[jotwani]

Stats

• Model: Nexon.eV 2023 Facelift
• Variant: Fearless+ Medium Range (30 kWh)
• Month of Delivery: Jan 2024
• Odometer: 1500+ km
• Commute type: 55km daily, mostly in choc a bloc traffic of Delhi NCR
• Driving Style: Aggressive. Not the usual EV driver, I make use of the perky engine to rev past cars. However I drive only in Eco mode, Regen 3.
• Avg Range: 200kms (1% battery gives 2km running)
• Charging: Always used the company provided slow charger. Charge it every 3 days for 9-10 hours. Keep battery between 10-100%.
• Also own: Suzuki Brezza, Suzuki Alto. Upgraded from VW Polo.

Ownership Review

Pros:

o Performance: Peppy. Love the engine and the power it gives. Sports mode gives me goosebumps and gotta be careful on it but I love driving on it.
o Comfort: While most people talk about the noiseless cabin and vibration free drive, which are both true, I personally prefer and love the single pedal drive thanks to the regen 3 feature. I hated braking for speed breakers and constantly moving my foot around. Now with regen 3, I just stop accelerating and the car brakes by itself for the speed breaker. I love it. Made my ride so much more comfortable and peaceful. I can even operate the brakes using the paddle shifters now. If I don’t feel like braking a lot, just switch regen and voila, you will drift ahead. Much needed for bumper to bumper traffic fighters like me.
o The infotainment system including the in dash screen are well done, esp the navigation view in dash screen.
o You know that you are not harming the environment. Being carbon neutral or carbon negative while driving this is like doing good karma, every day. That it costs less financially is just the cherry on top.

Cons
o Habit change. With an EV you have to go from refuelling once in 2 weeks to recharging twice in 1 week. From 14 days to 3.5 days. That’s a massive habit change. Needing to this in cold, rain and when you are running late is a pain. If the charger is not conveniently located or easily accessible then it’s a bigger pain. This is a hindrance. While there is no doubt significant cost savings, but there is also an extra effort associated here.
After buying the car, I realized that while as per my running I can use the MR easily, however a LR at 2 lac cost difference is still VFM. A MR with 320km claimed range gives 200km running to me. A LR with 470km range will probably give 270-300km running. Which means I can go from charging twice a week to charging once a week. Major benefit.
o Poor Service Centres of Tata. Taking my 1 week old car to their poor service centres was a nightmare for me. The guys don’t bother to use the car seat covers and sit with greasy overalls and shoes in the new car turning my new beige mats to dark black. On complaining they half heartedly vacuumed it and gave it back, still black. If Tata is serious about EVs, they need to come out with EV specific Service centres, Fast!
o eV is still new in India. By this I do not mean the charger availability. I am talking about the ev manufacturers, who are still trying to perfect their cars and possibly rolling out new editions before they could perfect it. Like my Tata Nexon.ev which while done beautifully from a sales POV. From a user perspective, there are way too many niggles and issues to fix. My less than month old car, has gone to the service centre for repairs thrice now and twice I have had to call the RSA for support. Why? Thanks to the persistent issues in the car which Tata has not been able to fix. Are the issues resolved after all these visits. No. They are continuing issues as Tata themselves are unsure of what to do and how to fix this. I have heard this from numerous car owners now (incl the biggest users of EV cars – drivers of BluSmart cabs) about the common issues in the car and also from the RSA guys who repeat similar harrowing tales. What tales and issues? Read on.

ISSUES I FACE

- Faulty Door Sensor: When you turn off the car, the infotainment system activates the one hour mode, which ideally should turn off when the driver side door opens. However here, it does not. Why? I found out on my first trip to the service centre that the driver door sensor that recognizes door opening, is faulty. Not just in my car but apparently, in all cars including the Safaris and Harriers. A modified part is said to be in the works for this to replace in all cars.
Temporary Solve: Touch the sensor everytime you step out to activate it and stop the infotainment system.
Permanent Solve: None Till Date

