In my view, Tata Motors has a long way to go in addressing the reliability and quality concerns in their electric offerings.

BHPian rt363 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

A close friend of mine based out of Calicut, Kerala had to /is facing multiple issues with his new Tata Tiago EV. Despite low running per year, he chose the Tiago EV due to the convenience of driving an electric car, lower running costs and better value derived from the car in the long run!

Unfortunately, the mental stress and agony that he had to go through because of the faulty battery in the car wipes out all the pros that you attach to an EV and the TATAs. Since he is not a T-bhp member, posting his narrative here on his behalf.

"Team BHPians,

This is going to be a long and detailed write up is about my purchase and 3 months experience of using TATA Tiago EV XT LR Variant.

Why Tata Tiago EV?

Tiago EV was a replacement for my daily driven Hyundai Grand i10 Automatic which we had used for 7 years but had covered only 36,000km as the car was mainly used for our commute from home to work which was just 3.5km away (one way) and usual city runs for errands and other short drives. I also own a BMW 3 series G20 2020 model and I am awaiting my Toyota Innova Hycross which was booked a few months back.

The reason for changing my Hyundai Grand i10 was low fuel economy of the vehicle along with the soaring prices of fuel and also my family and I felt like it was time for a change.

When my family and I started thinking of a new car, we knew that EV was the right option as it will be just for city usage and we had also driven a couple of other EV vehicles owned by my friends and we loved the experience and with the current price of petrol, we thought EV is a great option.

How we landed at Tata Tiago EV

We were considering vehicles like Citroen and Mahindra whereas Tata was NOT something we were thinking about initially until I travelled in my friends Tata Altroz and I was really pleasantly surprised with the ride comfort and material quality. If they had an EV option for Altroz, we would have definitely purchased that.

I did some online research on Tata Tiago EV and found out that it was a very practical car for city usage even though some people faced battery High Voltage Alert issues which was also something faced by a TeamBHP member and some other minor issues which I thought back then could happen to any other EV in the market.

Despite these reviews, the very next day, I visited Marina Motors in Calicut to check out the Tiago EV. I was pleased with the spaciousness and the features it offered. The sales executive informed me that the vehicle could be delivered in about a month. After a test drive, I was convinced, and I booked the Medium Range version in Midnight Plum colour, offering a 250 km range, over the Long Range option with a 315 km range, as we believed the medium range was perfect for our needs.

After a month of waiting, the car was not delivered and they said it might take longer for the vehicle to arrive due to some issues and I was getting impatient, so I went to Rotana Motors in Calicut to check if they had a car available for immediate delivery.

In the mean time, my family and I decided to book the long range vehicle with 315km range and I asked the sales executive if they have a vehicle that can be delivered immediately and he said that they can deliver the vehicle which is in transit within 7-10 days and after confirming the same, I paid the booking amount and asked them to let me know when the vehicle arrives so that I could check the condition of the vehicle.

As promised by the sales executive, the vehicle arrived on time and I checked the VIN number and the condition of the vehicle and I made the remaining payment and the vehicle was delivered in 3 days time. All in all, it was a very good experience from Rotana Motors.. so far!

Delivery Experience

On 27th July 2023, the day of delivery, I informed the sales executive about the delivery time and he agreed and my brother and I arrived at the showroom on time but the sales executive had gone out for a test drive and arrived an hour late and even after he got back in the showroom it took over 45 minutes to finally get the vehicle keys officially in my hand.

The entire process took 2 hours+ and it was very tiring.

As a very new EV owner, I expected the sales executive to explain things like how to get maximum range, cars various functions and how the app zconnect works, etc.

But all he explained to me was how to turn on the vehicle (which was by turning the keys obviously) and how regenerative braking works and I thought that is all there is to it and drove off happily.

Driving Experience and Suspicions about the range

Even though the company claims 315km range for the vehicle, I was always expecting a realistic range of 240-260km at least. But a week into using the vehicle daily, I was surprised to see that the vehicle was reaching 20% charge from 100% with less than 120km reading driven in the ODO meter and I informed the sales executive about this and he said that it will take 3-4 full charge from the charger installed at home to get the actual range of the vehicle which seemed weird but I thought I would try that out.

Even when the vehicle was charged up to 99% the range showed only 150-160km range which is less than half of what the company is claiming.

This was my first suspicion about the battery issue and wanted to get it checked. As I was busy with work, I requested the sales executive to arrange a pick up for the vehicle and he told me he would personally come and pick up the vehicle and get the issue checked but long story short, even after two weeks of contacting him DAILY, he never came to pick up nor did he arrange a pick up by anyone else. He promised every day that he would come to pick up the vehicle.

I even contacted the showroom directly and they said another executive would call me back asap but I never got a call back form anyone from Rotana Motors Main Showroom/Service. This was clearly very unprofessional from the dealers side! Once they are done with the sales, no support/ responsibility w.r.t to car/ customer. They have ensured that I will never walk back to the showroom if i get a TATA, in future.

On august 10th 2023, I emailed Tata motors to their customer care email id regarding this range issue and about the executives irresponsibility and they immediately got back to me. Even the sales executive (who didnot care a bit earlier) called me up to ask if I had filed a complaint. I had slight hopes that things would be taken seriously from now but even after escalation he never came to pick up the vehicle, despite his promises.

