​I am planning to purchase an electric vehicle (EV). I have a weekly commute of approximately 600 km and no home charging facility. Fortunately, there is a 60 kW DC fast charging station with four charging ports right next to my house. Based on this situation, I have two main concerns: 1. Will DC fast charging every two days negatively impact the long-term health of the EV battery? 2. Given my high weekly mileage and reliance on public fast charging, is it a wise and practical decision?

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That fuel efficiency figure does sound a little on the lower side for the Hyundai Verna naturally aspirated petrol automatic, but it is not necessarily abnormal depending on your driving conditions. In dense city traffic with the AC running, frequent stop-start driving and short trips, it is not uncommon for fuel efficiency to drop into the 7-9 km/l range. The Verna’s naturally aspirated petrol engine is smooth and refined, but it is not the most fuel-efficient unit in heavy urban conditions, especially when paired with an automatic gearbox.At 3,500 km, the engine is still relatively new and may improve slightly as it loosens up, but do not expect a dramatic change. If your driving is predominantly bumper-to-bumper city traffic with the AC on, this figure is within the expected range. If you start seeing figures below 7 km/l consistently, or if this Hyundai car feels sluggish or rough, it would be worth having the car checked by the service centre. Otherwise, this is largely a reflection of the driving conditions rather than a problem with the car.

Hyundai Verna

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With your Maruti Suzuki Dzire K12N and 50km a week, stick with E20 petrol. The K12N is E20-compliant, so the car is engineered to run on it without any long-term reliability concerns. The only real downside is a slight drop in fuel efficiency compared to lower ethanol blends, but that is expected and not a cause for worry.Switching to XP100 will not give you any meaningful benefit. The K12N is not a high-compression performance engine, so it will not extract any extra power or efficiency from 100-octane fuel. In fact, you will simply be paying a much higher price per litre with no real-world gain. The only time XP100 makes sense is in high-performance turbocharged or high-compression engines that are tuned to take advantage of higher octane.The only scenario where premium fuel is worth considering is if you are experiencing persistent knocking or pinging under load, which is extremely unlikely in a healthy K12N running E20. In that case, a tank or two of premium fuel can help clean up deposits, but it is not a long-term solution.Overall, E20 is the right fuel for your Maruti Suzuki car, and XP100 is simply unnecessary for your engine.

Maruti Suzuki Dzire

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•11h

The best all-rounder when it comes to EVs at the Rs 30 lakh price range is the Mahindra XEV 9S. For one, it's a large vehicle with three rows of seats, giving you maximum space at this price. You also get plenty of choice in the form of three battery pack options, depending on your requirement, and on top of it all, it's loaded with features. For Cars Under 30 lakhs, you could get one of the top two variants - Pack Three or Pack Three Above - with all the bells and whistles and the largest battery pack. It also packs in strong performance, with a 286hp motor mounted on the rear axle, as well as good range from the large battery - around 480km in real-world usage. Another strong option is the newly launched Tata Sierra EV. While not as large as the XEV 9S and without the third row of seats, its front and second row are incredibly spacious and comfortable, and it has a large boot too. The better news is that you get the top variant at around Rs 28 lakh, on road, and this not only gets you a similar feature set to the Mahindra, but also a battery and range figure that's almost as good. Moreover, this also gets you a dual-motor AWD setup with even greater performance. In outright terms, the seven-seat XEV is a better value, but if you have no need for the third row, the Sierra might work better for you.Resale value on any EV at present is not going to be as good as an equivalent petrol car, due to various factors, such as uncertainty around the condition and quality of the battery after several years of use. With that in mind, a strong brand and popular model are likely to give a better resale value, and both these are popular models from popular brands, so they should be as good as it can get.

Mahindra XEV 9S

Tata Sierra EV