- Faulty Software Update: During the same first visit to the service centre (Noida Sector 5), they decided to update the software version of the car. While I am thinking why didn’t they do this before delivering the car to me, I nevertheless agree, being a lover of all updates. Little do I know that the update will make my life tougher. After the update, there is a notification sound in the car that comes every few seconds. Why? No reason. How do I stop it, I can’t. I tried finding a pattern to the sound but to no avail. Thus, I take the car on its second trip to the service centre, in its second week with me. The Service team take 2 hours and update the VCU of the car and declare, all is well. I am happy, I turn on the car and start driving back, only to brake in 10 seconds. The noise had come back. I call the SA and am told, “oh, its back? Well there’s nothing I can do right now, take it home, theres nothing wrong with the car, I’ll let you know if and when I get a solve to this issue”.
What do you say to this? Back home, I start using it as is, with a slight change of increasing the speaker volume to drown the notification sound.
Temporary Solve: Turn on the speaker system.
Permanent Solve: None Till Date
Recent Update:Today, all notifications sounds have stopped suddenly including indicator sound. Wth? Also, the infotainment system too suddenly stopped and rebooted by itself mid drive. Yet another bug.

- Faulty Small Battery: One Sunday afternoon, as I am getting ready to go out, I press the unlock button in the key to open the car. But it doesn’t work. Surprised I try a few more times with no luck. Same with the touch button on the door handle. A quick check of the car key and its confirmed that the key has sufficient battery. I unlock the car using the manual override key and get in. Trying to turn the car on, but to no avail. They car just wont respond. No lights, nothing. Clearly the starter battery is dead. But why? I am definite that there was no electric unit on when I parked it (a few hours ago only). No lights, not even the malfunctioning sound system was on so why? I then call the RSA, inform them of the situation and within 45 mins I have a guy on a scooty standing next to the car with a spare battery. He jump-starts the car and promises it wont stop now. I ask, why this happened? Then he opens the can of worms. This apparently is a common problem and is quite regular in Tata EVs. The small battery drains abruptly and quickly for no known reason. It could be a poor wiring, or a leak somewhere or just thanks to the amazing software of the car. This is why I will go on my third visit to the service centre now, within 3 weeks from delivery.
Temporary Solve: Call RSA
Permanent Solve: None Till Date

- Gear Stuck Issue: Amongst all of this, there have been times when the car has refused to start itself. This has happened twice, with me. Once with the service centre guy sitting and driving the car as well. What happens? After pressing the start / stop button, the gear doesn’t move from netural. The car keeps saying, press brake pedal, despite me pressing it with all my might. When this happened with the service engineer, he just kept trying to restart the car multiple times and luckily it worked after 10-15 mins. However he didn’t bother to investigate the cause of the issue and solve it. Merely saying it was a temporary issue and wont happen again. Unfortunately, it did happen again, 2 weeks later only.
Temporary Solve: try, try and keep trying till it starts
Permanent Solve: None Till Date

- Faulty Window Functionality: This is the latest development. As if the existing problems weren’t enough. The driver side window is faulty. First when you press down and then press up, instead of going up, it goes down. Next, when you long press it to go all the way up, once it reaches the top, it automatically rolls back down halfway and stays there. First time it happened, I was worried that I’ll have to leave it open like that. Thankfully, by slowly rolling it up and not long pressing it, it stayed an was able to close the window. So that’s the solve I have for it for now.
Temporary Solve: Don’t long press it, just slowly roll it up.
Permanent Solve: NA

Other Issues: Facing all these issues, I start talking to more people and doing internet research and I got to know of a few more common issues in the car. Such as:

- Stuck Charging gun: Where the gun just doesn’t get released despite pressing the unlock button. Solution?
Temporary Solve: Call RSA
Permanent Solve: None Till Date

- Battery sudden drop: I have heard (thankfully not faced), that sometimes, after charging to 100% SoC, the battery suddenly starts dropping by 1% every few minutes and discharges much faster than the Range. Why? Not even God knows, let alone Tata.
Temporary Solve: Don’t charge to 100%, keep it to 90% at most
Permanent Solve: None Till Date, just hope they replace the battery with a new one as part of the warranty.

