Tata Nexon EV LR: Long Term Review — Fleet Introduction

Tata’s bestseller Nexon EV joins the CarDekho long term fleet!

It’s been a little over a month since Tata sent us the Nexon EV for a long term test. In that brief duration, it has already managed to rack up 2500km. Here are a few initial impressions of the compact SU-eV. 

Split Personality

Like the Tiago EV we had on test earlier, the Nexon EV, too, eggs you on to drive in a more efficient manner, for most drives in and around the city – and multiple trips to Pune from Mumbai has seen us stay in ‘ECO’ mode throughout. Efficiency is the obvious upside, but we really like the way the throttle has been calibrated here. You do not feel the vehicle struggling to move from a standstill or make quick overtakes. This mode is perfectly usable even on super sharp ghat roads.

However, should you want to have some fun, there’s Sport mode. Tata claims a 0-100kmph time of 8.9 seconds. Our tests saw the Nexon EV clocking the ton in 8.75s. It manages to put a strong knot in your stomach and a smile on your face if you choose to go bury the accelerator into the floor mat. 

Behavioral Changes

With the update, Tata Motors has enabled regen level selection via paddle shifters. This is so convenient that we find ourselves relying purely on regen to shed speed. For instance, free-flowing city traffic usually has us driving with L1 regen. As we approach a speedbreaker or obstruction, two quick presses on the right paddle shifter enables L3 regen. This not only gets us the deceleration we need, but is also kinder to the brake pads. Not to mention, there’s a miniscule improvement in the energy fed back to the battery too. 

The Bugs (and how to solve them) 

Mechanically, it’s hard to fault the Nexon EV. It’s efficient, comfortable and fun in equal measure. However, the new infotainment system Tata has deployed on the Nexon, consisting of a 12.3” touchscreen and a 10.25” digital driver’s display, may frustrate you a little. Over the course of the month, we’ve learnt to either deal with it, or solve it for good. 

‘I find the voice announcements annoying’

Simply go to the settings menu and disable this. This will deactivate prompts like ‘Economy/Sport/City Drive mode activated’, ‘Take out the key fob’ and so on. Sadly, the vehicle continues to give you an audible warning every time the air quality index changes. This is completely unnecessary and distracting. 

‘The touchscreen/instrument cluster has hung’

You can simply reset both the displays by first pressing the mute button for ten seconds, followed by the source button for ten seconds. Both displays will restart post this. This, as we found out, can be done on the go too.

‘Touchscreen remains on even if the car is locked’

This is a minor issue with the driver door sensor. Simply pull on the rubber stopper (refer to image) a few times and then lock/unlock the vehicle. This problem should sort itself out. 

There are other minor glitches we faced too, like the infotainment completely going blank randomly, Apple CarPlay disconnecting and indicators hyperflashing. 

When we contacted Tata, we were told a software update should fix this. Our test vehicle was running an old software (from November 2023). The Nexon EV went for a quick service and software update post this. Stay tuned for the next report to know whether the new software has fixed these issues. 

Till then, we’re happy driving the Nexon EV. It’s consistently averaging anywhere between 280-300km on a full charge in peak Mumbai heat. Now that the rains are on the horizon, we expect this number to improve further. 

Positives: Usable 300km range, quick acceleration

Negatives: Multiple infotainment glitches

Date When Received: 23rd April 2024

Kilometres When Received: 3300km

Kilometres Till Now: 5800km