On 18-August-2023, the car ran 123.6km with only 17% charge remaining and on 23-August-2023 the vehicle ran only 118km with 18% charge remaining.

I had only heard about any car dealers services being terrible and this was my first time experiencing something like this ever and I had given up on the vehicle by now and felt completely helpless.

As I am a businessman based in Calicut, I did not have the time to go to the showroom directly and argue with the executive but with all the cars I have ever owned, this sales executive is the most irresponsible person I have ever met and did not care the least bit about his customers after delivery.

It Continues

After another email to Tata Motors, I was finally contacted by another executive from Rotana Motors, Meenchanda showroom, which is an exclusive showroom for EVs, regarding the range issue and I was asked by the new executive to bring my “AEC” (charge consumption value) to below 100Wh/km by low acceleration, etc and at that time, the AEC value was somewhere between 140-155Wh/km.

This should have been explained to me by the first sales executive on the day of delivery but you all know by now how that went.

First Major Issue with Battery

Over the next couple of weeks, I tried to bring down the AEC to below 110Wh/km but that was very difficult for me since the lowest I got it down to was 135Wh/km.

This went on for the next couple of weeks until 16-Sept-2023 where I was driving to the neighboring town which was 30km away. I started from my house with 68% battery remaining but after reaching a certain point, the vehicles total “range remaining” went down to 21km and soon showed “recharge” even when the percentage was showing 60% and the car had run a total of 74km including the trip we were on.

I reported this issue to the new executive who asked me if I could bring the vehicle to their service centre and I gave the car to get it checked myself after work. During this 30km+ drive from that town to the service centre, I noticed that the “range” which was supposed to go down from the then 21km was increasing and by the time I reached the service centre, the Range increased from 21km/recharge to 70km. Basically the entire range system was reversed.

Luckily the new executive was very helpful and checked the vehicle where it showed that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle and asked me to try to charge the vehicle to 100% and then if the issue still remains unsolved, he said he’d get the first service done as the vehicle was nearing 1000km mark and I thought hopefully that will solve the issue.

But the best part was that the new executive took me on a drive and showed me how to drive maintaining “AEC number” of the vehicle by reducing constant acceleration and braking and even using the regenerative braking correctly.

From that day, I drove the vehicle exactly like how the executive had demonstrated and I even managed to bring the “AEC value” to less than 110Wh/km and I was getting a range of 180km with 20% charge remaining where at 100% the vehicle even showed a range of 240km.

Limp Mode Issue

I was conscious about my acceleration and braking after that and I wanted to check the full range of the vehicle since I had done that with one of my friends MG EV where we drove it down to 3% before we charged it.

I left for work with 20% charge and when the car hit 17% with 39km range, limp mode got activated and the AC got cut off and the cars power was reduced and the constant ringing noise was definitely a pain.

I was shocked when limp mode got activated at 17% because I had read somewhere that it usually only happens below or close to 10%.

I booked for another appointment at the new service centre and they came and picked the vehicle unlike the first place and the executive called me up to say that no issue was being shown on the system and I was given the car back on the same day after more checkups. This is when I was convinced that the car had battery issues even though nothing was being shown on their computer.

Over the next couple of trips after 100% charge, limp mode got activated at 20% and this time the car was not getting charged when connected to the cable and just kept making the ringing sound from the dash. So I let the car cool down for a while and tried connecting the charger again after 30 mins and it started charging.

After completing that 100% cycle, limp mode got activated at 26% with 53km range on 17-Oct-2023. Imagine on a 180km realistic range car, the limp mode getting activated upon crossing 150kms?

And then at 28% on 21-Oct–2023.

I just sent the video to the executive and did not bother explaining things anymore because I was already regretting buying this car. Basically, I had given up and did not know what to do. But I made sure all this was being reported to Tata motors, so I sent emails constantly regarding every single issue I have been facing then and when it happens.

Car break down and HV Alert

On 22-Oct-2023, what I had feared officially happened.

My family had taken the car to church and the car did not turn on later. It just showed “HV Critical Alert” at 25%.

I called up breakdown service via Tata Motors customer care number and I must say that they were very professional and arrived on time. I had even called up the executive and he said he will look in to it 24-Oct-2023 as the showroom was shut on the occasion of Dussera.

Battery Replacement and Temporary Car

I was contacted by the executive on 24-Oct-2023 and he told me that the vehicle had battery complaints and would be fully replaced under warranty and I was later on contacted by the Service Manager and informed that it would take 15-20 days for the vehicle to be fixed since the battery has to arrive from their plant in Gujarat and I asked for a temporary vehicle during this period and he said that they do not have any vehicles readily available.

I am lucky to have another vehicle with me, but for someone who only owns this vehicle would have faced so many issues. But I told him that it is not possible and that they had to arrange a vehicle for me since we are a family of 4 and we all needed vehicles for work and personal purposes all the time, so he said I could rent a vehicle with Rs. 1000 as the per day budget where we would have the pay for the fuel and that made no sense to me.

After calling him every day, he said another vehicle that was given to another customer during his “Battery Change” period is back in the showroom. But the vehicle met with an accident while it was with the customer and it can be given only after fixing it.

