Driving pleasure of Electric Cars

ergon_9700 · 11th January 2024, 19:15

Even though my family owns a Nexon Petrol, personally got a chance to drive the Nexon EV Max for a brief bit.

I did this purely to understand the difference between how a conventional car and EV drives.

First thing I will say is acceleration. You can go silly speeds easily. Especially these being silent you don't know how much you hit, in terms of speed.

Second pretty good NVH levels.

Third no need to worry about burning of fuel when idling. With benefit of significant cost savings.

Fourth will make one an economic driver. You will essentially try to adapt to extract a max range.

This is just from a brief drive.

StrykerEV05 · 11th January 2024, 19:28

In December 2021, I bought the Nexon EV XZ+ (There wasn't a Prime classification back then) and got it on road for a mouth watering 14.2 lakhs (thanks to the 2.5 lakh early bird subsidy by Maharashtra Government).

Before buying or even driving the car I was hell bent towards buying a manual - being an enthusiast!
Honda City V was the car I had almost booked, had there not been a Tata showroom nearby I might have had that now. I test drove Honda City and Nexon EV back to back.
I never thought I would choose an EV over that iVtec engine but that just changed shortly after my drive.
The Nexon EV smoked the city in sports mode, it was way faster than the city - or atleast felt that way. The 0-100 speeds might have a difference of just about 1.5 seconds but trust me this city doesn't give a lot of opportunities of doing that. 0-60 is the real thing which should be compared in my opinion, that's what makes a world of a difference!

My choice back then would have been the manual City V model but if you look at it I got the Nexon EV at the cost of the CVT model V variant. Even features wise Nexon EV was richer than the city.

Coming to the economics:
My car is now over 2 years old, I've driven almost 25k kilometres. Saved atleast 2.5 lakhs in just fuel costs for sure. The best part about my experience is that I'm driving the car for free! I charge it free of cost at my office!

Djay · 11th January 2024, 23:42

I still love the fun of gearshifts of a manual ICE car. But nothing beats EVs when it comes to city driving. They are the best automatic transmissions period!!

Other than the instant acceleration, silent and smooth drive, the regeneration enables almost one-pedal driving which is a massive boon in city traffic. Plus our Comet does not have a creep mode, so it does not move unless I press the accelerator which is super convenient in traffic jams. No worry about about burning the clutch, constant shifting to neutral and manual braking.

At sub-12 lakhs these are the smoothest automatics over the jerky and laggy AMTs. That was one of the main criteria over choosing the Comet over a Alto or S-Presso AMT. And totally loving the experience.

mally2 · 12th January 2024, 08:54

What a lovely thread, My experience with an EV for the last 10 months and 15K kms is a feeling to basically never drive a Non Luxury ICE car ever again, almost nothing can match the torque addiction and smooth silent drive that even the most humble EVs provide.

Heck I don't even drive my Hexa AT anymore unless I have to ferry 7/8 passengers and have to go on 1000+ kms highway round trips

shankar.balan · 13th January 2024, 19:37

Talking of driving pleasure, here is something which any car enthusiast will love!
A bit like that original Porsche 356 Speedster but ELECTRIC.

Isn’t it lovely?
Im sure any of us will love playing with a car such as this one!

https://youtu.be/4aTzuUrdyIc?si=Q4n2OxmJ9evNaeEA

oakpr · 15th April 2024, 20:48

I have owned MG ZS EV as my sole car in household for last 18 months. Think of it as a smart appliance on wheels, then so many fun aspects become evident:

The nerd in me draws pleasure from trip planning . I know this is funny, because many members on this forum resist EVs by complaining about planning of charge stops
The gamification of efficiency. On long trips, I start with a target efficiency in mind and even a small winning margin of 0.1 km/KWh puts a smile on my face
The pleasure of long waiting stops in comfort of AC, without the guilt of burning stuff to keep me cool

On the flip side, I have never enjoyed driving dynamics of this car. All that theory of heavy battery pack giving low centre of gravity etc. has not translated to real-world driving pleasure for me. My Fiat Punto was a high benchmark indeed.

