Pre-facelift Tata Tiago EV long term review, 5,800km report

The recently updated Tata Tiago EV is a real good looker, and that’s no surprise; it’s got strong bones. Take a look at the pre-facelifted car; the proportions and stance are spot on. Then there are the lines - crisp and sharp, and the sheet metal skinning looks nice and taut. A testament to its styling is the fact that even ten years after its launch, it still turns heads. Of course, a lot has to do with the neon-yellow shade our car came in. Not everyone at the office is a fan, but I really love it. And even in more sober shades, the Tiago has the ability to grab a few glances.

A cold glance, though, was what it got when I suggested to our receptionist, Zenobia (the lady pictured in the lead image), that we would use it to drop off some eight dozen mangoes she had ordered. She wasn’t convinced they would all fit inside and wanted a larger car. But to her surprise and my relief (she can be quite mean when you get things wrong), they fit quite easily inside the boot. At about 240 litres, it’s not that large, but it’s well-shaped, and for regular-sized luggage like these rectangular boxes, it’s not a problem. You have to load over a lip, though, and the opening is narrow.

Besides the mango run, I used the car mainly to commute to the office and for chores around my home, unlike Ameya, who took it to Pune quite a few times. The Mumbai-to-Pune run is about 150km and with a climb as well, but he managed the trip with about 10 percent battery left. I wasn’t going to test the Tiago's 24kWh battery to that extent. As a practice, I never let the battery level drop below 40 percent on any EV. With me, the Tiago returned an efficiency of around 8km/kWh, which would translate to a range of about 192km. Pretty good, and more than adequate for what is a city EV. 

Another benefit of an EV is that you have to wait in the car for someone. I had to wait 25 minutes for my wife at the parlour, and all through it I sat in the Tiago reading a book, comfy and cool with the AC on. I forgot to record the exact drain on the battery, but it was only about four percent. I would not have dreamt of doing this with an internal combustion car.

My wife loved the car too. Its size made it handy in the city, and for some reason, she really found the electric motor whirr pleasing and even cute; not something she’s liked on other EVs. I think it’s more to do with the cute appeal of the car and the fact that the sound is like a little spaceship or something like that. But everything about it isn’t small. As with most Tata Motors cars, the space inside is big; headroom, particularly so, and my son, for whom we recently bought an Altroz, found the Tiago to be an airier cabin.

Besides the space, the seats are comfy, and the cabin is well-equipped. Since its launch, the Tiago has been steadily updated, and the steering wheel and touchscreen are what you will find on Tata's newer models. I’m no fan of a two-spoke steering wheel; I find them generally awkward and somehow incomplete, and it’s the same here. The buttons are handy to have but are fiddly to use; they are stubby, and I find toggling them up or down to be something of a deliberate action rather than a natural and easy flick of the thumb. The touchscreen, though, is lovely. It looks nice and sharp, is responsive to touch, and it’s got wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too. While I’m on about features, I like the fact that there is a 45W Type-C USB charging slot, and to my wife’s surprise, she found out that it had a cooled glovebox too.

As with most EVs, driving the Tiago is a very straightforward affair. I would have said fuss-free, too, but the rotary drive selector does not engage sometimes. An old issue that hopefully the new car will have sorted. The instrument panel, too, is something I don’t like. There are dial-like info readouts, but not for speed, which is mixed in with other alphanumeric info in the centre.

Speaking of speed, this is something the Tiago does quite well. Despite its humble 75hp motor, performance isn’t an issue. Overtaking is quick, even in the regular City mode, and passing vehicles at higher speeds, too, is quite a straightforward affair. Ameya found it easy to maintain momentum even out on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The ride, too, is something that has found praise from all of us. It has the maturity of a larger car – it’s soft at low speeds, but at highway pace, you don’t feel unsettled going over long-wave undulating stretches. This is certainly a car we are all going to miss, and with the update out already, we’re hoping to see the new version in our garage soon.