[shamanths3]

Originally Posted by shyampsunder

If the objective of Tata Motors was to ensure that customers know that the car can charge on any DC charger, there are many ways to do it including mentioning it in the brochure.

Among the high-speed DC chargers prevalent in India, it is the 60 kW DC charger that is the most prevalent thanks to Jio BP's extensive network. Won't the same doubt of whether this charger is compatible with my car come up in the minds of the user on these chargers with the existing statement by Tata Motors since it refers to 50 kW?

I would like to add on something on the DC fast charging by Tata EVs. See it was the first time in Max when tata put in new hardware and said it will support 50kw chargers ( rather they said this much time to 80% in 50kw chargers), but there are two things that I have noticed.
1. The 30kw limit seems totally software managed and sometimes in Zeon 50kw chargers i have seen Max take upto 32-33kw. If you look at the charging graphs of ZS vs Max, you can see that Max can keep the graph dead straight to about 93-94% post which some throttling happens. I am guessing Tata did this just to ensure battery health and reduce the headache of dealing with SCs.

2. Charging the Max at 30kw chargers only gives us about 25-26kw of peak rate as the charger itself cannot reach its absolute limit. So if car supports 30kw, always charge it in a 35kw or above one's as you can bet it can hold a line straight

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Sorry got held up by work that I missed the thread so far. Omkar awesome turn around, you deserve a perfect 5 star

Personally I LOVED the car (my previous experience with EV's was Kia EV6, so I assume my standards are set right). This is just the perfect vehicle if you are looking for a city run around and maybe for day trips on highways. Does not mean it can't do long drives, but keeping it very pragmatic.

Can this post be moved to the first page alongside Omkar's?

[PrasannaDhana]

I had the chance to test drive the Punch EV LR. I have test driven the Tiago EV LR a few months ago. Forget the improved range, features and 4 extra air bags, Punch EV is worth the 2 lakhs extra cost (Punch EV LR Adventure) over the top trim Tiago LR just for the performance.

It gets the new gen steering with the screen in the middle. The nice contours that Punch/Altroz IC cars have, is missing in Punch EV steering.



The 10 inch touch screen ICE looks nice too. Top end gets paddles, the one in right to increase regen level and the one in left to reduce it. Regen level 3 felt much stronger in Punch EV than in Tiago EV. Practically, regen 3 won't be used my most of us. Regen 1 felt ok. Even regen 2 engine braking was too strong to my liking.

Brakes are better in Punch EV than in Punch IC. Space wise, I found no difference between EV & IC except for mildly raised rear floor.

Coming to the most important stuff - Performance

The car is quiet. Performance while driving in City mode felt like any 90 bhp turbo diesel car. It's adequate to most of users. In Sports mode the performance is enjoyable.

To make a comparison,
it felt faster in acceleration than Polo GT 1.6 TDI/ Figo 1.5 TDCI from 0 to 80 kmph

From 80 kmph to the claimed top speed, the Punch EV felt exactly as strong as flooring the Polo 1.6 GT TDI/ Figo 1.5 TDCI in 4th gear.

For those who haven't driven either of those diesel hatchbacks, the performance of Punch EV in sports mode will plaster a wide smile in your face.

All that, without any drama/noise. You hear the road and the wind though.

When I started the range was 105 km and after 14 km of having fun with it in Sports mode, the range dropped to 85 km.

Sedate driving might give a realistic actual range of 250 - 300 km. If you like to have fun, expect no more than 125 to 150 km range for a full charge. Honestly, it's a very respectable range for most of us.

Fully digital speedo was classy



Rotary gear shift button wouldn't engage if the brakes aren't pressed fully. I mean with good pressure. It must be a niggle associated with the particular car I guess. Electronic parking brake like harrier twins.

Ventilated seats were effective but loud too. I actually checked if there was a rear ac vent because of the noise. Lol



I thanked myself for taking my 156 PS storme to test drive and not my Punch IC Punch Petrol will feel absolutely boring after driving the Punch EV.



Major damage will be to sales of Nexon EV. Punch is almost as much capable at a 30% lower cost. I can see many prospective Nexon EV buyers changing their choice to Punch EV.

[Raghu M]

I have an observation. For Indian road conditions, EVs having their charging port right in front of bonnet is a design flaw. I am very sure, there will be quite a few requests for repairs and it won't be a cheap affair. I mean TATA should've got this point early on. Astor has it too, side charging port is the safest spot.

[RollinWheels]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I have an observation. For Indian road conditions, EVs having their charging port right in front of bonnet is a design flaw. I am very sure, there will be quite a few requests for repairs and it won't be a cheap affair. I mean TATA should've got this point early on. Astor has it too, side charging port is the safest spot.

