A trio of EV crossovers have started India's electric car revolution

It might take years (or even decades!) before electric cars push over their internal combustion engine counterparts in India but the foundation for that to happen is well and truly set. And a trio of electric crossovers - or SUVs, as some call them - are driving this change.

Tata's Nexon EV, MG's ZS EV and Hyundai's Kona Electric have managed what Mahindra Electric - despite it's 10-year head-start - couldn't. Yes, Mahindra took over the erstwhile Reva Electric Car Company in 2010! Reva, lest you forget, has been around for even longer with Chetan Maini launching his pint-sized toy-ish electric car way back in 2001. What a lead this, to be squandered!

Let's get back to this trio. Their success hinged on their ability to garner the attention of the car-buying public by legitimately staking claim as 'no-compromise' urban run-abouts. That they managed to do it overcoming monumental challenges like lack of charging infrastructure, limited awareness and range anxiety is remarkable.

Look at their spec sheets and you'll know why I called them 'no-compromise' offerings.

The Nexon EV is the most-affordable and consequently the top-seller of this bunch with Tata recently celebrating the roll-out of 1000th Nexon EV. Priced between INR 13.99 - 15.99 Lakhs, the Nexon EV has a 30.2 kWh battery with an ARAI-certified range of 312 km on a single charge. Plugged into a regular 15A socket, the Nexon EV would bump it's battery up from 10 to 90% in 8.5 hours. With CCS2 fast charging, it would take just an hour for the battery to go from 0 to 80%. Even assuming an usable real-world range of just over 200 km, the Nexon EV has hit a sweet spot in the price-range equation. That, along with it's funky looks, class-leading safety and solid build, enhances the Nexon EV's appeal.

The other two are more closely matched and a cut above the Tata, both in terms of pricing and specifications. Surprisingly, it's MG that won against Hyundai's might.

Hot on the heels of Hector's success, MG launched the ZS EV in India with ex-showroom prices ranging between INR 19.88 - 23.58 Lakhs. Equipped with a bigger 44.5 kWh battery and an ARAI-certified range of 340 km, the ZS EV gets multiple charging options. The portable charger that comes along with the car can be plugged into any 15A socket and takes 16-18 hours to juice up the battery from 0 to 80%. The same can be done in 6-8 hours by opting for AC fast chargers and just 50 minutes with DC fast chargers installed in MG dealerships. Road Site Assistance facility for mobile charging support is also available in case of an emergency. The ZS EV's appeal lies in it's all-round capability. Good-looking? Check. Feature-loaded? Double check. Panoramic sunroof? Hell yeah!

That brings us to the Kona Electric, India's first EV crossover and the first-ever EV in the country that offered range in excess of 100 km when it was launched just over a year ago. With a pan-India ex-showroom price of INR 25.30 Lakhs, the Kona Electric has a 39.2 kWh battery with an ARAI-certified range of 452 km. In real-world conditions, that could drop to a little over 300 km, still a mighty impressive number. Time taken to recharge the battery to 100% is a little over 6 hours with an AC charger. Just like MG, Hyundai provides fast-charging DC charges and emergency mobile charging support. It's quirky styling and relatively higher pricing apart, there's nothing quite to fault with the car. The Kona Electric would have sold in higher numbers if MG had not stolen the limelight from the Hyundai within months of it's launch. That the Kona Electric is in high demand globally doesn't help either with allocation to Hyundai India apparently hard to come by.

With all three tasting success, it's clear Indians aren't averse to owning electric cars. Give us an EV that isn't a compromise and were prepared to put our money on it. Hyundai, MG and Tata have effectively ensured other car-makers don't have to think twice to launch their EVs in India. So, who's next then?

Nissan Ariya debuts with a new brand logo and identity

Nissan has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late. This is not one of them. The Japanese car-maker took the wraps off it’s all-new, full-electric Ariya crossover and - along with it - a new brand identity. At first glance, there’s hardly anything to dislike. Has Nissan then hit the nail on its head? Let’s delve a bit and find out what’s good and what’s not so good about the Ariya. 

