Detailed First Drive review of Nexon EV MAX! The much needed SUV in the Indian EV lineup #NexonEvMa
The Indian automotive industry is evolving towards EVs, so is Tata Motors with their product lineup, we've already seen Nexon EV, Tigor EV, XPRES-T EV Commercial and recently launched Ace EV for e-cargo transport solution, and here is the much needed Nexon EV Max. You might mistake "MAX" as a longer version of Nexon EV but except the dimensions everything is Max in this Nexon EV Max, which includes more features, more safety, more power, higher drive range, bigger battery pack and faster charging solutions. Talking about the exterior design, there's hardly any changes except new Alloy Wheel design and new Intensi-Teal shade which is exclusive to the Nexon EV MAX, whereas there isn’t a single ‘Max’ badging & rest is similar to regular Nexon EV. Coming on inside which gets more noticeable changes, you"ll notice light coloured Makarana beige cabin with blue highlights which remains almost similar to the standard car, but now it gets a revamped central console consisting a Jewelled Control Knob with active mode display, Multi-Mode Regen, Electronic Parking Brake with Auto Vehicle Hold and cup holders have been replaced by a wireless charging, at the dashboard applique it gets a unique tri-arrow pattern which fades into a dark shade of blue towards the sides by which we are impressed, also the cabin floor has been raised by about 10mm which has lead to reduction in thigh support for rear passenger. The Max also gets some additional features which includes leatherette seats with ventilation for front passengers, air purifier which is integrated in infotainment system, wireless smartphone charging, auto-dimming IRVM, cruise control and enhanced safety features like ESP with i-VBAC (intelligent – Vacuum-less Boost & Active Control), Hill Hold, Hill Descent Control, Electronic Parking Brake with Auto Vehicle Hold and all 4-Disc brakes. The major highlight for the Nexon EV Max is the all-new 40.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which is 33 percent larger than that of the standard Nexon EV. The motors can produce maximum 143hp and 250Nm, which is a gain of 14hp and 5Nm over the standard version, also it has gained 100kg of weight, and this results performance felt quite similar to the standard version. Its sprinting abilities remain identical to the standard car, with a 0-100kph time of 9.4sec, however, it now hits a top speed of 137kph, which is 17kph higher than the standard EV’s 120kph. Whereas Tata Motors has limited rest two, City and Eco modes to approximately 97hp and 170Nm of torque, whereas the difference between these two modes is down to their throttle responses, Eco being slower than City, and this leads to slower acceleration but more efficiency. Now the springs and dampers have been slightly reworked to handle the extra weight, though it is a bit stiffer but still continues to flatten imperfections and potholes well, even the body roll is quite well controlled despite having a larger battery pack beneath floor, highway cruising is also quite stable and impressive, specially when compared to its rivals. Though you won't have to worry much while driving over high speed breakers or broken roads but ground clearance is now 15mm lower than the standard Nexon EV’s 205mm because of the larger battery pack. Despite having the all-wheel disc brake set-up, in panic braking tests, the Nexon EV Max stops in a longer distance when compared to the standard EV, this is because of added weight. Now coming on most important aspect, how much range can we expect from this MAX, though the company claimed ARAI range figure is 437Km but it would be quite hard to achieve that figure in real world conditions, but you can easily achieve around 340Km of single charge range if drive nicely in Eco mode, though we couldn't check the single charge range extensively but as per our calculations we got 281 Km of range on a single charge as we drove the car equally in all three modes, most of the time used the Regen braking and also used AC more than half time. Coming on charging solutions, the standard car is available with a 3.3kWh AC charger that’ll take the battery from 0-100 percent in 15-16 hours, but now customers get the option to purchase a 7.2kWh wall-mounted AC charger, at a premium of Rs 50,000, which charges the battery from 0-100 percent in 6.5 hours. While using a 50kW DC fast charger, Tata claims that Nexon EV Max can be charged from 0-80 percent in just 56 minutes. Coming to the final verdict for the Nexon EV Max, firstly it's a much needed product not only in Tata's product lineup but also in the Indian EV lineup, it fills the gap between regular Nexon EV and ZS EV, which means wider options to select from for EV buyers. This Nexon EV Max with more range will bring more customers in Tata showroom, and the MAX is a better version of regular Nexon EV with added useful features and safety tech at just a premium of Rs 1.54 lakh, so I believe most of the customers of regular Nexon EV will also tilt towards this MAX.
