[roy_libran]

EV - City Daily driver
ICE - Trips

No confusion!

[Eco_boost]

I have a 24,000 km run Nexon EV, and barring TATA specific issues, it’s an excellent money saving machine. So my next will be definitely an EV, just not from TaMo. As of now, Ioniq 5 is at No.1 on my list. Can serve both for in-city and intercity tours.
Cheers!

[prasanna_indaje]

My Nexon EV is more than 35000 kms on the Odo. Initial 6 months were horrible with many niggles. No major issues after that.

Replacement for Nexon EV will be another EV with bigger battery and capable of covering 400 to 450 real life kilometres in single charge OR a hybrid with 25+ kmpl mileage !

Intended usage will be to cover daily travel needs.

[rkmunjuluri]

Own a Nexon EV Max from June 2022 and completed almost 28K kms. Most of it being highway runs of more than 500 kms one way.

As mentioned in the similar poll earlier, will definitely choose an EV again. This time focusing on range and after sales service as well. Budget may sway a little bit higher than now, but I would expect better choices in next 4 to 5 years when I am ready to switch to a brand new EV.

[Humane India]

Title :- Will I ever go back to an ICE car ?

Response :- Only when we prove that the earth is a flat surface !!
Reason :- These surveys are purely biased and hugely sponsored by Oil Industry lobbies by paying these MNCs via kickbacks !!

Context :-

- I own a VW Jetta 2.0 TDI since 2011 and have been driving it with an analytical mind like a geek to come to a conclusion what true engineering is and how a car must have great driving dynamics along with a great engine-transmission combo
- Recently we got a MG ZS EV and been driving it the same analytical angle since then, thereby testing its endurance in terms of range and driving dynamics

Comparative Observations :-

1. Sheer Driving Pleasure
- Am I driving an EV just to save a few bucks ? The answer is a big NO as EVs are just buttery smooth to drive compared to an ICE car
- The power delivery from the drivetrain is so smooth that you can drive 30% more in a day on highway without feeling fatigued
- Even when compared to a CVT, TC OR DSG, the EV drive like roller skates and you do not feel the difference in inertia much compared to ICE powertrains
- The centre of gravity in an EV is far more balanced and optimal comapred to any front or rear mounted engined car. Hence the driving dynamics of the car feels much more planted comapred to an ICE
- When the regen settings are set to the highest, the single pedal driving cuts 80% use of the brake pedal and the braking effect on the more than 1.5 ton car feels much more balanced compared to an ICE
- Being a hardcore German Engineering fan of powertrain and transmission combo of ICE cars, this EV has already taken me away in love of EVs

2. Economical Aspects
- At home charging rates of any discom of any state, an EV saves a minimum of Rs. 5.50 per kilometer (illustration Attached)
- Anyone who has the luxury of solar installed MUST look at EVs seriously if their commute is routined 80% of the days i.e Point A to B travels AS they will be driving free and saving almost Rs. 7 per kilometer
- The Indian mentality that is observed with regards to EVs is - What if I want to travel to an outstation with an EV ? People with a routined commute like from home to office 5 days of a week, say from Delhi to Gurgaon with 80 km a day, ignore the benefits of saving fuel cost of minimum 400 km commute for a work week and reject an EV outright for those 2 days of weekend travel plans. That is like almost like ignoring saving of Rs. 2000/- a week (Crunch the numbers of monthly savings as per individual commute)
- Even on weekend if you want to travel, the first 300 kms will be free as the residual charge from previous day and the overnight charging from the slowest charging rate from 11 PM to 7 AM previous night is more than 35% daily - So the car will never be out of juice even with tortoise charging, let alone 3.3 kW or 7.4 kW options of fast AC charging
- Even if you travel long distances on weekend, there are plenty of DC fast chargers on the highways than can charge your car fully while you have lunch/dinner stop - which is anyway 35-45 minutes even in an ICE car
- The lack of too many moving parts in an EV compared to an ICE car makes the maintenance easy on the pocket. The cost of maintenanc of an EV is one-third compared to any low maintenance ICE car like Maruti/Hyundai
- The tyres have a longer life span than an ICE car due to low rolling resistance in most cases and the brake pads and discs last even longer if one cracks the technique to use motor regen optimally