Good: Ariya oozes appeal inside and out

When Nissan brought in the Ariya Concept at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, it came across  the Ariya was shown in concept form at the 2019 Tokyo Motor Show, it came across as a sleek-looking crossover that looked contemporary without trying too hard. It's a good thing then the production model is literally unchanged from the concept. 

Up front, a dramatic-looking glossy black panel - called the 'Shield' - takes center stage, housing Nissan's illuminated new logo and a textured panel underneath. Thin headlights underlined by LED running lights that extend downwards into the grille can't be missed either. The curvy profile is characterized by a prominent shoulder line that runs end-to-end and wraps around the rear where a full-width panel houses dark-tinted taillights. The sloping coupe-like roof-line, rather large integrated spoiler and those sharply-raked C-pillars lend the Ariya a strong sense of dynamism.

If you thought that was impressive, the interiors elevate things further by a few notches. As is the norm these days, minimalism is the theme here with Nissan's designers doing away with most of the buttons and switches. Two 12.3-inch touchscreens for instruments and navigation are placed on top with a full-width trim housing air-conditioning vents below. The party trick here are the climate control functions that are housed in the wooden panel in the form of capacitive haptic switches. The stand-alone floor console between the front seats and the seamless integration of the dashboard with the door panels are the other highlights. 

Good: Nissan's EV head-start is a plus

When stand-alone Electric Vehicles from most rivals are still in their first generations, Nissan's Leaf is already in the second half of it's second generation. Launched way back in 2010, the Japanese brand's head-start in EVs gave its engineers a decade worth of experience to dig into. Its only fair to assume all that has been put to good use while working on the Ariya.

Two battery packs are available - a 63-kWh unit and a 87 kWh unit. Both of them can be had as two-wheel-drive or  four-wheel-drive models. The former will have a solitary motor powering the front wheels and producing 215 horsepower and 300 Nm of torque. The latter will have two motors using Nissan's e-4ORCE system to channel 389 horsepower and a massive 600 Nm of torque to all four wheels. With all that torque available from the get go and twin motors providing the required balance, the four-wheel-drive Ariya should be quick and quite a hoot to drive. 

The battery pack is placed quite low between the wheels for better Center of Gravity and is liquid-cooled unlike in the Leaf. Range for individual models hasn't been declared yet.

Not so good: Nissan has just hit the 'Reset' button

Thanks to a combination of internal politics, questionable decisions on certain models in the portfolio, lethargy in some markets and unwarranted expansion in others, the last few years have not been kind to Nissan. The folks at the helm took cognizance and hit the reset button with the so-called NEXT strategy that focuses on rationalization and prioritizing core markets and models. Announced along with it was a plan to launch 12 new models in 18 months. How's this not good, you wonder? That's because Nissan shouldn't have gotten to this stage in the first place and an EV like Ariya needs all the backing it could possibly get to make a difference against rivals of Tesla's calibre.

That said, it appears the recovery is on a fast track. In the last three months, an all-new Rogue (X-Trail in some markets) broke cover in the USA, Kicks got a refresh with an electrified powertrain in Japan and Thailand and here in India, Nissan unveiled the Magnite Concept that previews a compact SUV slated for launch in 2021. That brings us to the Ariya and the new brand identity that debuted alongside it. Did you notice the sleek and simplified Nissan logo etched proudly on the hood? Bodes well for the future of the brand, you think?

Good: Ariya is a tech tour-de-force

EV credentials aside, the Ariya comes loaded with a whole load of tech. For starters, the Ariya is capable of receiving over-the-air updates, the first Nissan ever to do so. The Japanese brand's advanced ProPILOT 2.0 driver assistance system is also part of the kit, offering hands-free driving capability under certain conditions with the help of twelve ultrasonic sonar sensors, seven cameras and five millimeter-wave radars. 

In addition, the Ariya is equipped with a full active safety net including ProPILOT Remote Park, Around View Monitor, Driver Monitoring System, Forward Collision Warning, Intelligent Emergency Braking and Rear Automatic Emergency Braking amongst others.

To summarize, Nissan couldn't have launched a better model for its ride back to the top of the game than this. The Ariya looks stylish, sports an in-demand 'crossover' body-style, has a fabulous cabin and gets top-notch tech and safety kit to go against credible rivals like the Tesla Model Y and Ford's upcoming Mustang Mach-E. Watch this space, things are really heating up!