The Indian automotive industry is evolving towards EVs, so is Tata Motors with their product lineup, we've already seen Nexon EV, Tigor EV, XPRES-T EV Commercial and recently launched Ace EV for e-cargo transport solution, and here is the much needed Nexon EV Max. You might mistake "MAX" as a longer version of Nexon EV but except the dimensions everything is Max in this Nexon EV Max, which includes more features, more safety, more power, higher drive range, bigger battery pack and faster charging solutions. Talking about the exterior design, there's hardly any changes except new Alloy Wheel design and new Intensi-Teal shade which is exclusive to the Nexon EV MAX, whereas there isn’t a single ‘Max’ badging & rest is similar to regular Nexon EV. Coming on inside which gets more noticeable changes, you"ll notice light coloured Makarana beige cabin with blue highlights which remains almost similar to the standard car, but now it gets a revamped central console consisting a Jewelled Control Knob with active mode display, Multi-Mode Regen, Electronic Parking Brake with Auto Vehicle Hold and cup holders have been replaced by a wireless charging, at the dashboard applique it gets a unique tri-arrow pattern which fades into a dark shade of blue towards the sides by which we are impressed, also the cabin floor has been raised by about 10mm which has lead to reduction in thigh support for rear passenger. The Max also gets some additional features which includes leatherette seats with ventilation for front passengers, air purifier which is integrated in infotainment system, wireless smartphone charging, auto-dimming IRVM, cruise control and enhanced safety features like ESP with i-VBAC (intelligent – Vacuum-less Boost & Active Control), Hill Hold, Hill Descent Control, Electronic Parking Brake with Auto Vehicle Hold and all 4-Disc brakes. The major highlight for the Nexon EV Max is the all-new 40.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which is 33 percent larger than that of the standard Nexon EV. The motors can produce maximum 143hp and 250Nm, which is a gain of 14hp and 5Nm over the standard version, also it has gained 100kg of weight, and this results performance felt quite similar to the standard version. Its sprinting abilities remain identical to the standard car, with a 0-100kph time of 9.4sec, however, it now hits a top speed of 137kph, which is 17kph higher than the standard EV’s 120kph. Whereas Tata Motors has limited rest two, City and Eco modes to approximately 97hp and 170Nm of torque, whereas the difference between these two modes is down to their throttle responses, Eco being slower than City, and this leads to slower acceleration but more efficiency. Now the springs and dampers have been slightly reworked to handle the extra weight, though it is a bit stiffer but still continues to flatten imperfections and potholes well, even the body roll is quite well controlled despite having a larger battery pack beneath floor, highway cruising is also quite stable and impressive, specially when compared to its rivals. Though you won't have to worry much while driving over high speed breakers or broken roads but ground clearance is now 15mm lower than the standard Nexon EV’s 205mm because of the larger battery pack. Despite having the all-wheel disc brake set-up, in panic braking tests, the Nexon EV Max stops in a longer distance when compared to the standard EV, this is because of added weight. Now coming on most important aspect, how much range can we expect from this MAX, though the company claimed ARAI range figure is 437Km but it would be quite hard to achieve that figure in real world conditions, but you can easily achieve around 340Km of single charge range if drive nicely in Eco mode, though we couldn't check the single charge range extensively but as per our calculations we got 281 Km of range on a single charge as we drove the car equally in all three modes, most of the time used the Regen braking and also used AC more than half time. Coming on charging solutions, the standard car is available with a 3.3kWh AC charger that’ll take the battery from 0-100 percent in 15-16 hours, but now customers get the option to purchase a 7.2kWh wall-mounted AC charger, at a premium of Rs 50,000, which charges the battery from 0-100 percent in 6.5 hours. While using a 50kW DC fast charger, Tata claims that Nexon EV Max can be charged from 0-80 percent in just 56 minutes. Coming to the final verdict for the Nexon EV Max, firstly it's a much needed product not only in Tata's product lineup but also in the Indian EV lineup, it fills the gap between regular Nexon EV and ZS EV, which means wider options to select from for EV buyers. This Nexon EV Max with more range will bring more customers in Tata showroom, and the MAX is a better version of regular Nexon EV with added useful features and safety tech at just a premium of Rs 1.54 lakh, so I believe most of the customers of regular Nexon EV will also tilt towards this MAX.