EV Boom in India, Nexon EV vs Nexon EV Max

India is getting its EV boom in the 4-wheeler car market. Lead by Tata Motor’s flagship Nexon EV the car market is bound to change in coming years. Though luxury car makers like Audi, Jaguar, Porsche have their EV models, but these cars never are aimed for mainstream. And it would be shameful not to mention Tesla, which may have 1/3rd of EV car market in America and Europe, is yet to be present in India. 

Tata Motors has launched their upgraded Nexon EV as Nexon EV Max, and will roll out Tiago EV soon. They already have another EV - Tigor EV. That would make Tata Motors with maximum EV offerings in India - 4 EV cars. At a point Tata Motors can be India's answer to Tesla. 

Other EV cars in India are - MG ZS EV (from Rs 20.88 L), Hyundai Kona Electric (from Rs.23.71 lakh), Mahindra e-Verito, Mahindra e2oPlus.

And those are already in the list to be launched are, Mahindra e-KUV100, Nissan Leaf, Mahindra XUV300 EV, and Tata Tiago EV.

Interestingly top automaker in India, Maruti Suzuki is yet to be join the EV race. As per reports, Maruti Suzuki is working with Toyota for a mid-sized EV SUV, codenamed YY8. 

As EV grows, the batteries will be the most important part of the cars - we will need more capacity and faster charging. And without availability of charging stations in and around the city, and in highway in every 100km - EV boom is a distant dream. 

Startups to deliver Clean Mobility

In Europe there are several start-ups have been formed to deliver clean mobility. The solutions are extended from bike/cycle to train, bus, cars public transport, hyperloop - everything to offer environment friendly mobility. From AI solution to reduce carbon footprint, equipments to make car EV supported, creating a charging networks - all are in the list. Some battery oriented start ups are Addionics, amperand, Batteries For People, Novali, NOWOS, Phoenix Mobility, Fisker, Lucid, Lordstown Motors, Rivian etc. 

Even big names of Automobile industries are also investing in these start-ups. In March 2021 Volvo's Venture Capital unit had invested in Driivz Ltd, a leading global EV charging software company which has developed a platform for managing large charging networks for electric vehicles from end-to-end.

Maruti Suzuki's EV Battery Company - TDSG

Maruti Suzuki has developed a new company dedicated for this job - TDS Lithium-Ion Battery Gujarat Private Limited (TDSG) (https://www.tds-g.co.in/). TDSG is a joint venture between Toshiba Corp (40%), Denso Corp (10%; backed by Toyota) and Suzuki Motor Corp (50%) to manufacture and supply Lithium-ion battery to Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor Gujarat. The manufacturing operation will be derived by Suzuki's expertize with contribution of TOSHIBA's cell technology and Denso's module technology.

EV - Advantages

Buying an EV car costs extra but Indian govt offers some incentives too. You can check here - https://e-amrit.niti.gov.in/electric-vehicle-incentives. Also you will have to pay less GST charges (probably 5% instead of 18% - may change from state to state). You may get incentive from the state govt. too. Also there is tax saving by buying EV (80EEB). And not only these with EV, you will forget fuel price hiking. EV has some other advantages too - low maintenance cost, no noise, extra boot space, easy to drive (as no gear), easy home charging. 

Only thing EV boom needs is stronger government backing - building an EV ecosystem - building charging station, giving incentive to startups targeting clean mobility etc. etc. 

Comparison of NEXON EV MAX vs NEXON EV: 

	Nexon EV Max	Nexon EV
Price Ex-showroom	Rs 17.74-19.24 L (~2L more)   Available as XZ+ and XZ+ Lux	Rs 14.79-17.40 L   Available as XM, XZ+, XZ+ Lux
Battery	40.5 kWh (+10.3 kWh)	30.2 kWh
Power	143 hp	129 hp
Torque	250 nm	245 nm
Range (ARAI)	437 km (+125km)	312 km
Charging 3.3 kW AC 7.2 kW AC	15-16 h 6.5 h	10hr NA
Others	Adjustable regen braking Upgraded existing features Weighs 100kg more 10mm lower ground clearance
Same	350 L boot space Look wise