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Originally Posted by i74js Even after this much needed facelift, the Achilles heel for e2o is the range. Unless this issue is addressed to the satisfaction of the end consumer, there is no future of this car - M & M can try whatever they have in their arsenal.
The easiest solution is a plonk a petrol electricity generator, which can be switch on whenever the car is required for a long drive so that it keeps the battery at float or atleast extend the range of the car.
They can also consider replacing the roof with solar panel and the rear glass with translucent solar panel. The cost will come down with volumes to make it a true urban commuter. |
The car sells in pretty good numbers in Bangalore. I don't think MM have really thought over volumes in flying colors given their puny production capacity in Bangalore.
Tata has speculated Megapixel which should have electric + petrol generator design.
Maini had prototyped a roof solar panel, but it was not very effective. The amount of recharging done in a full sunny day in open parking lot may not fetch even 5% of charge.
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Originally Posted by samabhi +1. Absolutely, this is exactly what is needed for the facelift.
Honestly I dont think its the range that one needs to be worried about. Its never meant to be a long distance running car, but rather a perfect CITY car and thats about it. I use the e2o for my daily city runabouts and mine is not even 120 KMs. Its 80 Kms range and it suits perfectly for my needs. Even the 180MM Ground clearance that it currently comes with is more than adequate in Bangalore, which is considered as the city of humps.
The biggest concern is with the horrible suspension and its mainly due to the single rod suspension at the rear. I strongly wish that Mahindra Reva concentrates on the negatives of the current car and make it better for the domestic market, rather than looking at other options . Add to my current woes, I moved to a new place where there are absolutely worst roads to none and I am already looking at alternatives for my daily drive. |
+1. No matter what, this car is still unable to prove that its a VFM product.
The build quality is extremely flimsy and there is no confidence inspiring while driving this car.
But on the positive side, this car is meant for B2B and traffic jams. You AC keeps revving for those 10 minutes halt at Kundalahalli/Silk Board and ultra-free steering is a boon in such a situation.
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Originally Posted by hybridpetrol The suitable range depends on how long one will travel per day, within the city. What I meant was, it should be possible to charge it on a weekly basis, even if you get caught up for your work schedule during the weekdays, and your usual travel is 50 km per day.
Apart from this, there are many known reasons why many would not buy a EV.
a) Shift to another city - No support for EV. (Charge stations, service etc)
b) Travel has to be planned more carefully. Not possible to increase the range on the go (like filling petrol)
c) Battery Life - When battery gives up, it would cost a bomb. This is just a general assumption, may be you know better, how much it costs to replace a battery.
d) Since it is not suitable for highway travel, unlike even the A segment Altos and Eons, the usual problems raise. Single car owners (major population) want everything from their one car - cannot spend money on City only car.
e) Car available only in only in a few metros. I cannot buy a E2O in my city, where there is even a good market for luxury cars and above.
No need to take any offence from the usual "against" points about the EV in general. I also want to test drive the E2O (or any EV) to confirm the above points are not true, and buy one |
The car is certainly to be placed in second car category. You must have another gasoline car as an alternative. After acquisition by Mahindra, they are aggressively planning to penetrate to small cities. But I think it will be hard to sell these in smaller cities given the general obsession with Diesels there. People do not have high in-city running mileage in small cities, that makes the matter more complicated.
A new battery replacement cost approx. 1.6 to 1.8 lakhs and it last for minimum 5 years. It can go more or less depending on how the battery was maintained. This mathematics is good enough to shy away people from buying this vehicle.
Travel Planning may sound complex but it is actually not. They have a cool app which has a buffering on a map. The buffer will tell you how much can you drive, or whether if u can come back to same position with the given charge in car. But mostly you will know in advance how much you might drive. For me, I have driven a max of 80 kms in within city which was a one-off case. On an average I drive a max of 40 kms in a day.
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Originally Posted by imove It would be nice to have a pedal inside this car so that it can help generate some electricity to charge the batteries should someone run out of charge. An auxiliary solar panel may also help a bit.
This will really help the case for this car.
Mahindra are you listening? |
Great idea but that may not work. The amount of electricity generated with that pedal thing will be lesser than negligible.
The car is equipped with regenerative braking which charges the battery when the gas pedal is depressed. If used in a proper way the car can run for more than prescribed 100 kms range. My e2O runs for 90+ kms with full AC though it is perceived not to go beyond 80kms. Without AC I have managed to get 108 kms max. The new version e2o has a mileage of 120kms per charge and comes loaded with hill hold.
The car has its own share of pluses and minuses. The major flaw is safety. Though there is a strong crumple zone, plus heavy reinforced doors, the car lacks basics such as ABS, airbags etc. On the contrary since you may be unable to drive this car faster, you may still be safe inside. The website says it is EU crash tested, but no idea which organization did that or what was the score.
This car enjoys niche category and thus cannot be compared to any other car in India. Good thing is this car has all the feature of sub-11 lakhs car and the biggest boon is its gearless.
One major advantage is the surge you get when starting from zero. Notice an e2o zoom past traffic once the signal turns green.
This car is a lifeline for my wife who was suffering 24kms of driving each day. With e2o things have drastically changed for her.
Remember that the features of this car is pretty cool. E.g. using the app you can turn on-off AC (useful when car is parked in open sun and you have to drive the car after 10 minutes), lock-unlock, charge on-off, plan the vacation where you can feed the vacation dates, the car will automatically plan the charge schedules and have the car ready to drive once you are back, no hassles. The app tells you the temperature of key areas of car such as battery, cabin etc. and sitting anywhere u can plan a trip based on available charge, find charging points on map etc. I was checking my car status while I was vacationing in Goa for 20 days
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The lock-unlock feature may sound useless but it has specialized use cases. Once the car key was with my wife who was shopping somewhere else. I had to put some heavy stuff into the car I was carrying. The app was the only option I had to open the car and unload myself.
The luxury of having designated parking spot in shopping malls with free charging points makes you feel special. Especially when there is a weekend rush, you drive like a king with security making way for you to the 'special' parking spot while others petrolheads (pun intended) keep waiting.