Indian automaker Tata Motors is arguably the Tesla of India – one of the biggest automotive markets in the world. The reason we say this is that Tata Motors is doing in India what Tesla has done pretty much in every market that it has stepped in – democratizing the electric vehicle. Tesla showed the world that electric vehicles are nothing less than the gas-guzzlers that all of us have been used to for decades.
Tesla also played a big role in proving to several governments across the globe that it is now time to start the transition to a purely electric future. India is one of those countries committing to such a future and the result of its EV push is the Tata Nexon EV Max. When we compared it to other electric vehicles being sold in America, what stood out was that the Nexon EV Max has more range while being less than half the price of a Tesla Model 3!
Tata Nexon EV Max Has A Potent Drivetrain
To put things in perspective, the standard rear-wheel drive Tesla Model 3 costs you $46,990 and is considered an ideal EV for long trips. The Tata Nexon EV Max costs 1,774,000 Rupees which translates to a little less than $22,800, as per the conversion rate at the time of publishing this article. On a full charge, the Tesla Model 3, as per Tesla, will run 267 miles. The Tata Nexon EV Max, on the other hand, claims 271 miles per full charge.
Yes, the Tesla Model 3 is in a different league altogether when it comes to performance as it would take it 5.8 seconds to get to 60 miles per hour. The Tata Nexon EV Max takes slightly less than 9 seconds to do the same. The Tesla Model 3 will achieve a top speed of 140 miles per hour while the Tata will only do a humble 87 miles per hour. But remember, the price difference is double!
Additionally, while it may sound a tad bit slow to us given that we are used to cars like the insane Tesla Roadster, the Nexon EV Max is meant to be driven in a country where if you have an average speed in daily commutes of about 60 miles per hour, you are flying. So on Indian road conditions, which is where the Nexon EV Max is designed to be, it is more than enough.
It Does Not Compromise On Features Or Safety
With a price tag this low, you might think that the Nexon EV Max compromises safety. However, that is not the case. The Nexon EV Max is based on the internal combustion engine-powered Tata Nexon. That was crash tested by Global NCAP and was given a full five out of five-star crash test safety rating. This also made it the first Indian car to get this score. And while the Nexon EV Max has not been tested yet, you can be sure it will meet the standards.
It has a decent feature list as well, given its price tag. The Nexon EV Max comes with features like an air purifier, cooled seats, cruise control, four-stage regenerative braking, ESP, traction control, disc brakes on all wheels, hill-hold assist, smartwatch integration, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, a wireless charging pad for your smartphone and even an app that lets you know all the GPS and other telemetric information about the car. The Nexon EV Max will charge from 0-80 percent in a claimed 56 minutes if you plug it into a 50 kW DC charger.
The Real Promise Of The Tata Nexon EV Max
India will play a big role in pushing the entire world towards the electric vehicle revolution because of two simple factors. First, India has a lot of people and as EVs get popular there, the share of EVs in the world will increase dramatically, and the more this EV tech is produced, the overall production cost of that technology lowers for everyone. This is because the higher production numbers mean more optimization and lower input costs. Secondly, India has the capacity, manpower, and an affordable workforce to make electric vehicles for the masses.
Cars like the Tata Nexon EV Max are making that distant future seem closer. The fact that Tata has built such a car at half the price of a Tesla Model 3 just shows that the future is electric and exciting! Speaking of which, if you want to see what the future Tata Motors electric vehicle is going to look like, the Tata Avinya EV Concept and the Tata Sierra Concept are good starting points.
Source: Tata Motors, Tata Nexon EV