11th January 2024, 19:15	#16
ergon_9700 BHPian Join Date: Oct 2022 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 122 Thanked: 300 Times	Re: Driving pleasure of Electric Cars Even though my family owns a Nexon Petrol, personally got a chance to drive the Nexon EV Max for a brief bit. I did this purely to understand the difference between how a conventional car and EV drives. First thing I will say is acceleration. You can go silly speeds easily. Especially these being silent you don't know how much you hit, in terms of speed. Second pretty good NVH levels. Third no need to worry about burning of fuel when idling. With benefit of significant cost savings. Fourth will make one an economic driver. You will essentially try to adapt to extract a max range. This is just from a brief drive.
	() Thanks

11th January 2024, 19:28	#17
StrykerEV05 BHPian Join Date: Mar 2022 Location: Mumbai Posts: 43 Thanked: 222 Times	Re: Driving pleasure of Electric Cars In December 2021, I bought the Nexon EV XZ+ (There wasn't a Prime classification back then) and got it on road for a mouth watering 14.2 lakhs (thanks to the 2.5 lakh early bird subsidy by Maharashtra Government). Before buying or even driving the car I was hell bent towards buying a manual - being an enthusiast! Honda City V was the car I had almost booked, had there not been a Tata showroom nearby I might have had that now. I test drove Honda City and Nexon EV back to back. I never thought I would choose an EV over that iVtec engine but that just changed shortly after my drive. The Nexon EV smoked the city in sports mode, it was way faster than the city - or atleast felt that way. The 0-100 speeds might have a difference of just about 1.5 seconds but trust me this city doesn't give a lot of opportunities of doing that. 0-60 is the real thing which should be compared in my opinion, that's what makes a world of a difference! My choice back then would have been the manual City V model but if you look at it I got the Nexon EV at the cost of the CVT model V variant. Even features wise Nexon EV was richer than the city. Coming to the economics: My car is now over 2 years old, I've driven almost 25k kilometres. Saved atleast 2.5 lakhs in just fuel costs for sure. The best part about my experience is that I'm driving the car for free! I charge it free of cost at my office!
	(3) Thanks

11th January 2024, 23:42	#18
Djay BHPian Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Pune Posts: 133 Thanked: 589 Times	Re: Driving pleasure of Electric Cars I still love the fun of gearshifts of a manual ICE car. But nothing beats EVs when it comes to city driving. They are the best automatic transmissions period!! Other than the instant acceleration, silent and smooth drive, the regeneration enables almost one-pedal driving which is a massive boon in city traffic. Plus our Comet does not have a creep mode, so it does not move unless I press the accelerator which is super convenient in traffic jams. No worry about about burning the clutch, constant shifting to neutral and manual braking. At sub-12 lakhs these are the smoothest automatics over the jerky and laggy AMTs. That was one of the main criteria over choosing the Comet over a Alto or S-Presso AMT. And totally loving the experience.
	() Thanks

12th January 2024, 08:54	#19
mally2 BHPian Join Date: Jun 2023 Location: Bangalore Posts: 381 Thanked: 1,104 Times	Re: Driving pleasure of Electric Cars What a lovely thread, My experience with an EV for the last 10 months and 15K kms is a feeling to basically never drive a Non Luxury ICE car ever again, almost nothing can match the torque addiction and smooth silent drive that even the most humble EVs provide. Heck I don't even drive my Hexa AT anymore unless I have to ferry 7/8 passengers and have to go on 1000+ kms highway round trips
	(3) Thanks

15th April 2024, 20:48	#21
oakpr BHPian Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Pune Posts: 26 Thanked: 74 Times	Re: Driving pleasure of Electric Cars I have owned MG ZS EV as my sole car in household for last 18 months. Think of it as a smart appliance on wheels, then so many fun aspects become evident: The nerd in me draws pleasure from trip planning . I know this is funny, because many members on this forum resist EVs by complaining about planning of charge stops The gamification of efficiency. On long trips, I start with a target efficiency in mind and even a small winning margin of 0.1 km/KWh puts a smile on my face The pleasure of long waiting stops in comfort of AC, without the guilt of burning stuff to keep me cool On the flip side, I have never enjoyed driving dynamics of this car. All that theory of heavy battery pack giving low centre of gravity etc. has not translated to real-world driving pleasure for me. My Fiat Punto was a high benchmark indeed.
	(2) Thanks