Almost a year after its last major upgrade, the Tata Nexon EV has received another major update with an even larger battery pack now offered as an option. The new Nexon EV 45 – 45 refers to its new 45 kWh battery - is offered in a choice of four trim levels and will set you back about Rs 70,000 more than the older Nexon EV LR with the 40.5 kWh battery in this fully-loaded Empowered+ spec (Rs 16.99 lakh ex-showroom). That premium includes a larger battery, a few new features and a tad bit of additional power. Is it a deal that's too good to be true?
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You'll be hard-pressed to tell the 45 apart from the lower LR models of the Nexon EV.
On the whole, Tata hasn’t made any changes to the Nexon EV 45 compared to the Nexon EV LR already on sale. The styling is unchanged with little to tell the 45 apart from the lower models. The biggest giveaway in this car with us is the panoramic sunroof which for now is exclusive to the Nexon EV 45. The alloy wheel design and size, cabin layout, upholstery colours et al is unchanged and there is no badging either to tell you that this is the model with the largest battery. The cabin is also identical to the lower Nexon EV LR in fully loaded spec save for the sunroof mentioned above.
Aside from a few new features, the cabin is also untouched.
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Those wanting greater cosmetic differentiation can look at the Red Dark Edition which gives you an all-black exterior with red accents and a red upholstered cabin which is unique to the 45 for now. The Nexon EV 45 also gets a 12-litre frunk - again unique to the 45, though it fits little else aside from the charging cable that is offered with the car.
The panoramic sunroof is one of the only tells that this is the Nexon EV 45 and not the LR in Empowered+ spec; Rear headroom is still good.
The downside to this has been that the Nexon EV 45 retains many of the gripes we’ve had with the Nexon EV LR. This includes a knees-up seating position at the rear that can get uncomfortable over long distances, niggles with the fit and finish and the lack of useable storage areas in the centre console - aside from the front centre armrest cubby. Even the fiddly front USB socket location is unchanged.
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The frunk is unique to the top-spec Nexon EV 45 but at 12 litres don't expect to fit much in there.
The biggest differentiator for the Nexon EV 45 is its powertrain, the LR’s 40.5 kWh battery pack makes way for a larger 45 kWh unit while the electric motor develops an additional 5 bhp at around 148 bhp. Torque however is unchanged at 215 Nm. On paper, this means that the Nexon EV’s driving range has jumped from a maximum of 390 km (MIDC) to 489 km (MIDC) or in terms of claimed real-world figures, from a maximum of 310 km to 370 km (Nexon EV LR compared to Nexon EV 45) which we did put to the test.
The big change on the Nexon EV 45 is the battery pack that goes from 40.5 kWh to 45 kWh offering greater driving range.
An extended 12+ hour test involving driving up and down the length and breadth of Mumbai and even a notable stint in Navi Mumbai saw the Nexon EV 45 cover 356 km consuming about a 91 per cent charge so we’d say that getting 370 km from the new Nexon 45 is possible. Our course included stints on the eastern and western express highways, the traffic-heavy major east-west corridors and even major north-south connectors. The test was done with the climate control set to 24 and regen set to 1 and the drive mode in City. Our previous experience with the Nexon EV LR (40.5 kWh) had shown us that the EV could do up to 290-295 km on a full charge.
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Tata claims up to 370 km of range in the real world, up from 310 km for the 40.5 kWh LR variants.
Of course playing with these settings can affect the range as does how a person will drive. Drive it hard and the range will fall dramatically while light accelerator inputs will maximise range.
Our test of the Nexon EV 45's range saw us cover 356 km across the length and breadth of Mumbai with a 9 per cent charge still remaining.
On the charging front, the Nexon EV 45 now supports 60 kW fast charging, up from the LR’s 50 kW peak. Tata claims a 10-80 per cent charge time of just 40 mins - down from 56 mins - should you find a 60 kW DC fast charger while the 3.2 kW and 7.2 kW AC chargers offered with the car can juice up the battery in about 17.5 and 6.5 hours respectively - higher times than the LR and MR.
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The electric motor makes an additional 5 bhp though in real-world use it makes no tangible difference.
Shifting the focus to the additional 5 bhp of power, it makes no tangible difference in the way the car runs and drives. The 45 feels just as quick and spirited as the Nexon EV LR we’ve driven previously and that’s not really a bad thing. 0-100 kmph is dusted in a claimed sub-9 seconds and acceleration is strong all the way to the triple digits so picking up the pace is not really an issue either. Sport mode even sharpens up the powertrain response.
Ride and handling has been a strong suit of the Nexon EV and the same is true for the 45. The suspension rounds out road imperfections very well and it also feels planted as the speed increases. The 45’s larger battery however does seem to protrude more than on the Nexon EV LR so going over oversized speed breakers can be a bit nervy at times. However, during our test, the Nexon EV 45 made it over all speed breakers encountered without scraping or touching.
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As with the LR, the 45's ride quality is a highlight with the SUV ironing out all but the largest road imperfections.
The steering also feels nice to hold and is accurate enough to allow for brisk direction changes with the low centre of gravity working in the SUV’s favour.
With the Nexon EV 45, Tata has tried to address one key area of concern for buyers, useable range. This is backed up by the fact that Tata’s new real-world quoted figures are achievable in day-to-day driving giving the 45 a decent leg up over the LR and especially the MR. Additionally, the current Nexon EV has always been well-specced in base trim and the same holds true with the 45 which also gets some additional bits such as an air purifier and an electronic parking brake as standard. The panoramic sunroof and frunk are exclusive to the 45 Empowered+. That said the 45 also retains the Nexon EV’s ergonomic shortcomings such as the knees-up seating at the rear, slightly tight footwells up front and lack of storage space on the centre console.
Tata offers the Nexon EV 45 even in the base Creative trim putting it as a costlier alternative to the Nexon EV MR.
So is it worth spending the premium?
In a single word? Yes. The additional Rs 70,000 for this Nexon EV 45 Empowered+ trim is well worth it given the additional range you can now cover per charge as well as the addition of a panoramic sunroof. The price gap is shortened to just Rs 40,000 in the mid-spec Fearless trims of the 45 and the LR though, in this case, you are just paying for the larger battery.
Of course, there are some variants such as the entry Creative trim where the Nexon EV 45 (Rs 13.99 lakh) is offered as an alternative to the entry Nexon EV MR (Rs 12.49 lakh) which is a steep Rs 1.5 lakh price difference but then so is the difference in range. The MR variants are only good for up to 230 km in the real world (Tata claim) to the 45’s 370 km.
That said it's not all an apples-to-apples comparison with the Nexon EV 45 missing out on some of the ‘Plus’ variants offered on the Nexon EV LR which means that at some price point, you are likely to miss out on features. However, if anything, the new 45 variants of the Nexon EV do come across as the best bet, especially for those looking at long commutes - long slow home charging times notwithstanding.