Final Words: I like-d the car. In fact I loved it when and before I bought it. But after all these daily issues, I majorly regret buying a TATA. Despite being an erstwhile Tata motors fan and supporter of ‘Made in India’, I now have put off on buying Tata again and have asked a few colleagues to hold their Tata Motors purchase (who didn’t need a lot of convincing after my experience). For a 2-week old owner of a car, having paid 17+ lacs, this is sheer torture. I hope someone at Tata Motors is listening and not just watching their growing stock prices. Swearing off all things Tata till then.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by jotwani

Other Issues: Facing all these issues, I start talking to more people and doing internet research and I got to know of a few more common issues in the car. Such as
- Stuck Charging gun: Where the gun just doesn’t get released despite pressing the unlock button. Solution?
Temporary Solve: Call RSA
Permanent Solve: None Till Date
- Battery sudden drop: I have heard (thankfully not faced), that sometimes, after charging to 100% SoC, the battery suddenly starts dropping by 1% every few minutes and discharges much faster than the Range. Why? Not even God knows, let alone Tata.
Temporary Solve: Don’t charge to 100%, keep it to 90% at most
Permanent Solve: None Till Date, just hope they replace the battery with a new one as part of the warranty.

Congrats on your purchase. So sorry to hear about the issues that you are facing.

The two researched issues that you mentioned

1. Stuck charging gun - There is a manual release procedure for unlocking the gun which can be used in case of stuck gun.

See this video for the place of manual release -

link

2. Battery sudden drop: The Tata recommends charging to 100% every time you charge the car to maintain cell balancing. Battery drop has nothing to do with charging to 100%

I will recommend you to join Tataev.club to get access to EV knowledge repository and community experts who can help you out in escalating your case with Tata.

[sharathkamath04]

Originally Posted by jotwani

Stats

Cons
o Habit change. With an EV you have to go from refuelling once in 2 weeks to recharging twice in 1 week. From 14 days to 3.5 days. That’s a massive habit change. Needing to this in cold, rain and when you are running late is a pain. If the charger is not conveniently located or easily accessible then it’s a bigger pain. This is a hindrance.
o

Curious as an EV owner, how is slow charging a hassle?

The slow charger from TM must be installed in your parking and it's a matter of connecting it after driving when required ( at night preferably).

[Saanil]

Originally Posted by jotwani

Stat.

Hi,

The issues highlighted by you are indeed common in Nexon 3.0 EV vehicles. I have the same model as yours and even I have faced some of these issues. I would suggest you to get the latest software update for the infotainment system and see how it performs. There is a new version of 12.70 firmware which has come out last week – I am yet to visit the service center to update it but planning to do it this week. Few issues which I faced:

• A notification chime which keeps coming on randomly. Hopefully the new software version should resolve this. This is not impacting the car for now hence I am fine with it.

• Airbag warning light on the instrument cluster – this was an issue related a part concerning the front passenger airbag which was replaced. This solution was suggested by a technician who had experienced this issue on the ICE version of TATA Nexon (the EV technician who attended us was clueless about this)

• A/C shutting down for few minutes randomly which leads to cabin getting warm and uncomfortable. Apparently this is a known issue and a part related to A/C knob needs to be changed. I got to know of this solution from the Telegram group of TATA EV owners.

• Once when I went to charge the car, the cap covering the charging port got stuck. Used a one rupee coin to force it open (saw this trick in a Youtube video) and managed to charge the car. The locking mechanism was rectified later – apparently this is also a common issue.

I am afraid you will need to be a little patient when dealing with these issues and be ready to visit the service center more often.

Can you please post the picture of the Door Sensor which you used to touch to shut down the one hour mode on the infotainment system?

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by jotwani

I like-d the car. In fact I loved it when and before I bought it. But after all these daily issues, I majorly regret buying a TATA.

I understand the feeling brother. Exactly my feelings after I bought the Tiago EV. My brother had a Tata Zest (he bought one just after launch) and that was sold as soon as their Gold AMC was over (bundled with the car to win customer's confidence; Tata had terrible reputation with after sales service at the time). He had to frequent service centers to keep the car in mint condition.