Tesla creates history, becomes the world's most-valued car-maker

Who would have thought when they were founded in 2003 that Tesla would become the world's most-valued car-maker in less than two decades? Yet, here we are in 2020, amazed by the fact the American EV manufacturer surpassed Toyota, albeit for a brief period on June 10, 2020, to become the automotive brand with the highest market cap! This, ladies and gentlemen, is history being created.

Tesla's share prices have been rallying for quite some time now, as the car-maker announced successive quarters of profits after years of losing money. With prices rising above $1,000 a share, Tesla's valuation stood at a staggering $188 billion yesterday! With this, Toyota, the world's largest car-maker by volume, slipped to second position with a valuation that was just over $180 billion on the same day.

It's quite an irony Toyota invested in Tesla over a decade back and even jointly developed Battery Electric Vehicles briefly before going on to sell their stake. We can't help but think of the billions of dollars the Japanese car-maker lost by not retaining them.

Incredibly, Tesla overtook Volkswagen - valued just shy of $80 billion - just a few months ago! Is this meteoric rise of Tesla in the share market a sign of things to come?

Armed with a 'S3XY' model line-up, rapidly rising deliveries of the Model 3, the planned ramp-up of Model Y, the Semi beginning mass production end of the year and the crazy Cybertruck slated to join a couple of years down the line, you would be hard-pressed to bet against Tesla.

Here's the list of Top 10 car-makers by market cap, as of early hours June 11, 2020.

Source: reddit.com/user/brandude87

Take these stock prices with a spoonful of salt as they can, at times, be crazy. How else can you describe something that places Nikola - a start-up that hasn't manufactured a single automobile yet - at Number 11, ahead of industry biggies like Nissan, FCA and Hyundai?

Watch this space. Things could get really interesting over the next couple of years.

2020 Auto Expo - Tata steals the show with the Sierra EV Concept

Years ago, way back in 2013 to be precise, Anything-On-Wheels had posted about the erstwhile Tata Sierra. While the views on how far ahead of it’s time the car was and how the design would look cool even today was well-received, it seems the post and its content caught the attention of the folks at Tata Motors too. Yes, Tata hogged all the limelight at the 2020 Auto Expo in New Delhi with the surprise unveiling of the Sierra Concept!

The best part about the Sierra Concept is not it's striking looks. Rather, it is the way this concept pays tributes to the iconic design elements from the Sierra of yesteryear whilst blending modern touches from Tata’s current-day “Impact 2.0” design language. The 3-door layout of the original Sierra, for instance, wasn’t practical but the large windows that went up to the roof on either side gave the car terrific aesthetic appeal. Under Pratap Bose’s inspiring design leadership, the folks at Tata have not just managed to retain those tall and large windows but also gave the rear passengers a sliding door on the left side to get in and out. The driver’s side, on the other hand, is clean with a greenhouse that mimics the old Sierra.

The way Tata transformed the Nexon and 45X Concepts into Nexons and Altrozs we see in the brand’s showrooms today, don’t be shocked if the Sierra sees the light of the day retaining the concept’s striking form. Of course, expect the lights to grow in size, the wheels to be downsized, the rear-view cams to make way for conventional mirrors and the flush-fitted door handles to be shown the door before the car reaches production. The cabin is clearly an enthusiastic individual's imaginations running wild, like we always see in auto show concepts!

Based on the 'Agile Light Flexible Advanced' Architecture (ALFA), the 4.1-meter long Sierra is touted to be an Electric Vehicle. While the battery size, specifications and range haven’t been announced, it makes tremendous sense for Tata to bring this back as an EV, given the Sierra would be an eye-candy and an image-booster for the brand! 

The Sierra Concept apart, Tata had a busy day at the Auto Expo with the premiere of the HBX Concept and the launch of updated Harrier with a power bump and much-awaited automatic transmission. The rest of the range – Tiago, Tigor, Altroz, the upcoming Altroz EV, Nexon, the just-launched Nexon EV, Harrier, Hexa and the soon-to-be-launched Gravitas – were on display too.