As I write this on 02-Nov-2023, I am yet to get any updates regarding the temporary vehicle and it has been 11 days since my car broke down.

Conclusion

My three month experience with the Tata Tiago EV has been far from satisfactory. What initially seemed like a promising solution for city driving turned into a nightmare of issues and disappointments.

From the very beginning, the sales executive’s very poor and irresponsible post-delivery support left me extremely unsatisfied. My optimism about the claimed 315 km range evaporated as the vehicle consistently fell short, with the real-world range proving to be just a fraction of what was promised.

I still think that if the car had worked properly, it would be the perfect option for city users like myself. But that was not the case obviously. I made a total of 6 visits to the service centre in 2 months (some registered visits and some unregistered).

I tried to save fuel money by buying an EV but I ended up stressing and losing my time instead.

I even called up the first sales executive to know if he can arrange a temporary vehicle for me, to which he said he will ask and get back to me and as you can guess, he has not contacted me till date. He should learn from other brands executives on how to treat a customer.

Being a family of 4 with members working in different fields, our daily commute itself has become really difficult. One of my relatives was considering buying a Tata Tiago EV or Nexon EV but I strongly recommended against buying any EV from Tata based on my personal experience and they have put the purchase on hold.

To conclude in simple words:

• Do I regret buying this car?
• YES.
• Would I recommend this car to someone else based on my personal experience?
• NO.
• Was the switch from petrol to EV worth it, based on my 3 months experience,
• NO, definitely not worth the hassle and stress.

My intention in sharing this review is to provide an honest account of my experience with the Tata Tiago EV, with the hope that it can serve as a cautionary tale for those considering this vehicle. Despite its promising size for city use and an okay range, the litany of issues I've faced makes it clear that this is not a vehicle I would recommend to anyone.

In my view, Tata Motors has a long way to go in addressing the reliability and quality concerns in their electric offerings. I would advise potential buyers to thoroughly research and consider alternatives, as my journey with the Tata Tiago EV has been nothing short of a disappointing and frustrating ordeal. Cheers! "

Although TATA looks like catering to the needs of customers, a huge void is to be filled in respect of after sales experience and training for staff. Hope TATA does something about the recurring complaints from customers regarding the above.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

It’s quite disappointing to note the quality of Tata Motors products, as well as the service that leaves a lot to be desired.

BHPian krishnadevjs recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Today morning I got the HV Critical Alert on my Tiago EV XT. The car's done just about 2000km and has always been charged on a slow charger. The car drives around fine, and all regen modes also work, but the HV alert light is still on.

I've called Tata's service center, Trident Motors in Kurla, and they've promptly arranged a driver to pickup the car. Hopefully, this is not the start of a long ordeal with Tata Motors.

Here's what BHPian payeng had to say on the matter:

If the car is has been running Ok, I guess its not too much to be bothered about.

Anyway do keep us updated on the developments.

Here's what BHPian ferrarirules had to say on the matter:

If the car is driving fine, i think it should be ok. Can you please share your charging graph/soc history from zconnect app?

BHPian krishnadevjs replied:

This is the SOC from the app, for the last 4 months.

Final update:

Update on my HV Critical Alert.

After 3 days of silence, after I followed up, the Service team at Trident has replied that it is an issue with the AC compressor, for which they’ve escalated to Tata Motors and are awaiting a response.

This seems highly unlikely as the AC works on the 12V battery system whereas the HV Critical Alert should refer to an issue in the EV battery - wiring - MCU circuit. Despite me telling the SA this, he is insisting that it’s a compressor issue.

I’ve written to Tata Motors customer care highlighting the issue and my concerns on the diagnosis. Nevertheless, it’s quite disappointing to note the quality of Tata Motors products, as well as the service that leaves a lot to be desired.

My father just booked an Altroz DCA, which is to be delivered next week. My father in law was planning to buy a Tiago EV. Both are now waiting to see how this pans out before taking the plunge.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Tata should sell it as an amazing driving experience, which is reasonably priced while also being economical in the long run.

BHPian crodjer recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The car is amazing to drive. No non-EV that I have test driven responds like this one. I find it odd that when comparing EVs, people consider the price premium as a negative while the price premium for ICE cars for a better engine/drive train is okay.

Tata should instead sell it as an amazing driving experience, which is reasonably priced while also being economical in the long run. A Citroen dealer tried to push me for the ICE car based on my (low) running numbers. And I find it funny, because from that logic all low running folks should just buy an Alto. EV sales folks should sell the driving experience, with the fuel/cost savings as a plus.

There were a few issues that I encountered as well:

I got my ZConnect activated (8 days after delivery) and feels pretty much like a gimmic, no utility day-to-day.

• It would be useful in an emergency situation when I forget lock the key in the car. It can happen in (non XZ+ Lux) Tiago as the boot is independent of car-lock.
• The app logs you out every two days, rendering the geo-fencing notification useless and the app is readily unavailable right when needed.
• Pre-coolling doesn't work and I am not going to try to get it to work. As someone in software industry I refuse to interact with such crap-ware day to day.
• OTP is the _sole_ authentication mechanism. So, if you know someone has a Tata EV and what their phone number is, all you have to do is get duplicate SIM (trivial) and volla they have access to your car. But at least they won't be damaging it while stealing it, so that's a plus. I am a software engineer and know for a fact that SMS based OTP isn't safe even as a 2nd factor, let alone it being just one factor.
• At some point I'd like to figure out a way to completely de-activate ZConnect so that my car can't be stolen with a fake SIM. Moreover, SMS as a technology was an afterthought and never meant to be a secure medium.