We both thought they had come a long way - but it seems niggles are still part and parcel of owning a Tata. Like you, I turned away my friends who liked the car - but didn't have the stomach to beta test the product. I have had to replace several parts and there new issues cropping up every now and then - my car has only covered 4k in last 5 months. I take my ICE car if I ever have to travel with family to any area without a service center nearby.

In light of the issues faced on a brand new car - see if the dealer would help you out with an extended warranty for a discounted amount. Also get the regional office contact number and email from their customer care; it used to be listed in their website - but now I can't find it anymore. If you ever need to escalate - you can drop an email (In my experience it is not of much use, they usually forward the email to the dealer's service manager itself).

Originally Posted by sharathkamath04

Curious as an EV owner, how is slow charging a hassle?

I find it a hassle too - I'm also a new EV owner (perhaps that explains it). The whole ritual of unlocking the car at night, opening the fuel lid , unpacking the portable charger from the boot, plugging it in, waiting to make sure it has started charging (my car sometimes acts up), making sure the wires aren't in the way - and then doing this in reverse in the morning. It is not convenient - wireless charging would have been perfect .

I wanted to leave the charger in the wall plug itself - but I'm scared if the dreaded HV error would popup and leave me stranded. I read for some owners the battery level dropped at alarming rates - so didn't want to take a chance. I'm not sure how helpful the RSA is, but given my experience with everything else with Tata - I'm not taking chances.

[idoctor]

Originally Posted by jotwani

- Faulty Window Functionality: This is the latest development. As if the existing problems weren’t enough. The driver side window is faulty. First when you press down and then press up, instead of going up, it goes down. Next, when you long press it to go all the way up, once it reaches the top, it automatically rolls back down halfway and stays there. First time it happened, I was worried that I’ll have to leave it open like that. Thankfully, by slowly rolling it up and not long pressing it, it stayed an was able to close the window. So that’s the solve I have for it for now.
Temporary Solve: Don’t long press it, just slowly roll it up.
Permanent Solve: NA

I do not own an EV but this issue is something that I'm faced in my car as well. Try to look for an obstruction in the path of the window glass. What you're experiencing is the anti pinch feature of power windows. An immediate reverse movement is initiated as soon as the glass senses an obstruction in its path. It's actually a safety feature in many cars in order to prevent injury to your fingers/hand. Had the same issue in my car but on looking closely there was some mud stuck in the glass path which was obstructing it, the window became ok after that. SC guys sometimes overlook such small details.

[atin001]

I am planning to buy an EV this year. Just waiting for some of the upcoming models as I am in no hurry to replace my ecosport.

Threads like this are seriously turning me away from Tata, even though their upcoming models like curv seems amazing.

Suggest posting this thread and your experience on Twitter and tag tata. Some negative publicity might wake them up!

[sharathkamath04]

Originally Posted by thomahawk

I find it a hassle too - I'm also a new EV owner (perhaps that explains it). The whole ritual of unlocking the car at night, opening the fuel lid , unpacking the portable charger from the boot, plugging it in, waiting to make sure it has started charging (my car sometimes acts up), making sure the wires aren't in the way - and then doing this in reverse in the morning. It is not convenient - wireless charging would have been perfect .

I wanted to leave the charger in the wall plug itself - but I'm scared if the dreaded HV error would popup and leave me stranded. I read for some owners the battery level dropped at alarming rates - so didn't want to take a chance. I'm not sure how helpful the RSA is, but given my experience with everything else with Tata - I'm not taking chances.

Expecting wireless charging in an EV is like aiming for the Olympics before learning swimming

One way to reduce hassle is to buy a second charger. I am assuming you have a 3.3AC charger and the travel adaptor acts as a home charger.

If you have a different charger you can avoid packing of travel adaptor at home parking. I have a 7.2AC charger from Tata which has a fixed wall setup. You can buy 3rd party charger at a much lower price.

Enjoy EV journey.

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by sharathkamath04

I have a 7.2AC charger from Tata which has a fixed wall setup. You can buy 3rd party charger at a much lower price.

I dropped the idea of using the fast charger from Tata since I read that it doesn't resume charging out a power outage (which is common where I live). Is that something you can confirm? (guess turning the MCB off and on should be enough to check that).

