MG Windsor EV vs Tata Nexon EV: Picking The Right EV Under Rs 17 Lakh

The MG Windsor EV offers a bigger size and more space in the price of the Nexon EV, but the latter gives you more range and a better drive experience

The Tata Nexon EV has been a prime choice for buyers looking for an electric offering under Rs 20 lakh primarily because of its feature-loaded package and usable real world range. However, the newly launched MG Windsor EV is making waves, boasting a feature list that’s just as impressive, along with a strong focus on unmatched comfort and space. But should you choose it over the Tata Nexon EV? Let’s find out.

Key

MG Windsor EV’s key has a sleek design with chrome inserts that make it look minimalistic. It is fairly slim and made of good quality plastic, but does not feel bulky or heavy in any manner. For controls, it has three buttons: one for locking, one for unlocking and another for unlocking the boot of the EV. You can also use this key to roll up/ roll down all four windows.

The Nexon EV gets the familiar four-button layout black key that is available with every other Tata car positioned below it. It has a plastic frame featuring a glossy black surround on its face, and compared to the Windsor’s key, this one feels a little outdated. In terms of controls, it gets four buttons, three of which are the same as the Windsor. But, it gets one additional button to switch the lights on/off.

Looks

When you first see the MG Windsor EV next to the Tata Nexon EV, the size difference is hard to ignore, as it is bigger in every aspect. The Windsor EV is significantly larger, measuring over 4 metres in length, while the Nexon EV is a sub-4m SUV. Here's a closer look at the dimensions of both rivals.

The Windsor EV stands out with its bold and futuristic design. It features a small and sloping bonnet, a blanked-off grille, and sleek projector LED headlights with a cornering function. The connected LED DRLs and illuminated MG logo add to its modern appeal, which looks great at night. Its 18-inch alloy wheels further highlight its size and futuristic look.

However, one design feature that stands out for the wrong reasons is the reverse lights. These are positioned on the lower section of the rear bumper and hence might not be as visible to larger vehicles like trucks or buses.

The Tata Nexon EV’s design is more conventional, which makes it more appealing to a larger section of buyers. It also has projector LED headlights, connected DRLs, and sleek LED tail lights connected by a light bar. Due to its comparatively traditional design, the connected lighting elements look better, as no other design element is stealing their appeal. The Nexon EV sports smaller 16-inch alloy wheels, but these are aerodynamically designed for maximised efficiency.

For us, even though the Windsor EV looks massive and unique, the Tata Nexon EV’s conventional design is more appealing and suitable. However, design is subjective, and you can have a go with the EV that suits your liking.

Boot Space

The MG Windsor EV has a boot space that is 254 litres more than the Tata Nexon EV. In real life, this translates to the MG offering the ability to carry a few more (and larger) bags than the Tata rival. You can fit an entire suitcase set here along with a few smaller soft bags. In case you are shifting and need more space, the rear seats get a 60:40 split, so you fold them to make more space.

Notably, the top-spec Essence variant, which gets reclining rear seats, has a lower boot space of 579-litres, which is still a lot more than the Nexon’s. Additionally, the Windsor EV’s boot floor can be adjusted between two levels, making it easier to store more luggage when needed. One major drawback of its boot space is the high loading lip, which will make loading and unloading luggage difficult, especially if the cargo is heavy and bulky.

The Nexon EV, on the other hand, has a lower loading lip, which makes it easier to load or unload luggage. However, it has a considerably smaller boot space but can easily fit two medium-sized suitcases and a few soft bags (depending on their size) that will be good for a weekend getaway. Nexon EV also comes with a 60:40 rear seat split to make more room.

So, the Windsor EV, with a fairly large boot space, is the clear winner here.

Cabin: Design And Quality

Both the MG Windsor EV and Tata Nexon EV feature clean dashboard designs, but the MG Windsor EV takes simplicity to the next level. It has a minimalist dashboard with no physical buttons, except for those on the two-spoke steering wheel and the AC controls.

Its cabin is filled with soft-touch materials on the dashboard, centre console and doors. The dashboard also has a faux wooden trim that makes it look premium and upmarket. Even the seats have diamond-shaped inserts which make a clear distinction from its rivals and they make the cabin look even more upmarket. These seats offer soft cushioning and cocoon the passengers.

Even the fit and finish have little to no compromise. The limited buttons in this cabin feel sturdy, all touchpoints have soft touch padding, and nothing feels out of place. However, the inside door handles lack weight, and the floating centre console can be moved easily, and should have been more sturdy.

The Nexon EV, which came to us in its Red Dark avatar, had an all-black dashboard that featured a free-standing touchscreen and a digital driver’s display. The dashboard also features a faux carbon-fibre trim that spans the length of the dashboard, along with customisable ambient lighting strips.

