Tata is on a roll nowadays, especially in the electric segment. With the Nexon EV being a best-seller already, Tata has introduced the new Nexon EV Max. As the name says, the new Nexon Max has a larger battery and a more powerful motor and it also gets a lot of new features! We spent some time with the new Nexon Max and here is what we think about the new electric SUV.

How you can identify it?

Now Tata has not added any “MAX” monikers to the new Nexon Max. But there are a few tweaks that you can use to differentiate between the standard Nexon EV and the new Nexon Max. There are no changes done to the face of the car. It still looks identical to the standard version of the car.

Also read: Oppo to launch electric vehicle in India by 2024

But we do get updated alloy wheels. If you look closely, you will also get to see the disc brakes at the rear wheels. The standard Nexon EV does not get the rear disc brakes. There are no changes in the rear of the car.

You may also distinguish the Nexon EV Max because of its unique Teal Blue colour. It is exclusive to the Tata Nexon EV Max.

Is it better to drive?

The new Nexon EV Max has become more powerful than before. It also gets a bigger battery pack and additional features. The extras in the Max also increase the weight of the vehicle by about 100 kg.

The Nexon EV Max is actually quite fun to drive just like other pure electric vehicles. But the improvements over the standard Nexon EV are noticeable. The acceleration is quicker because of the more powerful electric motor and new features like a three-level regeneration system allow the driver to customise the best setting and enjoy the single-pedal driving.

During our drive, we kept the regeneration at Level – 3, which is the highest setting. The regeneration is very strong and that is why Tata has also added a feature to make the brake lights glow when the car stays in level-3 regeneration setting and the driver lifts the foot from the accelerator.

We drove the new Nexon EV Max for about 100 km in peak hour traffic of Delhi-NCR. During the start-stop traffic, you also notice the use of another new feature – the auto hold. When activated, the Nexon Max automatically engages the brake and keeps the car from rolling backwards or forward in traffic. As soon as you touch the accelerator, the auto hold deactivates. If you do not use the auto-hold in city traffic, you can make use of the crawl feature. As soon as you lift off the foot from the brake pedal in start-stop traffic, the Nexon EV starts to move.

On the open roads, we used the cruise control system as well. Also, most of the extra weight is on the floor of the car, which makes the centre of gravity closer to the ground. It translates to much better stability and takings corners at high speeds.

Since the floor gets a new battery pack, the ground clearance has been reduced by 10mm. We took the car to a dirt road with bad patches and nowhere the underbody touched.

New specifications

Tata now offers a 40.5 kWh battery pack with the Nexon Max, which is about 33% bigger than the 30 kWh. Also, there is a new charging setup. As a standard accessory, the Nexon EV Max gets a 3.3 kW AC charger that takes about 15 to 16 hours to charge the Nexon Max from zero to 100%.

But there is an option 7.2 kW AC charger that costs an extra Rs 50,000. This charger can juice up the Nexon EV Max to full in just 5-6 hours. You can also use 50 kW fast chargers available in public places to recharge the battery pack to 100% in less than an hour.

With the bigger battery pack, Tata has also added a more powerful electric motor. It generates a maximum of 143 PS and a peak torque of 250 Nm.  The Nexon EV Max is quick and it can reach 100 km/h in under 9 seconds!

What’s new inside?

The new Tata Nexon EV Max gets major cabin updates. It also includes a new cabin theme, which is lighter in colour. The feature list has become longer with the addition of a new illuminated jewel type gear knob, which sure looks great and it gets a coloured display that changes colour according to the mode. The new Nexon EV Max also gets an electronic parking brake, wireless phone charger, air purifier, auto-hold, hill descent control, cruise control system and upgraded ZConnect 2.0 connected technology with 48 features.

The front seats are ventilated and we used this feature the most on the hot and humid days we were driving the car. The seats get tri-arrow perforations. The posture when you sit in the rear of the Tata Nexon Max is slightly different. That’s because the floor has come up slightly to accommodate the larger battery pack. This pushes the knees up and you may feel that the under-thigh support is not enough.

How much battery in 100 km?

We used the Tata Nexon EV to reach Gurgaon from Delhi and then back. We drove around 100 km during this time. Since this part of the country is witnessing the highest temperatures in history, we kept the climate control system switched on all the time. Also, throughout the drive, I was charging my phone just like any other commuter would do.

Now the new Nexon EV Max offers three modes – City, Eco and Sport. Like the other Tata cars like the Harrier, the car announces the new mode loudly. We kept the Nexon EV Max in the City mode most of the time with shifts to the Eco and Sport mode for a few minutes.

The output of the motor changes with the driving modes. In the Sport Mode, the Nexon EV utilises maximum power. While in the Eco Mode, the power utilisation is not so much.

At the end of the drive, we had completed 102 km and used about 44% of the battery. Now as I was testing the new Nexon EV Max and shooting the car, the conditions were not ideal to do a range test. But 44% of battery for 102 km is not a bad deal.

So is the Nexon EV Max better?

Tata has done a great job in reducing the range anxiety and allowing the customers to take the car on long-distance journeys without worrying much about the charging stations. Yes, it is about Rs 1.5 lakh more expensive compared to the standard Nexon but it remains much more affordable than the closest rival – the MG ZS EV. The Nexon EV Max costs Rs 17.74 lakh for the entry-level variant and it sure feels like a great value-for-money deal. We think that we will get to see a lot of these on the roads very soon.

Also read: Tata Punch Accomplished trim with Dazzle pack in a walkaround video

The post Tata Nexon EV Max in CarToq’s First Drive Review first appeared on Cartoq.