3. Battery Concerns
- Most of the LFP batteries offered in e4w cars like Tata, Mahindra & MG have a standard warranty of minimum 8 years OR 1,50,000 km or more
- The biggest concern you get to hear from people who are about to buy an EV or for the best past time of people who do not even plan to own or own an EV and just want to pass on misinformation is - WHAT IS THE COST FOR REPLACEMENT OF BATTERY AFTER WARRANTY PERIOD ?
- First of all, the whole battery is battery is never replaced unless and untill the whole circuit of the battery is damaged
- Think of battery like a bunch of grape, only the bad module of the battery will get thrown away and replaced with a new module/bunch AND not the whole battery pack
- There are reports of cars in USA that people are driving more than 3L miles and for more than 8-10 years and still their EVs are running with more than 85% battery hold capacity
- So it is a clear myth that the batteries would not last long or the whole battery pack has to be replaced with a huge cost post warranty period

4. Mindset
- This is perhaps the biggest thorn in the adoption story of EVs worldwide
- Either people do not study well before buying an EV or they get discouraged due to ill advice of laymans understanding
- People buying an EV must think like a modern youngster, be curiositive about the ecosystem, the techniques to drive this new technology, be more collaborative and learn from co-owners of EV
- A person who is not ready to think beyond the traditional approaches of Petrol/Diesel should - NEVER BUY AN EV EVER - because they will always find a reason to blame upon buying it

I urge people not to fall in traps of such reports and move towards a brand new change of liyestyle of smooth driving with an aim to contribute in the global story of reducing pollution caused because a few greedy people want to earn billions of dollars for themselves

" Switch To An EV asap"

[omzworld]

Originally Posted by mally2

Tiago EV user and own a Hexa AT for highway duties

Retaining Hexa only because it’s irreplaceable! Once it dies of old age. I will retire from ICE completely

Next purchase will be a EV with 60-80kw battery.

Ditto. I will replace my Tiago EV with another one just because with lease, you don't lose much. Hopeful to get some interesting options in next 6 months in the <25L bracket.

Omkar

[Mik]

I own a Compass and a Nexon EV.

In case we let go the Nexon, it will be replaced by an EV only.

Being a fully EV only household will not be feasible for us as sometimes i like to do very long 1k+ days on highways and the EV simply will not be able to manage it. If that was not a constraint and if 400km a day was more my thing, EV only households can be a reality today with long range versions of new EVs in the market.

[BHPjunkie]

I currently use an EV, Nexon Prime Dark Edition, for city duties and a Carens petrol 7DCT for highway duties. Both the cars were bought with a months difference and I am completing one year with both of them.

I can confidently say that my next car will be a hybrid if I want to have a one car garage. EVs on highways require way too much planning and patience. It's not like top-up and leave like a petrol or diesel. Further especially in India, the charging infrastructure, though coming up quickly, isn't reliable. It's often that a charger is present but not working due to multiple reasons. Add to the fact that tier 2 and 3 cities do not have stable electricity supply. So EVs on highways is a total no no for me.

EV for city and ICE for highways is working brilliantly for me currently. Gives me the novelty factor and low cost running of an EV in the city and a reliable petrol for highways. I would have preferred diesel for the highways but the entire diesel ban talks was a put off for me personally.

[rrsteer]

Have a Tiago EV for city use and a Kia for highway use. This combination works really well for us and I don't see it being changed any time in the future.

I am not going back to an ICE car for city use ever again. I feel the advantages of an EV are most accentuated in city use. Ideal for short distances, you never think about the strains the stop-go traffic puts on the engine/drivetrain, silent cabin (you appreciate it more in the slow city speeds), relative guilt free use of AC in a parked car, instant torque and ability to zip through in traffic, your own petrol bunk, and last but not the least, you aren't polluting your city.