I have wondered about this quite a few times. Are there any incidents a small bump disabling the charging port? I haven't heard any stories though.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

I have an observation. For Indian road conditions, EVs having their charging port right in front of bonnet is a design flaw. I am very sure, there will be quite a few requests for repairs and it won't be a cheap affair.

Other than the location, mechanism of the lid opening is also a concern. There are report about simple, hinged lid failing on Tiago EVs. This sliding lid, while it looks cool in operation, is far more complex and there are more chances of it failing.

[venus1975]

I checked out this car today in person and really liked it. The front seats are really good and comfortable for 6 footers. However, there will be absolutely no knee room for the rear passengers, if two 6 footers are going to occupy the front seats.
So, as a 6-footer, I would consider Punch as a spacious 2-seater only, or at best a 3-seater, if I am taking one of the front seats.
Having said that, the rear seats do have a good under-thigh support and it is at par with Nexon Petrol that I compared with in the showroom.
So, Punch EV is really a good option if the occupants are 5 to 5.5 ft tall.
I would have really liked it, if Tata had compromised the boot space and increased the leg room in the rear. After all, it is going to be primarily driven within the city by most of the users, so the boot space should not matter much.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Regen level 3 felt much stronger in Punch EV than in Tiago EV. Practically, regen 3 won't be used my most of us. Regen 1 felt ok. Even regen 2 engine braking was too strong to my liking.

I on the other hand loved Regen 3, one needs to figure out how to use Regen and then you will understand how it helps. Egs with regen you don't use the Accelerator pedal as On or Off, when you do that on Regen 3 it will give you the abrupt braking and head butt. Instead if you ease off you can have a much better control of the deceleration just like an internal combustion car and further easing off will give you smooth deceleration like normal braking in a conventional car. I had figured this out in my previous drive on track and used it very effectively on the Punch EV. If you ask me Regen 3 plus the handling are the best 2 things for me on the Punch. Next comes the ride and the gizmos

Originally Posted by venus1975

I checked out this car today in person and really liked it. The front seats are really good and comfortable for 6 footers. However, there will be absolutely no knee room for the rear passengers, if two 6 footers are going to occupy the front seats.

Another thing to note, the space also depends on the way the back rest is positioned. I prefer a slightly straight back posture (not 90 deg still) since I have a weak back and don't like to risk it. Whereas other fellow mod's I have seen use very laid back (US Gheto style) and latter positioning will have an issue. 5 10" of me at front and rear was almost 2 " knee space left.

[PrasannaDhana]

Space for 2 Six footers isn't actually an issue. The underthigh support is good at the back, meaning, seat base is a bit longer than the other small cars (ex Celerio, where seat base is short which gives a sense of better legroom). With my seating position (6'2), another 6 foot person can sit behind me without rubbing the front seat back. There isn't much room to move, space is tight, but it isn't lacking, as in a polo.


BTW, did anyone notice that melodious tone for turn indicators? I loved it

[Jaggu]

So while Omkar covered the salient features of the car and the review experience, I thought I will share some fun things Tata had arranged for us during the review. The itinerary said report to https://maps.app.goo.gl/BZVohmtqAdyTiuuR8. We were wondering it would be a go kart experience or something, but turns out that they had a fleet of Punch EV's waiting for us there to test out the handling as well as experience the rough road capabilities that the car has. I had already tested the latter on the approach to Meco Kartopia which is all dusty soft kutcha / broken terrain

The idea I guess is to provide a curated experience (read safe environment) to show the capability of the new architecture in real life situations that we Indian do get to experience. Sorry no pics and videos from our side since it is unsafe to have media folks running helter skelter on such tracks. So sharing the official "B roll" shared by Tata Motors.

After a short brief and munchies later we were escorted to the Meco Kartopia track. And it starts with the straights where one can experience the 0- whatever you can do acceleration, before you do braking into corner 1 which will lead to Slalom obstacle no 1. Idea is to understand how the car handles to abrupt directional changes. Glad to report, even with those Eco low roll resistance tyres, it did 8/10 for me.

https://youtu.be/dXUZCm2e6Mo

Then there was boulders that one could drive on and some manhole shaped pits that were cut out to experience how the car would take on broken roads.

Boulders

https://youtu.be/dzBt0MsW0N0

Track drive & Manhole cuts

https://youtu.be/T_oLI83i8Y8

Then there was a side incline to experience.

https://youtu.be/w_-gDY2KxP4

Next is to replicate typical rained out experience in our cities, and an Offroad pit which demonstrate the traction control capabilities. Do note the water pit is lined with tarpaulin and its super slippery while climbing back and car comfortably climbed up, while the TC did all the hard work.

