The Tata Tiago EV is a more calm and relaxed driving experience.
Tata Tiago EV Drive & Performance
The Tiago EV is offered with two battery pack options. A 19.2 kWh pack with a claimed range of 250 km and a 24kWh pack that claims to go 315 km on a single charge. The car I got to drive featured the 24kWH batter pack that comes with a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor and outs out 74 horsepower and 114 Nm of torque. 0 to 60 kph is a claimed 5.7 seconds. Driving quite a few EVs in the past couple of months has got me used to the silence when I press the Start button. The car always starts in N. Turn the rotary selector to D and you are good to go. The Tiago EV moves forward in a very smooth manner. The car comes with default D more and also a Sport mode. D is perfect tuned for everyday urban driving. You won’t get the ‘push back in the seat feeling’ here. It is a more calm and relaxed driving experience and it actually suits my driving style. For a little bit of fun or to execute a quick overtake, the S mode works like a charm. There is a substantial difference in the way the power is put down. What’s more the digital tacho also shows you a redline. Of course the thrills of the Sport mode will come at the expense of battery range. To sum it up, it makes for the perfect daily driver in urban city traffic and a relaxed drive on the open road at moderate light foot speeds. One issue I had was with the lag in the rotary gear selector. At times when shifting, it takes a couple of seconds of more to activate the desired mode. That becomes quite frustrating especially when taking a three point U turn.
The Tiago EV comes with three levels of regen braking and you can also switch it off altogether. The levels can be adjusted via two buttons on the dash which I mentioned before. Drive with level 1 and 2 engaged and it serves as a perfect balance between acceleration and subtle braking. Level 3 is strongest and can be used for one pedal driving in bumper to bumper. While it may not totally stop the car quickly, you can still modulate the throttle to bring it to a halt. What’s more even the brake lights come one when you leave the throttle in level 3. However I wish the regen levels could be used via paddle shifters. Just makes it easy. While using the buttons, you have to take your eye off the road most of the times.