[zandot]

Been there, done that. Not on purpose though, simply miscalculated the charge I’d need to get home. All I can say is I like big batteries.. I can not lie

Have to say that MG seems to have to most inaccurate range estimate of all the vehicles I’ve used so far.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Unfortunately, towing is not an option for EV's. The Eddy Currents generated will damage the motor if towed. It has to be flat bedded. Portable Generator also is an option.
This is in EV's which doesn't support towing, which is most of them.

This portable generator joke has been going around too much. The tiny generators can add nothing. It can barely keep the electronics up. Not sure where you got your info about EVs and towing. The tow hook is there for a reason. Here is a video of someone towing a Tesla Model3, and showing how regen works, and how range can be added by towing it for a short distance.

https://youtu.be/IPDxt02V0vo

The key here is that the driver needs to act while he still has some battery to keep the electronics powered on. Damage can happen when the EV is completely dead, and you try towing it. There are many videos of people adding lots of range to their Teslas by towing it at higher speeds.

https://youtu.be/nILM_DEdBqM

Originally Posted by privin

My belief was that one can tow, and it actually uses regen to recharge battery. I have seen some videos in Youtube to this effect. But an extensive analysis from experts is welcome.

I am not an expert, but in my observation, one can certainly tow an EV and add range to it. The key is to not wait till the EV dies. Or try to tow an EV that is having some HV/technical issue that has cutoff power to the motors.

[DIY410]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Unfortunately, towing is not an option for EV's. The Eddy Currents generated will damage the motor if towed. It has to be flat bedded. Portable Generator also is an option.

This is in EV's which doesn't support towing, which is most of them.

Unless the electronic parking brake failed or the contactor/ relays got welded or a battery/bms failure occured or the low voltage battery itself is discharged preventing the relays to engage or is unable to run the 12v coolant pump.

Towing is perfectly safe, if the EV only ran out of charge in the HV battery.
During regen the motor controller is only shorting or closing the circuit of the phases, at the same time swapping the phases of the motor via Mosfets/ IGBT.

If the vehicle is in low power or tortoise mode and if you cannot get to the nearest charger. Towing can put a lot more juice into the battery with regen than charging via a generator.

Towing is no different then a EV going down hill and using regen. But make sure the towing is done with vehicle facing correctly and with a person continue to drive and steer the vehicle.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

.
I am not an expert, but in my observation, one can certainly tow an EV and add range to it. The key is to not wait till the EV dies. Or try to tow an EV that is having some HV/technical issue that has cutoff power to the motors.

Originally Posted by DIY410

Unless the electronic parking brake failed or the contactor/ relays got welded or a battery/bms failure occured or the low voltage battery itself is discharged preventing the relays to engage or is unable to run the 12v coolant pump.

.

This is right. The EV has to be in ON and completely functional condition for it to be towed. With the context here, if the user stops before completely draining out the system then yes, he can tow it and its just like going downhill. However, with the vehicle non-functional, towing is not an option unlike ICE cars. Apologies for not putting it the right way. Looks like post that I've quoted to reply this further adds to the confusion.

[navinmra]

Originally Posted by sharathkamath04

One question, at 0% was the electronics of the car working? Were you able to switch N -> D or was the cluster turned on?

The electronics was working, perhaps because it is powered by the 12V battery and showed the SoC (of the main battery) as 0% in the dashboard. I can’t recall if the gear knob was active. So I guess it’s better to move into neutral as quick as you can when the charge is precariously low.

[Figopian]

Why do you have to calculate how far the car can go? Does it not have a feature like DTE like in ICE cars?

[EV Fan]

I think with EV's we need to do a bit of experimental driving for the BMS and our brains to get a handle of how they fare based on the SOC.
As a Hyundai Kona owner, I think its NMC battery and a mature BMS avoids this surprising drops. It is less of a concern in this case.
I have had quite a few occasions where i have taken it below 5%, sometimes i think even 1%.
In fact, i do this monthly, after every few cycles of charging. Helps with better range estimation for the vehicle and for me.

Documenting a few experiences with different EV's:

Hyundai Kona -
Its km/KWh efficiency figures are not rendered inaccurate even at low SOC's, it has a very real-time/dynamic and accurate response to the driving style.
The DTE estimation on the other hand is inaccurate, drive enthusiastically and the delivered range is short of DTE, drive sedately and it over delivers. The DTE can cause confusion especially at low SOC levels.

No limp mode, so it can climb or maintain power and run AC even till the last moment.
Minimal Notifications, so does not add to the anxiety.

Personal worst case scenario, experience: An over confident me trying to convince my panicked mom that the low battery warning is not a concern and we will not get stranded. Reached home at 1% or lower, with no surprise from the estimates. Decided better to recharge than causing panic for co-passengers.


Tata Tiago & Nexon - A mixed bag, better know your machine personally long enough before pushing it.