Wheel alignment was off from factory.

• On my first non-congestion drive, I realized that wheel alignment was off. I'd have to keep pulling the steering toward the left to go straight.
• I had the same issue with my Petrol Tiago as well in 2019. Is bad wheel alignment a general Tata car thing? Perhaps other owners could share their experience, or maybe keep an eye out now if you notice it
• Although I didn't want to use my dealership's service center, I did in this case and paid dearly in my time. I reached their center at 9:30 (their opening time) and they handed me over the car at 3:30 PM. From the glass I could see that they did the alignment and test-drives thrice - still not okay to take 6 hours for this on a weekday.
• For future services, I'll anyway not be using this service center as my original plan. I did it in this case as there were a few things pending on them still and I may need them for any major early issues.

Bad fit and finish. I really expected this and its true.

• The paint quality isn't good - their are fragments which are uneven.
• Roof upholstery is ugly from the corners and one can clearly see threads dangling. My old Tiago petrol had this as well.
• Doors don't close easily. It is particularly an issue with child lock, as I have to get down and close it again every time we are ready to leave for somewhere.
• Dangling wires - well everyone knows this is how Tata chose to do things.
• The rubber mats that I got don't fit right. At some point, I'll look for alternative mats which fit. This perhaps is the dealership's fault.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I managed to achieve an average of 93Wh/km, factoring the average cost of electricity across all charging sessions, cost per km was 1.95 rupee.

BHPian thilak29 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Preface - In July, MD (When 17 cars get drenched in the rains | 2000 km journey to the Konkan coast | Monsoon Drive 2023) helped me explore some beautiful stretches in the Konkan region, however the itch to travel was not satisfied completely. I was looking for an opportunity and that neatly landed on my lap. I work remotely on most days of the month and visit the office for some days for in person interactions, so there came the need to be in office around the 21st of Aug. The previous week also happened to be a long one. So, I decided to take a long drive from Puttur (a small town on the coastal belt of KA) to Bangalore. Instead of taking a routine route via Hassan, the idea was to take a longer one, really long!

Vehicle - Back in April, I did a Puttur - Hyderabad drive in Compass, this car is a good highway rider, munches miles well and feels comfortable onboard. I took delivery of Tiago EV around mid-March. Since then, I have done multiple trips to Bangalore in this and even been to Pondicherry recently. This car has its fair share of positives and limitations of its own. I felt a long drive in an EV could be an enjoyable experience to have, mostly seen as an experiment with potentially uncertain outcomes. Finally, the choice was the Tigao EV. The day before the journey the car was washed, minor DIY detailing and charged to the brim at home.

Intent - Old things charm me, things stuck in time or ones that act as time capsules/vehicles to take us back to a time when realities were different.
I have been planning a visit to Thanjavur for many months, for various reasons it just did not materialise despite best efforts. After watching the Ponniyin Selvan series of movies, this urge only became stronger. The other place which caught my attention is Karaikudi/Chettinad belt. The business adventure stories (stretching to far regions like Burma) of people from this part have engaged me in the past.

So, Thanjavur and Chettinad were central to travel, and any other interesting place around them were considered too.

Route -

Plugshare is that tool which EV owners rely on to plan their travel by meeting charging requirements. It's a simple app/web interface offering enough inputs to have fairly reliable route planning. I spent couple of hours and finalised this route -

Home - Palakkad (via Kozhikode) - Madurai(via Palani) - Chettinad - Thanjavur - Trichy - Mahabalipuram - Kanchi - Bangalore (via Krishnagiri) <few days in Bangalore > - Hassan - Home

Here is the route map:

Itinerary -

Day 1:

I started early (just before 5AM) as I had a longer distance to cover. The first stop for charging was at Kannur (GO EC), a marked site on the premise of a mall. I initiated charging and headed for a place to have breakfast, Indian Coffee House about half a km away. Tasty food, decent coffee. When I reached the car, it had charged to 90% and I decided not to wait further (the last 10% usually takes longer as charging rate significantly reduces to enable thermal and cell balancing activities). I had marked another charger at Perintalmanna (from GO EC), as I reached closer, I noticed the charger was occupied (app shows the status) and this town had a couple of other chargers to choose from, based on proximity I set destination to an EESL (Govt. entity) run charger. The site of this charger left me surprised - in the middle (literally) of a busy private bus stand (see pic). I initiated charging and started scouting for a good place that serves a good Avil Milk. After finding one and relishing it, I noticed the car was about to reach 85% and I made it back to the charging station to see curious peepers around the car. I disconnected the charger and set Palakkad as my lunch venue (with a charger, Go EC again). The drive to Palakkad was nicer than what I had experienced since entering Kerala. I reached the lunch venue (closer to 3PM, rather late for lunch, I know! But Avil Milk was heavy with all the rich fillings!). At this place, my aim was to get the car fully charged as the road ahead involves inclined elevation and there is going to be higher charge consumption. Restaurant had only North Indian curries and Kerala Parotta to offer that late (BTW- never understood the logic of not offering local curries with local breads!), lunch and a mocktail in and I was out of the restaurant. This location was like ones you notice in western countries where a stopover place has stores, restaurants, kids play areas, restrooms within a compound (of course this had EV chargers too). We need more of this! After some strolling, answering a few questions on charging from strangers, and helping a fellow EV owner figure out the charging process using the second gun, Tiago reached 100% levels. Next planned stop for a quick top up was Palani. There were two chargers in this holy town (run by Relux and Zeon individually). Zeon showed offline, tried calling their customer care, calls were not connecting at all despite repeated tries. I sent them a Whatsapp to know if there is any issue at their Palani site. I kept driving towards Pollachi and that evening drive was one of the best I have experienced recently. Top class roads, coconut groves on both sides, minimal traffic to encounter. This joy of driving was interrupted by a call from Zeon who informed me that the site will be under maintenance for the next two days. I knew at that moment; this wasn't a good sign. I exited Pollachi town and parked on the kerbside to look at options at hand.

