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Tata Punch.ev: Why I am happy choosing it over CNG rivals

7th February 2025, 13:09 by Ananth Iyer

I am happy with my purchase, ride experience and its reliability. The fuel costs are zero since I charge my vehicle at office.

BHPian Nikss5266 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I am completing 03 months of my ownership of TATA Punch EV clocked in 4000 Kms, bought in August 2024 and finally decided to write my ownership review.

I owned Ford Figo ZXI petrol since 2013 and was used shared with my brother, clocked in 57,000 Kms. The rising petrol costs always used to cut that long trip ideas to short ones due to low mileage of my Figo. Had been abroad to Canada for a year and my car was very less driven, as my brother prefers OLA / Uber. In Canada, bought a FORD Mustang Mach-e, drove around 5000 kms approx before returning back to India.

After returning to India tried using my Figo but would face frequent breakdowns due to rats, almost paid 40k in six months of use after coming back. Desperately felt the need to upgrade since mileage was around 7-8 KM/L and maintained costs were equal to a new car EMI. Finally the car broke down and it took 2 weeks for repair, wherein we decided to go in for a new car.

Didn’t want to go high on budget since mostly it would be used for city drive and we are used to flights for interstate travel. Narrowed down the purchase decision to Hyundai Aura CNG, Hyundai Exter CNG, Toyota Highryder, Hyundai Venue, Mahindra Thar 3 door and MG Comet.

MG Comet : I liked the small form factor for easy city drives, but family rejected bcoz Log kya Kahenge !!
Mahindra Thar 3 door : Loved the rawness of the car but read lot of user reviews and realised its not for the family, so had to drop the plan.
Hyundai Venue : Loved it but again Family thought too big for daily travel.
Toyota Hyryder : Took a test drive but the car didn’t appeal to me nor to my mom.
Hyundai Exter CNG : It felt good considering the fuel economy and the green color, but mom didn’t feel comfortable in the back seat due to the seating position.
Hyundai Aura CNG : These felt good, had more boot space despite the CNG cylinders and the rear seats were super comfortable for long drives.

Finalised the decision to book White Hyundai Aura CNG, paid the booking amount and was awaiting loan approval.

In the meantime, received a call for test drive of Tata Punch CNG and decided to give it a go. However, the Sales guy accidentally bought Punch EV instead of CNG, top model. Since I had already driven an electric Mustang in Canada, found the performance at par and even exceeding expectations with little tweaks from Tata as per Indian roads.

Test drive of Punch EV was an absolute pleasure and the sports mode was just a thrilling experience. The only catch was it was exceeding my budget for 4 lacs and really had to give it a deep thought whether the experience is worth paying the extra 4 lacs. Was in 2 states and finally took the decision of cancelling the booking for Hyundai Aura CNG and booked Tata PUNCH EV Adventure S Plus LR model.

However, after browsing on the net for hours discovered Ackodrive.com offering Empowered Plus LR model for the same price 14.5 L on road inclusive of all charges. Negotiated with dealer but couldn’t match the quotation and finalised with Ackodrive.com

The dealer allocated was transparent and did the PDI, found the car ok and planned the delivery on my birthday. Didn’t select the Sunroof cuz it was not our need and went with the regular charger as car was being charged at my office.

In the meantime, I went through lot of car reviews, YouTube videos and realised there are issues but can be beared with considering the drive quality. The driving experience was exceptional in city traffic where it takes me an hour for a 15km drive in heavy city traffic of Mumbai. Also, I did a 1500 km long drive since my native is in Konkan and it takes around 14 hours with charging time and 13 hours comfortable drive with ICE.

There are lot of reviews and would like to highlight some points which I couldn’t see in the reviews, very small ones but deserve to be appreciated.

Cornering Lights : Didn’t see them in other cars but were super useful while taking sharps turns in ghats with narrow roads.
Regen Modes : Having an experience of driving an EV, I love the Regen modes. I always prefer to drive at Regen 3, so I don’t have to worry about slowing down after seeing a speed breaker and in cut to cut city drive. With Regen 3 my drive has been single pedal, only using brakes for long halts.
Hill Descent : In heavy rains, while descending from ghats, Hill control was super useful especially during the U pin turns. The car always feels in control.
Driving in ghats : Never ever felt driving through ghats will be so easy and comfortable, that too in economy mode.
Sound system and screen : For the price point, the sound quality is amazing and the screen quality as well. There are some lags but manageable.
Off-roading : The Mumbai Goa highway is the best road to test vehicles their city and off-roading capabilities. My vehicle did skid due the thick mud due to road construction but felt in control. The high ground clearance helps me explore the village roads unbothered.
Range Anxiety : I gauged the practical driving range with AC on and decent driving is around 250 Kms which felt sufficient to me considering the price point. In fact, while returning from Konkan the battery fell to 10% and we were 15 kms far from the only nearest charger. Used Regen braking consistently to keep the battery at 10%. That was a close call but more informed one.
Charging options : Researched the charger availability overall in the country, found it sufficient for long road trips. I have charged my vehicle at Jio-BP, Tata and CHargezone. Faced connectivity issues but resolvable. Charging stations at Petrol pumps, Bharat and Indian oil seemed to always non working.

I am happy with my purchase, ride experience and its reliability. The fuel costs are zero since I charge my vehicle at office. The service experience was bad since the service supervisors at Sudarshan motors, Bhiwandi were not so keen and interested for the 1st free service. But the product offered by TATA is superior for the price point which overlooks the clueless service centers.

I would definitely recommend an EV over an ICE for the ride quality, low maintainance costs and features offered in an EV.

I am planning for a roadtrip from Mumbai to Leh Ladakh, next month. Will share my experience if it finalises