. Explanation was that even the AC in an engine car takes a brief pause in between to avoid overheating, in case of EVs the pause is a little longer for safety of the battery pack. But problem is you can feel it sometimes that AC is not running!
2. Already some rattling sound started coming from various parts of the car on patchy roads as if it is a 10 year old car.
3. After having experienced Fiat Punto for 11years, Tigor EV feels a bit shaky at 90+ km/h.

[spaceunicorn]

Originally Posted by ashutoshb

It is widely known that the initial batches of Tata cars are full of niggles and flaws. Then, they sort things out one by one at the customers' expense of those initial batches. The customers who trusted them instilled faith in them and bought a new product from them. It's high time Tata Motors stopped this practice and started doing thorough testing before they started selling a product.

Fire the entire testing department if they have to. Customers like these are their gold customers, who, despite the hundreds of choices elsewhere, chose them but still ended up being Guinea pigs. Tata is making a great effort with their design. But this practice of testing now has to stop.

Yes, this is also the practice at Mahindra. I personally was the first or second customer in this part of India to purchase the Mahindra TUV 300 AMT and unfortunately, encountered a variety of issues including problems with the fuel pump, vacuum modulator, and the AMT. After a few years of use, I had to exchange the vehicle for an XUV500. I also faced issues with design failures, such as the vehicle getting stuck in places where even an autorickshaw could easily pass through. I hope Indian manufacturers are prioritizing thorough road testing rather than expecting customers to bear the cost of resolving issues.

Originally Posted by nilforgreen

Cons:
1. AC is not efficient at all. Had to take the car to service centre multiple times, once they even kept it for 3 days, captured various data but finally one of their senior manager accepted that this is how it is designed and nothing can be done. Explanation was that even the AC in an engine car takes a brief pause in between to avoid overheating, in case of EVs the pause is a little longer for safety of the battery pack. But problem is you can feel it sometimes that AC is not running!
2. Already some rattling sound started coming from various parts of the car on patchy roads as if it is a 10 year old car.
3. After having experienced Fiat Punto for 11years, Tigor EV feels a bit shaky at 90+ km/h.

The reality is that the efficiency of the AC in my car is not very good. I never use the ECO AC mode because it is even worse than the normal mode. Fortunately, I have been able to manage with the weather in Kerala, but I don't think it would be bearable during extreme summers in the North.

As for the noise and shakiness while driving, I have experience with Mahindra cars and have learned to live with small noises. However, I have noticed that when I accelerate quickly, there is a vibration that I can feel in my legs, similar to when the wheels are out of alignment. But I have realized that this is just the way the car responds. Will be sharing this feedback with Service centre shortly.

[spaceunicorn]

Originally Posted by pikoh

I myself am amazed at why my particular unit is susceptible to all of the problems to have been ever recorded by Tata, I don't know if you are part of the Tigor EV Owners whatsapp group, but what I feel is that the user experience of the members is very mixed, most of the folk are happy, but some have very bitter experience (the likes of me).

Yes, I am part of one of the whatsapp user group and the reaction is mixed as you said.

Originally Posted by pikoh

Now coming to suspension replacement, from the very first time in the begining of ownership experience, when I identified some wierd sounds coming from the back side of the car, I sent the car to the service centre, they failed to identify the issue and told me the car was perfect and had absolutely zero sounds, I took them for a ride to demonstrate to them precisely where and when they could hear the sounds, this time they agreed but for one entire year failed fix the issue. Every time the car went to the SC they promised they would fix the issue but failed. I also went silent for some time, but every time I sent the car to SC for service or whatever reason, I always reminded them of the sounds, on several occasions I even asked them to check the rear suspension, which they said they did but did not. At one point I have had enough and had to write a very "Polite" mail to the Tata customer care, after which service center agreed to change the suspension which finally fixed the issue. Just imagine it took them 1 entire year to identify the cause. 1 full YEAR.

I was fortunate to have the issue resolved promptly. However, the replacement of the suspension was only done after I called the Tata Service Center multiple times, as I had expected them to inform me when the part was ready for replacement. They were swift in identifying the issue, which was contrary to my initial belief that it was an error in the regen unit. I hope your issues are also resolved and that you can drive your car as expected.