Like the Windsor EV, the Tata Nexon EV also uses soft-touch materials extensively on the dashboard and doors. However, there are some gloss-black elements on the steering wheel and centre console, which are prone to scratches and would require some scratch guard to protect their sheen.

The Nexon EV Red Dark gets contrasting red upholstery for the seats, which makes this cabin look bright and sporty. These seats offer good side support, but the seat height is a little short. This will not have an impact on your comfort, but it will definitely look unusual.

While both cars have a minimalist dashboard, the MG Windsor EV looks neater and more premium, primarily because of the lack of buttons and the inclusion of faux wooden elements, making it visually more appealing than the Nexon EV.

Rear Seat Experience

One major highlight of the MG offering is that its rear seats can be reclined to 135 degrees. This, coupled with the fact that the front passenger seat can be fully reclined to the levels of the rear seat, can provide a business-class experience to the rear seat passengers.

That said, the rear row can seat 3 average-built individuals easily with little overlap of shoulders. The headroom, knee room and under-thigh support are more than adequate, even for passengers taller than 6 feet. Windsor EV's all-around visibility is also better than that of the Tata Nexon EV, as it has huge glass panes that make the cabin feel airier and roomier.

However, since the Windsor EV is primarily focused on comfort, retractable sunshades would have been a nice addition. Also, the rear AC vents don’t get a split, which means only one passenger can get direct air at a time. If MG had executed this better, the rear seat experience would have been flawless.

The Tata Nexon EV’s rear seats are not as spacious. The legroom and knee room are decent, but the underthigh support could have been better, and the headroom is less than sufficient for passengers around or above 6ft. Also, due to its lower width, three people in the back won’t be comfortable. The middle passenger will have to sit more comparatively upright, and the lack of a headrest will make long journeys uncomfortable. It’s better to use this as a four-seater and enjoy the centre armrest.

Out of the two, the Windsor EV offers better space and should be your pick if you have a bigger family or if you want a chauffeur-driven experience on a budget.

Features

The MG Windsor EV and Tata Nexon EV are both feature-filled to their gills. Let us take a look at the amenities:

Both EVs come with common features including a wireless phone charger, ventilated front seats, cruise control and a 9-speaker branded audio system. The Nexon EV gets a panoramic sunroof, but the Windsor gets a panoramic glass roof.

While the MG Windsor EV seems to have a better feature suite than the Nexon EV as it gets a bigger 15.6-inch touchscreen and a 6-way power adjustable driver’s seat, the latter of which is altogether missing on the Nexon EV, the Nexon EV compensates with a bigger 10.25-inch digital driver’s display, V2V and V2L support, all of which is not a part of the Windsor’s equipment list.

Even though the Windsor EV gets a massive touchscreen, it is not slick to operate. The screen lags a lot, even during its normal operation when switching from one menu to another. The lack of physical buttons on the EV makes it even more difficult to use. Additionally, the screen takes its own sweet time to boot up when you start the car. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay can be connected wirelessly, but the lagging issue is pretty evident here too.

One issue with the Windsor EV is that it lacks physical or touch-enabled buttons, meaning all features, including the electronic adjustment of the ORVMs and headlight operations, must be accessed through the touchscreen. This makes it difficult to use these features while driving and can be a hassle to navigate through menus to find the right setting.

The Nexon’s touchscreen is smaller than the Windsor’s but is better to use. It is smooth and feels nice to use. While it also has a lot of settings menu, it does not lag at any time. Here too, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay can be accessed wirelessly and it showcases no lags or glitches. Moreover, the Nexon EV has dedicated buttons for key features, making it more convenient and safer to operate on the move.

All in all, the Nexon EV, even after having a smaller screen, has the better infotainment experience.

Practicality And Charging Options

The MG Windsor EV is filled with handy storage spaces inside. The dashboard features two cupholders on either side which can store up to 1-litre bottles. The centre console also features three cupholders that have a similar design to the ones on the dashboard, and hence can store 1-litre bottles here too.

Below the centre console is another storage space with a retractable lid, which can hold some small things like wallets, books and tablets too. Moreover, the centre console has a wireless phone charging pad. This further connects to the front centre armrest that also has a deep storage space underneath it, which is good enough for multiple small bottles.

In the front doors, there’s room for smaller bottles and magazines too. For rear passengers, there’s a centre armrest with twin cupholders, seatback pockets, and a spot to store your phone under the rear AC vent. The rear doors also have storage space similar to the front doors.

Talking about the Nexon EV, it features bottle holders on the doors and a small storage space under the front armrest, which can easily accommodate a wallet or a small 500 ml bottle. It does not get any cupholder in the centre console, but the cupholders are placed inside the glovebox which makes them useless while on the go. The rear passengers get two cupholders in the centre armrest but no seat back pockets or any slot to keep their phones.