• Option 1 - Continue to Palani, hoping Relux charger is available (may be with some waiting)
• Option 2 - Drive Dindigul and top up there (slight risk of experiencing limp mode)

I took my chances and decided to head to Palani. Sun gradually changed the hues in the sky, tall windmills on both sides of the road began to appear and disappear, roads were wider and very well laid. Somehow my mind was numb to these changes and kept wondering “What if?” and I still had about 180 kms cover for the day.

The Relux charger continuously appears busy. I still decided to take a diversion from the highway and drove towards the Relux charger site in Palani. Town was very crowded (for the weekend or for some religious reason?) The charger was set up right at the foot hill entry to the temple. A BYD Atto was plugged in and there were 5 Nexons in the queue for this charger. That sight made me realise, ‘What if’ is now a harsher reality to reckon. I did a quick calculation to see if I could make it to Madurai comfortably, the answer was no. I called up Tata in Dindigul to understand if they allow charging post business hours, they said yes! I was happy and the well-lit hills of Palani appeared even more beautiful than I found a few moments ago. By entering Palani and exiting it, I clearly lost some range. Now I had to drive conservatively, stay frugal for the next sixty-five kms to avoid limp mode on a highway. That is exactly what I did and reached the Tata charger in Dindigul, I put it to charge up and called the Hotel I had booked to inform about late check in. I pushed back and took a good nap. I woke up to the knocks on the windows, disoriented with an unexpected wake call, asked that stranger if something was wrong? He politely apologized for waking me up and asked if he could use the charger if my needs were met. Dashboard indicated 85% and charging, I happily agreed and moved on.

The drive to the hotel in Madurai was pleasant and I checked in. Before I checked in, I glanced at the trip reading.

Total Drive: 590 km

Duration: 16 hours (Google map says typical time is 14 hours, not bad, eh?)

Day 2 :

Plan for the day was to visit Chettinad and Athangudi. Courtyard by Marriott in Madurai had a Charge Zone set up, while the car got charged and spent time on breakfast.

My first destination was Athangudi Palace. Palace is situated in the middle of nowhere in a village, this place is popular for its unique designer floor tiles. Palace access was limited to a few portions, however whatever I saw was indeed beautiful. I stepped out and strolled the streets of the village to find a couple of antique shops and shops with woodwork on display.

On my way to this palace, I noticed a few huts preparing tiles and packing them (it was Sunday!)

On my way out I stopped at one of such huts to see them at work. The person kindly invited me inside and explained to me the entire process with a demo. As I was about to leave, he handed me over his cards and mentioned he has a YouTube channel highlighting designs and work, impressive!

I left Athangudi and reached Kanadukathan village. This village is full of deserted palatial buildings with planned,marked streets. I parked my car and took a long walk around this village only to find myself astonished. So many abandoned structures (some are being renovated or partly occupied with small commercial establishments) in a few blocks of this area. Beautiful buildings, well laid townships, large courtyards - indeed tragic.

I found a nice restaurant built in a renovated structure. The restaurant had just opened for lunch. The food was not ready, that gave me ample time to experience the beauty of that building and interiors. I relished a delicious Chettinad vegetarian thali, and it was the best one I had in recent times.

Post lunch I visited a couple of handicraft shops and liked a few of their works, ending up buying them.

Next in plan was to visit Karaikudi town to visit antique stores, Google said, being Sunday, most shops will be closed. I missed this detail during the planning of this day's itinerary. I headed back to Madurai, an enjoyable drive except for the blaring sun. I noticed EV efficiency dropped, possibly to keep the car cabin and battery at optimal temperature.

Back in Madurai, headed back to the hotel, parked the car and headed for a walk. I took interest in a couple of eateries around, tasted local snacks and tried a popular drink called jigarthanda in a shop serving this for the last five decades (not impressed)!