In the same vein, I will stick to an ICE car for highways. There are already too many variables to contend with while driving on highways in India, an EV adds some more to it. Until and unless our infrastructure works like clockwork, and our highways are respected for what they are, and not treated as platforms to protest, congregate and disrupt, I use only an ICE car on highways.

[mh09ad5578]

Originally Posted by speedmiester

I am happy with my current EV (ZS EV), this is my primary car for both city and highway usage. I have also made peace with the shortcomings of owning an EV in India.

I will buy another EV with longer range in the near future which will negate some of the shortcomings.

Same thoughts here, Punch LR owner two months old with 8.5k Kms on the odo, regret not uping the budget and getting a ZSeV, the day affordable real world 400 km range Evs arrive (driven at 100-120KMPH), ICE will be dead. I was a diesel fan with more than 800k km under my belt and I am not going back to ICE. Next upgrade will be that 400-500kms real world range EV as soon as I can afford it

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by Humane India

1. Sheer Driving Pleasure
- Am I driving an EV just to save a few bucks ? The answer is a big NO as EVs are just buttery smooth to drive compared to an ICE car
- The power delivery from the drivetrain is so smooth that you can drive 30% more in a day on highway without feeling fatigued
- Even when compared to a CVT, TC OR DSG, the EV drive like roller skates and you do not feel the difference in inertia much compared to ICE powertrains
- The centre of gravity in an EV is far more balanced and optimal comapred to any front or rear mounted engined car. Hence the driving dynamics of the car feels much more planted comapred to an ICE

Do you not think comparing a nose heavy diesel to an EV to form conclusions on smoothness and centre of gravity, is a little premature? I appreciate the points you have made but just as you claim all surveys are biased and sponsored by big oil, I find some of the conclusions you have drawn to be biased as well.

I mean you claim to have driven one diesel and one EV with an "analytical mind like a geek" however I would like to see the observations/data you have used to come to certain conclusions that otherwise seem unfounded for example being able to drive an ev for 30 percent longer? stating that battery degredation is a myth when there are threads on our own forum where members have had to replace their battery packs multiple times? Are you implying that these members are also being paid by big oil? Commenting on long term ownership costs of wearable items like tyres, brakes and brake pads when you have owned your EV for just 2 months?

I am not against you or trying to offend you or even saying that EVs are bad however I am saying that you seem to be in the honeymoon period of your EV ownership and the broad conclusions you have made seem to be premature. Merely stating that your conclusions are based on keen analysis does not make it so.

[TorqueAddict007]

There's no way I am ever replacing my Tata Punch EV for city use with any non EV again. That's completely ruled out of the equation. There's no compact ICE car that can offer me the smoothness, near zero NVH, raw acceleration and instant torque, as well as sheer gearless convenience of an EV, at this price point. No petrol or diesel cars in this price bracket offer all these options to me, given that I use the Punch exclusively for city rides. Any ICE that I have to buy around this price range, I will have to compromise on some aspect.

Diesels offer frugality and good low end torque, but they're more expensive to maintain and my city running consists of a lot of short runs which is just asking for DPF issues. On top of that, who knows when there's going to be a draconian 10 year lifecycle imposition on diesels as in NCR. Manuals are impossible to drive in the streets of Bengaluru without the left leg groaning, and traffic here is only going to get worse. NA petrols in this range are offered with terrible AMTs, providing neither a smooth experience nor heaps of power on tap. They satisfy all demands to some level, but not one single demand is satisfied in a compelling way.

Turbo petrols with slick DCTs or ATs may offer that power on tap, as well as that buttery shifts, but they all come with terrible FE, and need to be driven as sedately as possible in order to extract more FE, which defeats the entire purpose of having all that power. Plus in the case of DCTs, there's always the fear of the gearbox going kaput.