Speaking of charging options, the MG Windsor EV gets a 12V charging socket, one type-C and and type-A charging ports for the front passengers, but these are positioned below the centre console space. Plugging and unplugging cables in the ports is not as easy as you’d expect. That said, the rear-seat passengers get a type-A and a type-C port.

The Nexon EV, on the other hand, also gets type-C, type-A and 12V sockets for the front passengers, but these ports are placed in a small space behind the drive selector stalk, which makes wire plugging or unplugging a little difficult. The rear passengers get a Type-A and a Type-C port for charging their phones. It also gets a wireless phone charging pad in the front centre console.

Even though the location of charging ports is not ideal on both EVs, the Windsor EV packs in more practical storage spaces than the Nexon EV and hence emerges as the better option in this regard.

Safety

Both EVs boast a robust safety suite, the details of which are as follows:

While the comfort and convenience features differ notably, both rivals have similar safety suites, including six airbags, a 360-degree camera with a blind spot monitor, TPMS, an electronic parking brake, and disc brakes on all wheels. However, the Windsor EV has only rear parking sensors, while the Nexon EV has such sensors on both ends. The latter also has a rear wiper neatly integrated under the roof-mounted spoiler, which is missing on the MG offering.

When you turn on the indicator of the Windsor EV, it shows the 360-degree view, but like the other features in the touchscreen, the camera feed is laggy, and there are noticeable frame drops which makes it unreliable and unsafe to use. Moreover, it does not show the blind spot monitor but the entire 360-degree view of the car, which will need getting used to.

The Nexon EV’s 360-degree camera, like the other features, is fairly smooth and lag-free. The camera quality is nice and it does not prove to be a problem even in dark conditions. Moreover, while taking a turn, the blind view monitor is displayed on the touchscreen, which can also be showcased on the driver’s display if needed.

Moreover, the Nexon EV flaunts a 5-star safety rating from Bharat NCAP, where it was tested in May 2024. On the other hand, the Windsor EV is yet to be crash-tested by any independent testing agency.

Powertrain Options And Ride Quality

While the MG Windsor EV comes with a single battery pack option across all variants, the Nexon EV gets an option between two battery pack options. Here are the detailed specifications:

*FWD = Front-wheel-drive

In our test, we drove the Tata Nexon EV featuring the bigger battery pack option.

The MG Windsor EV gives a relaxed driving experience, which will be suited for daily commutes. The performance, although lesser than the Nexon EV, is enough for the city. On the highways, the Windsor EV is very happy maintaining 80-100kmph. However, overtaking at these speeds requires planning.

On the other hand, the Nexon EV’s extra power makes it feel quicker off the line and helps it reach higher speeds quickly. Compared to the Windsor, the Nexon EV also delivers the power in a more enthusiastic manner, which should put a smile on your face. It is quick and agile with overtakes, which will keep you happy behind the wheel. On high speeds too, the Nexon feels stable and inspires a lot of confidence even while clocking triple-digit speeds.

Now, let us head on to the ride quality of both cars. On rough roads, the MG Windsor EV has a lot of side-by-side movement that is transferred to the passengers. The passengers are tossed around, which takes away some of the comfort. On the flip side, on smooth roads, the Windsor EV does feel more stable, with less side-to-side movement.

On the highways, there is noticeable movement on uneven patches and expansion joints, which can be irritating. Additionally, road noise filters into the cabin, which can become distracting on longer trips. On well-built, smooth highways, you’d barely have any complaints with the Windsor, though.

The Tata Nexon EV, on the other hand, has a sorted suspension setup which seems to be calibrated well for the Indian roads. It remains stable and composed on rough surfaces, with much less side-to-side movement compared to the Windsor. On highways, the ride is smooth and pliant, and the Nexon EV doesn’t feel unsettled, even at triple-digit speeds, offering a high level of confidence behind the wheel.

All in all, comparing both the EVs, the Tata Nexon EV emerges as the more comfortable option.

Verdict

So, the question still looms: should you buy the new Windsor EV or go with the tried and trusted Tata Nexon EV?

The MG Windsor makes its case with the best in segment space along with a futuristic design and a relaxed drive experience. But it lacks the comfort of Nexon EV and its feature execution could have been better. If you are looking for a big car on a budget that stands out and offers space for your entire family, you should consider the Windsor. Especially if your commutes are mostly in the city.

But, if you drive on the highways a lot, and performance holds a higher priority for you than space, then the Nexon EV makes more sense. It offers a good-looking design along with a premium feature list. This EV is more comfortable, offers more range and makes more sense if you need a car for yourself primarily.

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