Day 3

Visit to Madurai is incomplete without visiting Meenakshi Temple; I personally prefer visiting temples early in the mornings for the serene experience it offers. After I had returned from Chettinad drive, the car was not charged. Since I left home, the car was getting charged with fast chargers only, I wanted to break that cycle with a slow charging session. I had noted two Zeon chargers within a couple of kms of range where I could get this done. Both locations were within premises of prominent hotels, around 4 AM I checked out from my hotel and the car had 13% of charge left. I visited the charging point (JC Residency) and found it occupied with an ICE car parked. Security refused to move the car stating there was limited parking space at their hotel. He even tried to falsely claim that the charger was out of order, which was not the case. I left that place and headed to the other one (Regency), I left the car to charge. The car indicated that it may need approx. 4.5 hours for slow charging to complete, I was in no hurry either. Temple of few kms away and I hopped on to an Auto. Being a popular temple, there was some crowd already, the entire temple complex was imposing. After some wait, I entered the temple's sanctum sanctorum. After darshan, I roamed the temple complex to experience its vastness and beauty. I left the temple complex, looked up Google for a good breakfast joint and found one. A good long walk and tasty food there made it all worth it. The car was showing inching towards 90 plus SOC and I headed back to the place where it was parked all this while. As there were a few more minutes left for it to reach 100% level, I began planning the day (possible charging stops, place of interest, hotel check ins etc.), the next destination was Trichy.

Driving to Trichy from Madurai involves some extremely good roads and beautiful recurring landscapes I have experienced. After a couple of hours of driving, time to charge and take a break. I reached Trichy and completed the check-in formalities at the hotel I booked and without wasting much time, I headed to Thanjavur. When I reached, it was past my typical lunch hour, I looked up for a good place to find a popular one and reached to find it crowded, waited a bit and the meal was delicious.

Next stop was a handicrafts shop run by TN Govt, near the restaurant where I had my lunch. I made some purchases and asked the store manager if he was okay with having my car parked in front of their shop for the next couple of hours. He happily agreed (insisted I return before 7 PM though) and I left for a city stroll and reached the magnificent temple of Thanjavur.

Words fail to describe its magnificence. The sheer fact that someone conceived the idea and executed it so well makes my heart swell with pride for the engineering and management skills we natively had many centuries ago to execute projects of this scale.

On my way back I stopped briefly for a charging session and headed back to the hotel.

Day 4

Srirangam is a river island and is famous for the temple with the largest Gopuram in the world. I started at the wee hours after checking out, the drive was short, town was waking up to the smells of flowers and filter coffee. There was some waiting to enter the innermost portion of the temple but nothing discomforting.

After Darshan, I started my drive for the day - Mahabalipuram was the destination. The previous night, I had planned my itinerary in detail with stopovers for charging/food breaks. I reached Mahabalipuram in the afternoon. Since it was Independence Day/Holiday, it felt there was a good number of people in that small quarter of the area. The entire city was choked with traffic and the sun was blasting mercilessly. I had decided to leave my car for a slow charging session at a resort and take a walk to beach side structures. The folks at the resort were friendly and allowed parking/charging.

That day Red Bull had arranged a sea surfing event as well, which had many onlookers. I did not find this place exciting, unsure if it was poor crowd management or scorching heat or the way ASI managed this site. I left Mahabalipuram and drove to Kanchi.

Day 5

As you would have guessed from earlier posts, my morning routine is to visit a prominent temple, so I visited Kanchi temple. The temple is well maintained (must have been renovated) and serene.

I had to reach Bangalore in the afternoon, so I left Kanchi to finish breakfast. There were two routes to opt from, via Hosur or Kolar. Based on charging option availability, I felt Hosur one is better compared to one via Kolar (this route has chargers but not well spread).

I made two stops (Vellore and Krishnagiri) for quick top ups, reached Bangalore. Chennai - Bangalore highway is undergoing maintenance and makeovers at multiple points, so the pace was not that great.

Roads & Drive -

• KL is working on widening their highways, state highways were decent but national highways were terrible
• In KL, Buses were rash, I wonder why no one protests (considering the state has a thing for protests) for their unsafe driving putting citizens at high risk, I have witnessed so many near misses due to their negligent timing.
• Palakkad to Madurai was a beautiful drive to experience with a good mix of roads through the rural setup of Pollachi and good highways.
• 99% of roads I experienced in TN were in top shape, kudos to those who made this possible, no wonder this state is progressing well.

What I couldn't do -

I wanted to visit Pamban bridge and reach the tip of Dhanushkodi from Madurai. However, two chargers enroute to enable this were not reliable, hence dropped the idea.

Charging experience -

• Charging stations (barring one, near Melur) had marked parking and easily accessible.
• TN and KL has best charging infra as on date, undisputedly
• Chargers were reliable, experienced power outage only once which was restored within a few minutes.
• Most use hardware from ABB or Delta, few in KL seem to be China made.
• In KL charging costs nearly half much as seen in TN or KA
• Have patience to answer questions (most are repetitive to you) from curious individuals

Efficiency & cost -

I managed to achieve an average of 93Wh/km, factoring the average cost of electricity across all charging sessions, cost per km was 1.95 rupee.

After a couple of days spent in Bangalore, I headed home and when I reached home the trip meter showed above numbers.

That concludes my solo drive in a little EV.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

With the AC on and the regen level set to 1, approximate range is around 225 km.

BHPian swami69 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Done about 600 km, daily to office, round trip 55 km

• Home Charging - I bring it down to 40% and charge it back to 95-100% alternatively

• Real world range - With all time A/C ON and mostly at Regen 1, the range is approx 225 kms @ 96 Wh/km efficiency

• Air Conditioning - It is not bone chilling like my Fortuner, but OK. Need to check whether they can do any tricks in the Battery Management System to provide more power to make the A/C provide more cooling ?