Its DTE & efficiency calculation seemed slightly variable in Normal mode but in Sports mode it seems more reliable(my perception - as i prefer the efficiency figures to calculate DTE instead of displayed DTE). Put it in Normal mode and if you drive enthusiastically, the efficiency seems way off. Drive sedately and it seems manage-ably accurate.
Not so responsive to real time change in driving style but switch off AC or change mode and the figure changes quickly, seems almost preempted.
Need more test runs but i think the top 70% of battery capacity gives more range than the lower 30%, even though the efficiency figure remains same(for non faulty vehicles too).
Noticed Discrepancy between Trip A, Trip B and the app over multiple runs, anybody else notice this? The efficiency estimation starts to make sense as trip data accumulates.

Limp mode is a serious concern as the vehicle's performance can be alarmingly confusing.
The low battery notifications over the limp mode add to the anxiety.

Personal worst case scenario, experience(Tiago): During a low SOC scenario, the charge was depleting faster than the km was climbing. From 17% to 14% within 2kms. Reduced acceleration to slower than a cycle and utilized regeneration to maximum. Infact we stopped at the bottom of a short downhill with max regen and paused for a moment to figure out charging options. Strangely after this, the vehicle behaved better but still ended up taking a detour and doing a recharge before heading back.

Personal worst case scenario, experience(Nexon): Though never experienced a faulty one, but the limp mode experience was not a good one. It seemed like taking a wounded beast whimpering and crawling to the roadside. It definitely would be a concern if you have a uphilll stretch before your home and god forbid if it has a speedbreaker on that uphill section(you might be better off recharging than making that suicide run).

MG ZS - Only a single low SOC run experience, did not face SOC estimation issues or limp mode but felt AC was weaker(almost switched off).
The estimation seemed to be very well calculated, It seemed less dramatic and does not seem to vary with mild change in driving style. We can drive "a touch too enthusiastically" and the variation still does not go off the charts.
Something that i do like, especially if it is a long drive (tiring).

[Rajgir]

Originally Posted by Apex1815

I live in an apartment in Bangalore. If I plan to buy an EV Car, do I need any special connection from BESCOM or is it simply extending a wire from my Electricity meter and arrange a plug point at my parking ?

Check with your apartment association to see if they allow setting up a charging point in the basement parking (most do). Mine didn't allow and I have to charge outside.

[utkarshgoel]

Excuse me for my ignorance.
Why is towing dangerous in an EV?
In my city tractors/jcbs are being used by traffic police to tow cars. Something like the image attached. Here they pick the vehicle by putting a two forks underneath the car. Can it be done for EVs?

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by utkarshgoel

Here they pick the vehicle by putting a two forks underneath the car. Can it be done for EVs?

This can be done when you have at least one set of free wheels in an ICE car with either FWD or RWD, then accordingly such method can be utilized, or you will have to engage neutral before towing.

In EVs, due to regeneration, the wheels are connected to the motor/battery, which can damage the transmission or battery. Hence not recommended, But also depends on specific cars, better to check the owner manual for towing, where they discretely mention, do's and don't of towing.

For Tata Nexon;

In case of break down, we recommend that your vehicle be towed with the driving wheels off the ground or place the vehicle on a flatbed truck as shown.

[utkarshgoel]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

This can be done when you have at least one set of free wheels in an ICE car with either FWD or RWD, then accordingly such method can be utilized, or you will have to engage neutral before towing.

In EVs, due to regeneration, the wheels are connected to the motor/battery, which can damage the transmission or battery. Hence not recommended, But also depends on specific cars, better to check the owner manual for towing, where they discretely mention, do's and don't of towing.

For Tata Nexon;

What I mean is that they pick the vehicle in air, and all the wheels are in the air. But the the issue is that in case of EVs the entire weight of the car may come on Battery from there they have picked up.

[utkarshgoel]

Originally Posted by NomadSK

This can be done when you have at least one set of free wheels in an ICE car with either FWD or RWD, then accordingly such method can be utilized, or you will have to engage neutral before towing.

In EVs, due to regeneration, the wheels are connected to the motor/battery, which can damage the transmission or battery. Hence not recommended, But also depends on specific cars, better to check the owner manual for towing, where they discretely mention, do's and don't of towing.

For Tata Nexon;

I checked the MG ZS EV and Astor manual. The following pictures show the difference.
Astor


ZS EV

[doctorjee]

I dropped below 5% on 3 different occasions. Surprisingly the car never entered the so called tortoise mode. Found that very strange. I always drive eco. Everything was running normally. In all the occasions the destination (home) was just a few kms away so i was never under any stress. I personally find the range estimate with my car, MG Zs ev 2020 very predictable. Of course, high temps or slopes drastically reduces the estimates

[electric_eel]

Originally Posted by doctorjee

I dropped below 5% on 3 different occasions. Surprisingly the car never entered the so called tortoise mode. Found that very strange. I always drive eco. Everything was running normally. In all the occasions the destination (home) was just a few kms away so i was never under any stress. I personally find the range estimate with my car, MG Zs ev 2020 very predictable. Of course, high temps or slopes drastically reduces the estimates

The tortoise mode is for us the desi loha people; for MG ZS ev it is always the hare mode .

[d_payne]

Some very very adventurous EV owners in this thread. I've never taken the risk of going anywhere below 15% charge.