[Ray379]

First proper road trip on the Tigor EV and 30,000km milestone achieved.

Recently my wife and I took the longest road trip in our Tigor EV till date when we took the car to Goa during the Diwali break. The car also clocked the 30,000km mark (in a year and 9months) during the trip.

During the 30,000km, it was been a very enjoyable experience with the EV. The only major issue I have faced is the AC not working. A pigtail update which was given for most people who bought the first gen Tigor EV Ziptron has solved the issue.

It was become quite easy to do Mumbai Goa in an EV with the number of chargers on the way.



Mumbai to Goa-

We charged the car 4 times on a Fast Charger on the way and got to experience 3 different FC providers- Pune (Tata EZ charge at Ginger on the highway), Satara (Amrai Resort- had both Tata and Chargezone, more on this stop later), Kolhapur (JioBP) and at Belgavi (Chargezone again).

All the chargers worked. Found all of them being heavily used. The Tata FC at Ginger, Pune was under use 5mins before we reached. It's a very good place to charge as it's situated inside the Ginger hotel and you don't need to take much of a detour. The washrooms are ofcourse clean at the hotel and there are enough food places within a 5min walk. The Tata EZ chargers are the most expensive of the 3 providers. The RFID card did not work, it doesn't work at most Tata chargers, so if you haven't got it yet, don't bother. There was already a car waiting by the time I was at 85% soc and I stopped the charge at that level.

The drive up the ghat post Pune drained the battery quite a lot, so decided to charge at Amrai Resort in Satara. This is also on the highway, albeit on the opposite side, so a 1.5km detour. This place has 6 FC guns from Chargezone with 1 gun out of order. There were also 3 FC guns and one 7.2kw gun of Tata. However, no one was using the Tata chargers. Out of the remaining 5 FC guns from Chargezone, all were occupied, while one Tiago EV waited. Basically a full house. The Tiago owner said he frequently goes on the route and he has found issues with the Tata chargers in his earlier attempts to charge on the FCs at Amrai, so would rather wait than use the Tata FC guns. The RFID from Chargezone works on their chargers and it's a breeze to use

here is my car charging at the Chargezone charger.


Here is a photo of all the Tata chargers, but not in use.

Next up was Jio BP. It was situated at the back of a petrol pump. There were 2 guns, one occupied and I charged on the remaining one. Very smooth process. JioBP also are currently the cheapest FC providers-charging INR 16 per kwh.


Next up the Chargezone charger at Kolhapur. It's within the parking area of a large hotel within the city. My wife had been keeping an eye on the charger and it was continuously showing as in use. So we decided to book a slot around the same time when Google Maps showed we would reach. On reaching we found that there was a XUV400 which had the gun locked but the screen said charging complete.


After a few calls with the swift and extremely helpful call center folks at Chargezone, they were able to call the XUV400 owner and he came and took out the charger from his car.

I was able to book hotel/airbnbs in Goa which allowed me charge the car by attaching a extention. Booking.com and Airbnb both have a filter which you can use to filter stays which would allow you to charge your car. Nifty little feature if you ask me.
here is a photo of my car charging from a cable being dropped from the first floor.

In all I spent about INR 1500 on charging while going to Goa, which makes the trip quite economical. However, it did take me about 3hrs more than what it would take me if I went in a petrol car and took the regular food break.

Traveling within Goa became free. No hackling with the scooty walas for the cost of the scooty.

Goa to Mumbai-

On the way back, we broke down the journey, staying a night in Kolhapur and another night in Pune.
We also mostly charged at the same spots we charged at while going to Goa.
In Kolhapur the charging infrastructure just outside the Marriott is quite something. There were 6 fast chargers and 1 slow charger.

Overall the cost of the travel to and from Goa was almost equal to the toll we paid.

A few observations and learnings wrt doing long trips in an EV-

1. Planning is essential. Knowing where all the fast chargers are on the way is crucial. Depending on where you are going, plan the trip keeping in mind the chargers. Plugshare is a huge help here. However it doesn't tell you if the charger is functional. Add some money on each of the apps and keep as the network might be iffy at the charger.

2. Only consider your car's range as 80% of the real world range. e.g. for my Tigor EV, I get about 220km on a full charge on Mumbai with the AC and a light foot. So I planned the trip so that I would charge the car after 150-170kms.

