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PluginIndia Electric Vehicles

e2o vs Nano vs Alto - Small hatchback shootout!

31/5/2015

7 Comments

 
By Johnson
My older post - E2O Vs Swift, Alto, WagonR, i10, Santro, Nano,  has become very popular here, so i decided to make a spinoff post, comparing the small and popular petrol/CNG based hatchbacks against the electric flagship Mahindra e2o
Ideally we do not recommend comparing an electric car with the cheapest category of petrol cars, as electric cars have lots of features not available even in sedans!
But lets take a stab at this just to satisfy people out there and for the fun of it!


We look at various features of the 5 cars that are compared :
  • Tata Nano CNG eMAX - (CNG + Petrol)
  • Tata Nano GenX AMT - (Petrol)
  • Maruti Alto K10 VXI AGS - (Petrol)
  • Maruti Alto K10 LXI CNG - (CNG + Petrol)
  • Mahindra e2o T20 - (Electricity)

Parameter

Nano CNG eMAX

Nano GenX (XTA)

Alto K10 VXI AGS

Alto K10 LXI CNG

E2O T20

Winner (Scores)

Mumbai Price
(rounded)

2,50,000

3,20,000

4,30,000

3,80,000

5,12,808

NANO (1) Not only is the CNG NANO low cost to buy but it is also low to use. The low cost of operation of this car almost make one feel like having an electric car. CNG is a fuel that one can make at home in a bio digester.  CNG as a fuel is far safer than LPG. Obviously the biggest discouraging factor of the e2o seem to be the price.  But then with electric cars, one must always look at the long term cost of ownership, which is always low.

Warranty

4 Yrs

4 Yrs

2Yrs

2Yrs

3 yrs

Nano (2) offers twice the period of other cars.

Fuel

CNG + Petro

Petrol

Petrol

CNG + Petrol

Electric

Nano (3) & Alto (1).  CNG + Petrol – Dual fuel is better than single fuel. In EV full Electric is better than Hybrid but then due to non-availability of Charging points this becomes a problem for longer trips. Electric cars need charging points and as of now there are few along the roads. But hopefully more charging points will keep appearing in future.

Mileage (kmpL)

36 & 25

21

24

32 & 24

120

e2o (1) can reach 120 kms per charge.

Fuel Capacity

4.5 Kg CNG
+15 Liters

25 Liters

35 Liters

9 Kg CNG
+35 Liters

10 kWh

Alto (2) has the highest capacity

Total Range (km)

537

525

840

1128

120

Awesome range combined with higher speed make Alto (3) the best small car for long distance travel. Meaning on one full tank of CNG & Petrol, I can almost drive from Pune to Kerala!

Cost of traveling 1,000 Kms

Rs 2,426 Dual fuel

Rs 1194 CNG

Rs 3,523

Rs 3,083

Rs 2,639 Dual Fuel

Rs 1,343 CNG

Rs 500

Rs 0 (Solar)

e2o (2) Amazing! Car traveling at the price of a bike!!!
While if one uses only CNG as fuel then the Nano comes second.

Even better charge the e2o from the power of the Sun and you can travel for free!

Parameter

Nano CNG eMAX

Nano GenX (AMT)

Alto K10 VXI AGS

Alto K10 LXI CNG

E2O T20

Winner

Width

1750

1750

1475

1475

1514

Nano (4) has a huge 300mm more width and also has more space inside the car. Alto is pathetic in this aspect.

Wheelbase

2230

2230

2360

2360

1958

Alto (4) – superior handling due to longer wheelbase

Ground Clearance

180

180

160

160

180

Nano (5) & e2o (3)

Turning Radius

4 m

4 m

4.6 m

4.6 m

3.9 m

e2o (4) Easier to park than a Nano!

Brakes F/R

Drum/Drum

Drum/Drum

Disc/Drum

Disc/Drum

Disc/Drum +Regen

e2o (5) Scores due to regen feature.