• Drive - Absolutely fantastic. But one thing, after doing these Regen Exercises, i did drive it with Zero Regen yesterday and it just felt so more comfortable and like any other car. In Regens, the vehicle slows down without any rear Red light warning and I have a sense the motorists behind in close traffic are caught off guard. I could see on more than few occasions that they apply brakes too close to my car because they do not get the Rear Red light connect.

• Climbs - It rained heavily yesterday evening in Chennai and my trip back home had two jam packed flyovers with stop and go tightly packed traffic. Just turned on to S mode and there was absolutely no rolling back, a split second like a normal car and it moved forward without any complications. I have read people saying, it rolls back by 1 feet ! it did not.

• Charging port door issue - Yes, I faced it once and adjusted the locking lever slightly. Then, i do pull the opening lever near the driver seat two times in succession and the door opens without any problems. TATA should fix it though with a tougher door.

• Mode Selector - This being just a knob, I think people have to be extremely cautious. i.e., As i usually do in my other Automatics, i have practiced now to turn it back to N when in Stop Light, and move it back to D to drive. If by mistake I turn in the wrong way, it would go to R and without realizing, if we press the pedal, the car will go back - . I do not see any protective mechanisms to avoid this EXCEPT being really attentive. In other cars whether it is Automatic or Manual, putting it in Reverse need a conscious effort and there are fail safe mechanisms - OR is there something in this EV which I do not know off / or thinking too much ?

Nothing more to report at this point and I will alternate between No Regen and Regen 1 depending on the traffic situations.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I am seriously wondering if Tata had rushed up Tiago EV without proper quality control & reliability checks.

BHPian Aceman82 recently shared this with other enthusiasts

Looks like Tata has replaced the need for visiting fuel bunks with regular visits to the service centre

Two issues have cropped up after 1st Service.

Car does not charge fully and stops charging at random:

Not sure what is going wrong where the car refuses to charge any further. To fix this, have to drive for a minute/two to reduce the charge by a couple of percentage points and then connecting the charger once more. At this point it would start charging and stop randomly at a different point.

Fuel/Charge lid not opening/closing is back again

In the 1st service, i had explicitly called out this issue to PPS motors and was guaranteed that its fixed. Less than a week after service, the charging lid now does not close (if opened) or vice versa.

I am seriously wondering if Tata had rushed up Tiago EV without proper quality controls (or) reliability checks. Need to run back to the service centre today once more to look into these issues. It is not like everyone has time to drop everything in their schedule and run to the service centre every week.

Read BHPain comments for more insights and information.

I faced a major issue with the car starting at 7000 km. The car used to switch off on the middle of the road and not start for 15-20 minutes.

BHPian andhumandun recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

10,000 kms Update:

I completed 10,000 km last week. The car is definitely fun to drive and the best city commuter right now. I am enjoying commuting on this electric pocket rocket.

But the car is not niggle free. As we are seeing on this forum, several people are going through different problems.

I faced a major issue with the car starting at 7000 km. The car used to switch off on the middle of the road and not start for 15-20 minutes. "HV Critical Alert" warning got displayed. I was stranded several times and once had to call RSA to tow the car as it did not start even after 30 minutes.

After 3 trips to service center, finally the issue was resolved by changing the MCU (Motor Control Unit) which was diagnosed by a Tata EV engineer who visited the Peenya service center to check my car.

The details of this problem have been documented in a separate thread here.

Fuel/Charge lid not opening/closing is back again:

This is a common issue. You just need to bend the clip with hand (highlighted in the image) slightly so that it locks into place when the lid is closed.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

It is a joy to drive in the city and I am getting a practical range of 220 km on full charge with Regen Level 1 always.

BHPian swami69 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I bought my Tiago EV last week - Daytona Grey XT LR version

I had originally booked an Altroz DCA and due to delays in delivering the car by PPS Motors, Chennai, I went back to my original thought of buying an EV and picked this up pretty quickly from their available stock. July dispatch and bought in July - All good with the PDI and the car.

This is my second car and my daughter would also start using it. Considering we may put approx 50 kms per day, this seems to be very economical, though considering the upfront purchase cost is higher.

It is a joy to drive in the city and I am getting a practical range of 220 km on full charge with Regen Level 1 always.

I do slow charging at my home from the supplied charger. I have not put in many kilometers yet and unable to share more information. But, so far, so good with respect to charging, driving, comfort, Air Conditioning etc.

I just bought the floor mats, boot mats, mud flaps, window visors from the dealer. I did not like the steel wheels and its hub caps, hence bought a set of alloys (GT-PRO) for the same 14" size and used the tyres which came with the car. The stance and the looks are very nice now.

Hopefully I do not get into any major niggles etc. Will share more updates once I drive more.

Statistics at this moment :

• Approx 400 kms
• Energy efficiency : 98 Wh/km
• Regeneration Efficiency : 20.4%

Read Team-BHP's official review of the Tiago EV for more insights and information.

They said that once the part arrives at the service center, it will take 2 days to replace it. Apparently, people from the factory will be coming to replace it.

