A survey conducted on 500 EV car owners found the Tata Nexon EV to be the top people’s choice, followed by the Tata Punch EV. The study was carried out by Park+, a car-owner network that offers a variety of services to help with daily issues and has over 25,000 verified EV car owners. The survey, performed in the cities of Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore, sought to "understand the mindset of EV car owners in India," according to Amit Lakhotia, Founder & CEO of Park+.

61 per cent of total respondents were found to prefer the Tata Nexon EV as their top choice for an electric vehicle among the current EV catalogue in India. The Punch EV came second with 19 per cent of respondents vouching for the compact SUV. The survey additionally found that the TATA EV brand itself “topped the list in terms of design, durability and safety." Respondents were further found to give the most attention to BYD as a brand, but many quoted pricing and the lack of test driving options as restricting factors.

This survey additionally stated that electric car owners on average were found to be unhappier than those who owned ICE cars. 51 per cent of total respondents expressed their unwillingness to purchase a second electric car and stated that they would rather switch back to an ICE car. The survey attributes this result to the perceived everyday hassles of owning an electric vehicle and the fact that the industry is facing secondhand EVs for the first time. Lakhotia commented that the “Indian 4W EV story is still being written and the need of the hour is to build a robust and smart EV charging infrastructure embedded in our current vehicular ecosystem."

The survey found that while 88 per cent of EV car owners listed charging anxiety as their biggest cause for concern, 73 per cent stated that high maintenance costs coupled with dramatic decline in resale value add to the woes of owning an EV.

Watch: 2023 Tata Nexon EV facelift first drive review – Best-seller gets even better?

Tata Nexon and Punch EVs: Key highlights

The Nexon and the Punch electric SUVs are two of the best-selling products from Tata Motor’s portfolio. Both SUVs were first launched into the Indian market as ICE cars. The electric variants were brought out as subsequent models following the success of the originals and paved the way for their own.

The Nexon EV is offered at a starting price of ₹14.49 lakh (ex-showroom). Tata offers two battery pack options with the Nexon EV: the long range package features a 40.5 kWh battery that provides a claimed range of 465 km on a single charge. The motor generates 142.7 bhp and 215 Nm of torque and is able to make the 0-100 kmph sprint in under 8.9 seconds. The mid range battery pack comes with a 30 kWh battery that provides a claimed range of 325 km on a single charge. This configuration makes 127.4 bhp of power and 215 Nm of torque and is able to sprint 0-100 kmph in under 9.2 seconds.

The Tata Punch EV starts at ₹10.98 lakh (ex-showroom). This micro SUV was the first EV out of Tata’s lineup to be built on the carmaker’s first pure EV platform, acti.ev. Much like the Nexon EV, the Punch.ev is offered with the choice between two battery packs, where the Long Range version comes with a 35 kWh battery that provides 421 km of claimed range on a single charge. It makes 120.6 bhp of power and 190 Nm of torque, and it can sprint from 0-100 kmph in under 9.5 seconds. The lower range variant features a 25 kWh battery that provides 315 km of claimed range on a single charge. With this, the Punch.ev makes 80.5 bhp of power and 114 Nm of torque.

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