3. The fast chargers on busy highways are getting busy. Utilize the option to book your session which is available on most of the apps.

4. Ensure wherever you plan to charge, there is another charger within 20-30km from that spot so that you can make it to the next charger in case there is a queue at the station or that station is experiencing a power cut when you get there.

5. Speak to the hotel/Airbnb where you are staying. Chances are, they would allow you to charge at their premises overnight with a 16amp plug. Carry a spool of wire or an extension cord and you will be good to go.

Happy travels!

[sheelRP]

During my recent trip , though much shorter route , from Ahmedabad to Surat, I found jio bp and ChargeZone working fine. Jio bp is now charging 16 per kWh + gst, they have reduced from 19-21 kWh . However, unlike wallets of its app, I could pay for ChargeZone directly from payment apps instead of loading its own wallet and keeping some money as minimum balance . It is very useful as we don’t have to keep money in multiple wallets of ev charging apps as most of them may not be utilised during a trip. Anyways, encouraging to see growth in EV charging and it will be boon for all ev owners like me. Happy motoring.

[bhpindian]

Originally Posted by Ray379

Next up the Chargezone charger at Kolhapur. It's within the parking area of a large hotel within the city. My wife had been keeping an eye on the charger and it was continuously showing as in use.

The charger you have mentioned in this post and picture uploaded is one from Ramdev Hotel Belagavi, Karnataka and not Kolhapur Maharashtra.

Originally Posted by Ray379

In Kolhapur the charging infrastructure just outside the Marriott is quite something. There were 6 fast chargers and 1 slow charger.

Similarly this Fairfield by Marriott hotel and Gogate plaza charging station mentioned here are in Belagavi Karnataka and not in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.
Kindly correct and edit trip details. Both cities are around 100 km apart and EV users planning Goa trip can be confused and misguided by the error in the post

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by Ray379

1. Planning is essential. Knowing where all the fast chargers are on the way is crucial. Depending on where you are going, plan the trip keeping in mind the chargers. Plugshare is a huge help here. However it doesn't tell you if the charger is functional. Add some money on each of the apps and keep as the network might be iffy at the charger.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Can you also detail on the average time spent at these charging spots while waiting around for someone to finish?

I have gone through many EV travelogues and very few point out how much time it took to add additional range (not just the charging, the waiting for other cars to move out etc.). I find it hard to believe that this isn’t a problem at all and how one plans around that, because no one seems to be talking much about it in their travelogues.

[mally2]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Can you also detail on the average time spent at these charging spots while waiting around for someone to finish?

I have gone through many EV travelogues and very few point out how much time it took to add additional range (not just the charging, the waiting for other cars to move out etc.). I find it hard to believe that this isn’t a problem at all and how one plans around that, because no one seems to be talking much about it in their travelogues.

That is because its pretty rare for a car to be charging when we reach a charging spot, in my 6 highway trips (14 DCFC sessions ) of each 800km round about I have only had one instance of a XUV400 charging at a spot I wanted to and max i waited was for 20 minutes. end of the day it moved my estimated arrival time by 20 minutes.

[wocanak]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

I have gone through many EV travelogues and very few point out how much time it took to add additional range (not just the charging, the waiting for other cars to move out etc.). I find it hard to believe that this isn’t a problem at all and how one plans around that, because no one seems to be talking much about it in their travelogues.

Wait time depends on the route, time of stopping and whether it is peak time (like long weekend). Generally its available (no waiting) or one car is charging and it may take ~20 mins wait time. If the wait time is more, it is better to look up the next station and go there if you have enough charge.

I have done four trips on Bangalore Chennai route with many chargers, by checking status online before stopping I have managed without waiting except one time.

[Ray379]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Can you also detail on the average time spent at these charging spots while waiting around for someone to finish?

I have gone through many EV travelogues and very few point out how much time it took to add additional range (not just the charging, the waiting for other cars to move out etc.).

In my case, I booked the slot in most of the cases. Did not have to wait anywhere except where the earlier user decided to not remove their car from charging even though their car had completed charging.

I was taking about 50mins to charge up the car from 20-25% SoC to 85-90% SoC every time I charged at a DC fast charger.

Hope this helps!