BHPian abc_xyz recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My vehicle makes a "drrrrrrr" sound while accelerating and regenerating. Initially, I thought that this sound is normal. But, having read several times that the EV drive is very silent, I always had a nagging doubt that there is a problem with the vehicle. Vehicle diagnostic report also did not show any abnormalities.

Recently I took my vehicle to the service center for scheduled servicing. I specifically asked my service advisor to ask their mechanic to test drive the car and confirm if the sound is normal or abnormal.

The mechanic was very busy during the day replacing the battery pack of a Nexon EV. He finally managed some time in the evening and we went for a drive in the car.

He immediately told me that this noise is not normal. We went back to the workshop where he lifted the car up and checked if anything is sticking into the Tyres or any other moving parts. He then started the vehicle and spun the tyres. He asked his colleagues to identify the location of the sound. It appears that the sound is coming somewhere near the motor.

The mechanic says that this is the first time this problem has been reported in a Tiago EV. He said this problem had occurred in a Nexon EV and it was rectified.

He called his engineer who apparently asked for some data. The mechanic says that he requires 2 days to collect this data. This data will be forwarded to the engineer who will decide the next course of action.

All this happened yesterday. Let's see how it goes.

I looked up this issue in the Internet and found a post in our Team BHP forum where it was mentioned that this problem in nexon is due to a misalignment of a washer.

Update:

I kept calling the service center 3-4 times a day. On the first day, they told me that they are checking some parameters. On the second day, they told me that the details have been collected and mailed to Tata for the next course of action to be taken. On the third day, they said that they had identified the problem and that a replacement part has been ordered. They told me that this part would take 15-20 days to arrive at the service center. They asked me to collect my vehicle and bring it back to the service center once the part to be replaced arrives there. They did not tell me which part needs replacement over the phone.

Anyways, I went to the service center and collected the car. They told me that the part which needed the replacement was the motor coupled with the gearbox. Apparently, the problem was in the gearbox. But, since the gearbox and the motor are installed in the factory in a coupled condition, it seems that the entire set needs to be replaced. My SA was telling me that this part costs around Rs. 3 lakhs.

They said that once the part arrives at the service center, it will take 2 days to replace it. Apparently, people from the factory will be coming to replace it.

Overall, I felt satisfied with the response from Tata.

I will provide further updates as and when they are available.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I was really looking forward to the Tiago since monsoons had started and every single day with the M340i on the roads was a risk I really didn't want to take.

BHPian krishnadevjs recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Earlier this year, we sold off both our cars, a 2017 Skoda Octavia L&K and a 2015 Maruti Alto K10 AMT, and got a 2023 BMW M340i LCI.

However, practical constraints of the city alongwith the fact that a 130mm ground clearance car is not really meant for the waterlogged roads that Mumbai in monsoon would offer forced me to look out for a new city car.

Given this would primarily be for daily commute with running of close to 50km a day, we decided to go for a Tata Tiago EV. In late April, we booked the XT MR variant in Midnight Plum colour with Wasan Motors. At the time, we were told all colours and variants are available for immediate delivery and we would have preference since we'd made the booking.Since the car was a birthday gift for my wife, I wanted it delivered in June, coinciding with her birthday. So, we agreed that the Midnight Plum XT MR would be delivered by June 2nd week.

Around the last week of May, I contacted them, only to know that there was no car available in XT MR variant, except for White. We didn't want that colour and asked them what other options were there. They said the LR XT Plum variant was available, and we said yes to it the next day. As soon as we said yes, that car suddenly disappeared - with Wasan offering the logic that someone else got allocation of that vehicle.In the midst of this, my SA at Wasan quit and moved to MG. The new guy was not at all interested in following up or solving our queries on availability. Finally, I was forced to cancel our booking at Wasan and move to Trident Motors.

Trident, initially felt refreshing and were pretty upfront about stock. They said they didn't have the car in stock, but could get me a Signature Teal Blue XT LR by 25 June if I booked it right away.Since my plans of gifting my wife the car on her birthday were anyway bust and Trident would seemingly deliver the car by month end, I went ahead and booked the car with them.

Sure enough, 25th June wasn't happening. On 23rd, they told me the car had landed in their stockyard. I drove down to Panvel the next day and did the PDI of the car.

Apart from a non-functional charging lid release button, everything else was fine. So, I went ahead and paid them the balance amount the same day. At the time of payment, they said it would take till 25th June for their accounts team to receive the money, registration would ensue and final delivery would happen by 30th June. I was now really looking forward to the Tiago since monsoons had started and every single day with the M340i on the roads was a risk I really didn't want to take.

On 30th, I called them and enquired on the status of registration since I hadn't received any SMS from the RTO. To my surprise, the SA tells me the car will be delivered only by 3rd July - a total of 11 days since paying the full amount. Apparently, registration was delayed.

Not only was this a breach of commitments, but it doesn't make any sense to me why any dealership need so many days for registration. Especially since invoicing is done. The only reason I can think of is that the vehicle has gotten damaged in transit from their stockyard and the dealership is trying to cover up by quietly repairing the damage.

So far the experience with Tata Motors hasn't been very good. And this is even before getting the car in hand. I'm a bit concerned if we've made the right choice with this decision.

Am I justified in my fears or is it just me being anal about this given a series of failed commitments from two dealers?

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.