On top of all this, I pay a fraction of the running cost for ICEs, and even assuming that the resale value of the Punch EV is going to be a bit worse, for how long I plan to keep it, that is at least 6 years, I would have already made back that money from all the savings in running cost.

As for highway runs, we have an Innova HyCross Hybrid at home, which will see us through for at least another 8-10 years. I voted I would buy an ICE replacement for highway runs, because of two reasons - one, I am not exactly sure how viable it will be to have a mass market EV that can do sustained highway trips at 100-120 kmph for at least 400 kms one way, and also how much the DC charging speeds as well as the charging infrastructure catches up. If they do, then yes, our next grand tourer shall also be an EV. Two, it has been a lifelong dream of mine to own a petrol BMW 3 series sedan. I want to enjoy their beautiful engines and that amazing ZF 8 speed transmission before they are phased out. And if I ever end up in a financial position 6-8 years down the line where I have enough money to plonk down on a well maintained, used 3er, I am going to bite the bullet. But that would honestly be more of an emotional decision and would be about fulfilling a boyhood dream. But the future is always uncertain, who knows how much EVs will develop in that timeframe, maybe I will become more practical and less emotional as I age. All I do know is that EVs are very, very likely going to be a part of our garage for years to come, in one guise or the other.

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by Humane India

- The tyres have a longer life span than an ICE car due to low rolling resistance in most cases and the brake pads and discs last even longer if one cracks the technique to use motor regen optimally

Longer life, I don't thinks so. There are enough studies done which says that EV's having high instant torque chews the rubber at a faster pace than ICE cars, having similar rubber composition and similar driving patterns.

Sorry, I didn't understand your other statement of having low rolling resistance, how that depends whether the car is an ICE or EV ?

Yes, motor regen is a good technique to save your discs and pads, but won't that interfere with your smooth driving. How the passengers would feel with that jerky drive due to regen ?

EV owners - I would like to know about the resale value/experience of the EV, has anyone yet sold any of their prized possession ?

[pram_ind]

Using my ZS EV for both city and highway drives and I am loving it.
Wifey headaches have magically disappeared after using EV for long highway drives. She was totally against EV(BIL's advice), and once she experienced highway travelling in EV, now vouches for it.

Been doing lot of Highway drives, the highest being 950 km (Bang to Bhimashankar), done in a single day. Most of the charging done during Food breaks.


Conclusion : My next car will be an EV.

[nik0502]

A big No.

Bought a Tiago EV in January and car has done about 12K kms. My other car is an Ecosport AT and I just sold my Civic VAT. I think I am the only one going against the tide here. I will in all probability not buy an EV again.

My daily running is 100 kms. The reason I chose Tiago EV is the cost advantage. I save about 20 K a month when compared to the similar running from my Ecosport. However the initial cost of purchase was very high. There’s almost 4 lacs difference between Tiago petrol and EV. Now there is definitely huge difference between the power train you get in Tiago petrol and EV but the rest of the car is still a 4 lac cheaper car. That coupled with so many factors affecting the range like the range dropped by 30-40% during NCR summers makes the car range very unpredictable. Also I drive on highways without breaks and like to reach the destination and then relax rather then taking breaks for charging the car. I took the car on a highway once with proper planning and range calculations and checked all the charging stations where I can stop and charge the car. Unfortunately got stuck in a 4 hours traffic jam which impacted the range badly. Now I was frantically searching for a charging station at 2 am with wife and the car had less than 20% left. Decided the same time that I am never taking the EV on highways again. Also I spend about 4 hours in the car daily and the stock music system is sub par. I have a full fledged system lying unused including amp, underseat subwoofer and components which I can install in an ICE car without thinking too much but not in EV. Risking electrical warranty in EV means losing warranty on the entire car. Of course a car few segments above can give me a better music system but what I am saying here is the flexibility is just not there when it comes to EVs.