Offroad pit was something else, first there is this sideways entry into the pit which will test the capability of chassis and suspension (read wheels in air). Then the Offroad pit; since this is a front wheel driven car, one needs momentum. In capable hands a normal IC engine car might make it up with loads of momentum, but with Traction Control and Electronics this EV did this with hardly 15 Kmph of acceleration. Once the wheel starts slipping on the soft ground, the electronics take over making an effortless climb. I did try to climb very slow on first attempt and even made it up (almost), which is very impressive. The precision with which one can throttle an EV car and all that Torque available is huge advantage for Offroad if you ask me.

https://youtu.be/CmF_2mqvMs0

Last but the most fun was the climb up granite steps, I was really worried about those eco tyres. But the car just climbed up with minimal fuzz and barely any drama. Driver is looking at the horizon on this climb and spotter hands and two flags are the only thing guiding you while climbing up normally. But on Punch EV the camera does a great job (Range Rover style). Then you come to stop at the table top, engage hill decent and climb down the slippery soft ground on other side with the electronics taking over completely. System worked brilliantly and did not require any inputs apart from steering from the driver.

https://youtu.be/wtXcej-TrB4

The Offroad part was advised to be done using normal drive modes for easier modulation of power. But as usual I tried on Sports mode and it was fun fun fun. Hope you liked this and video edit is done by an amateur me, and not Tata media team.

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

The Offroad part was advised to be done using normal drive modes for easier modulation of power. But as usual I tried on Sports mode and it was fun fun fun.

Great to know the car is fun even off-road. Did Tata ever do one of these for Nexon EV? Since they seem to be showcasing the off-road capabilities, wish they had also beefed up the underbody protection. Not sure if any damage to motor or battery can be repaired without costing a bomb.

Regardless the Punch .EV is a great package for our cities.

[McLaren_P1]

Originally Posted by thomahawk

Great to know the car is fun even off-road. Did Tata ever do one of these for Nexon EV? Since they seem to be showcasing the off-road capabilities, wish they had also beefed up the underbody protection. Not sure if any damage to motor or battery can be repaired without costing a bomb.

Regardless the Punch .EV is a great package for our cities.

Is the underbody protection not good on the Punch EV?

[thomahawk]

Originally Posted by McLaren_P1

Is the underbody protection not good on the Punch EV?

Originally Posted by Omkar

No underbody protection. Tata should’ve offered some underbody protection as the motor is completely exposed:
Attachment 2563047

Nope. The Jimny has lot of aftermarket accessories available off the shelf to improve its ruggedness. For Punch one might have custom fabricate one. Most owners won't even think about taking it off-road anyway. But hey, it's nice to have a car that can take on rough roads, if it needs to. Eagerly waiting for the Sierra EV now.

[Carma2017]

Increasingly the newness factors in EVs is dissipating and it is becoming just another car. At least that is what the Punch EV review says if we use number of pages of discussion as a metric. A Creta facelift with again no newness has had 8 pages of discussion and chatter already compared to 4 pages here for the Punch.

It is going to tough for the late movers in the EV space until and unless they bring something new to the market apart from Hygiene factors. The platforms are reworked ICE platforms, the exteriors of almost all EVs launched in India till date are very similar or cosmetic upgrades over their ICE counterparts and the interiors similarly have been derivative upgrades. So, there is nothing new. We see no new body shapes or shocking sticker prices or mind blowing features or new architecture like Software Defined vehicle etc. Make no mistake, these are solid cars in their own right but not exciting enough to breathe life into EV markets. All sales are being driven by low cost of running and that can sustain sales in the short run but not long term.The Comet which is a ground up EV is the closest to original thinking seen in EV space till now. With TATA being the first mover, I only hope they give us something new with their born again platform vehicles. Increasingly my hopes are on the Avinya as the Curvv seems to be more of the same.

[SKC-auto]

Yesterday I checked Punch EV, requested for test drive but the car is unavailable, took Nexon EV test drive instead.

The battery was well packaged, the battery pack is not protruding out (less than a centimeter may be) like in Nexon EV. Driving on our Bengaluru speed brakers and pot holes should not be a problem.

The display on Nexon EV is good, so should be the same on Punch EV as well.

There was a nice door thud sound, even the Harrier door did not have that strong thud sound .

During my Nexon EV test drive I have used very less braking, don't understand why 4 wheel discs are given, may be Tata can do some cost cutting there.

The plastic quality of switches is not so good, but when I checked Punch ICE, Kiger and Magnite back to back 2 years ago I felt Punch ICE to be a quality product. If the same switches are continued then it should be fine.

I am also not impressed by the switches on MG ZS EV or Toyota Hyryder, looks like Hyundai and Honda give the best quality switches(my knowledge is limited though).