UNDERDOG STORY

Can Tata’s first mass-market electric vehicle take on the giants?

- Aditya Upadhyaula

After the Hyundai Kona and the MG ZS EV comes Tata’s offering in this fast-growing segment and it looks like the Nexon EV is all set to take on the competition.

Externally, the Nexon EV shares pretty much everything with the facelifted Nexon. The new front end makes it look more like an SUV than a crossover and the rear end is pretty similar to the outgoing model, but with a few new elements in the rear bumper.

Some of the design elements, however, are exclusive to the electric Nexon, like the piano black front grille with EV badging and blue accents on the foglight surrounds and on the belt line of the car. There is also something Tata calls the triarrow on the lower grille. These, of course, are also painted in the same shade of blue as the accents.

One of my favourite parts of the exterior is the paint. The EV exclusive dual-tone white and blue paint comes with metal flake embedded that shimmers in sunlight, adding additional depth to the surface of the carm while 16inch alloy wheels and a clear LED tail-lamp round out the changes to the car.

Inside, the design is pretty similar to the pre-facelift Nexon, and again, blue accents on the seat with the tri-arrow design let you know you’ve climbed into the all-electric version of the Nexon.