I'm evaluating 3rd party chargers - but a bit careful not to buy anything that might lead to a denial of warranty just in case something unfortunate happens.

As for buying another portable charger - yes, looking at that as well. But it is quite expensive, so looking out for someone selling a used one.

[07CR]

Originally Posted by jotwani

o Poor Service Centres of Tata. Taking my 1 week old car to their poor service centres was a nightmare for me. The guys don’t bother to use the car seat covers and sit with greasy overalls and shoes in the new car turning my new beige mats to dark black. On complaining they half heartedly vacuumed it and gave it back, still black. If Tata is serious about EVs, they need to come out with EV specific Service centres, Fast!
o eV is still new in India. By this I do not mean the charger availability. I am talking about the ev manufacturers, who are still trying to perfect their cars and possibly rolling out new editions before they could perfect it. Like my Tata Nexon.ev which while done beautifully from a sales POV. From a user perspective, there are way too many niggles and issues to fix. My less than month old car, has gone to the service centre for repairs thrice now and twice I have had to call the RSA for support.

While I have my own apprehensions about having an EV car as a daily drive, the issues which you have mentioned are IMO not related to EV vehicles, but are general Tata vehicle issues. This is applicable to both ICE and EV vehicles of Tata. Unfortunately I believe they are back to their horrible 2000's days, where not only the service centre quality was in question but even the vehicle quality in general.

EVs typically, are generally low maintenance vehicles compared to ICE counterparts as they involve lesser moving parts. I have read about ownership reviews of Hyundai/MG EVs and the reports are much better with little to no niggles in these cars.

[i74js]

Originally Posted by atin001

I am planning to buy an EV this year. Just waiting for some of the upcoming models as I am in no hurry to replace my ecosport.

Test drive the 2024 Mahindra XUV 400, the car is a segment above and has been priced well. You will get a real world range of 300 kms (with HVAC usage). I have used it for a day for testing, and its a pleasure to drive (Mahindra has now introduced the floating display and steering of XUV 700 in it along with 3 point seatbelt for all 5 pessengers). No niggles for almost 500 km that I drove.

I own a MG ZS eV ADAS.

[atin001]

Originally Posted by i74js

Test drive the 2024 Mahindra XUV 400, the car is a segment above and has been priced well. You will get a real world range of 300 kms (with HVAC usage). I have used it for a day for testing, and its a pleasure to drive (Mahindra has now introduced the floating display and steering of XUV 700 in it along with 3 point seatbelt for all 5 pessengers).

I own a MG ZS eV ADAS. No niggles for almost 500 km that I drove.

Yeah MG ZS is the forerunner for me. However it was last updated in 2022. With Tata coming up with multiple EVs, hope ZS gets a facelift this year.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by thomahawk

I dropped the idea of using the fast charger from Tata since I read that it doesn't resume charging out a power outage (which is common where I live). Is that something you can confirm? (guess turning the MCB off and on should be enough to check that).

I'm evaluating 3rd party chargers - but a bit careful not to buy anything that might lead to a denial of warranty just in case something unfortunate happens.

As for buying another portable charger - yes, looking at that as well. But it is quite expensive, so looking out for someone selling a used one.

There are a lot of reputable 7.2 KW chargers like Bolt, ZEVpoint. There is one charger (chinese for sure) - link which is portable 7.2KW. And it can be derated to run at lower wattage as well.

[dmaheshkumar]

Hi,
Another TATA car owner with his painful story.
Seems buying a new car is now a tedious task and that too TATA is more painful. Spending hard earned money and getting this treatment is very bad.

Tata Cars were selling in good numbers even with this pathetic service centers and dealers. If any one from TATA higher management solve these very much known issue, Surely it will complete with Maruti and Hyundai in sales numbers.

[ALTIMAed]

Originally Posted by atin001

Yeah MG ZS is the forerunner for me. However it was last updated in 2022. With Tata coming up with multiple EVs, hope ZS gets a facelift this year.

Picked up my MG Comet on 11th November 2023 - done 5298 absolutely trouble free kms till writing this mail. Happy with my purchase. Its my primary car, doing a minimum 80 kms per day.