Fog Lamps

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Nano (6) Fog Lamps are not of much use in the fog but more useful during daily night time driving for more illumination especially in interior areas without streetlights. Great to have it especially for the long distance driver.

Seating Quality & Comfort

Average

Average

Average

Average

Average

The Seat Quality of all are similar. Nano (7) has greater Knee & leg space for rear passengers.

Dashboard

Average

Average

Good

Good

Best

e2o (6) wins due to the Navigation System and the Digital Speedometer. Although one can use their Smartphone as a navigation device, the availability of an onboard one is really convenient.

Boot space

OK

OK

Good

Good

OK

Alto (5) strangely seem to have more boot space. But once the rear seats are folded down all of them have almost similar area. e2o has the flattest floor area!

Alloy Wheels

No

Option

No

No

Yes

e2o (7) Alloy wheels make the vehicle look good and sporty. It’s a must have for all cars.

Connectivity

No

No

No

No

Yes

e2o (8) is an very clever car,  with smartphone integration and personal webpage, you are always connected to your car.

Rear Camera

No

No

No

No

Yes

e2o (9) Enough said. Even many sedans don't offer parking assist rear camera!

Touch Screen + Inbuilt GPS Navigation

No

No

No

No

Yes

e2o (10) has no competition here.


Winner
The Mahindra e2o wins the small hatchback shootout, due to superior features!

The Mahindra e2o electric car has truck load of features that are easily ignored due to its small size.
People compare it to a Nano or an Alto and don't try to look deeper to understand the super features

People don't even bother to think of the intangibles benefits for them, for the environment and for the country, when using an electric car. Some of them are listed here and you can read more about these intangibles here
  • Clean air in our cities
  • Dependence on foreign oil
  • Sense of independence
  • Reliable with hardly any maintenance

Final Words
Yes! The Mahindra e2o is expensive, but due to its incredible running costs, you can save as much as Rs 70000 every year, in fuel and maintenance costs. And those savings add up over the years.
While your petrol engine complains every 6 months and would need to go to a service station, the electric motor will happily chug along!
7 Comments
naveen
20/6/2015 09:27:09 am

Cost of traveling 1,000 Kms - 500 Rs for e20?. Who will pay the 3000 Rs monthly EMI for battery?. It (500Rs) should be replaced 3500 Rs.

Reply
naveen
20/6/2015 09:32:51 am

mileage of 120kms. This is the most unscientific thing I have seen ever in this world. The petrol cars give 21+kms for one litre of petrol and e20 120kms for one full charging. Better parameter to replace this mileage in this table would be Number of kms run / one Rupee

Reply
naveen
20/6/2015 09:39:11 am

Please do one more thing in this table. The total expenditure for 5 or 7 years for running 1,50,000 kms or something. Because petrol or diesel cars will be scrap after roughly 7 - 8 years. Or better would be to calculate this for the average life time of a petrol/diesel car. Because, one can't always be idealistic only, we have to look at the financial implications for the common man.

Reply
naveen
20/6/2015 09:52:04 am

Put one more thing. What is the resale value of the car after 2/4/6/8/10 years of usage? or the deppreciation. How easy is it to sell the used car?

I personally admire EV technology and want to buy/support/propogate. But not with false propoganda.

Reply
naveen
20/6/2015 09:41:57 pm

What about this?

GFHE SCHEME:- Pay Rs 2999/- per month for next 5 years or upto 50,000 kms (whichever is earlier), In case you complete the 50,000
kms before 5 years, all you do is keep paying the fixed amount of Rs 2999/- per month for an 800kms of usage per month, and Rs.2.5
per km extra for Kms above 800kms every month.

Who will pay this? You have not mentioned this in the above table.

Reply
naveen
20/6/2015 10:03:16 pm

Biggest of all not mentioned in this table is the number of doors. It is 3 for e20 and 5 for all other.

What about cargo volume?

Reply
naveen
20/6/2015 10:34:55 pm

Unfortunately while trying to dismantle other cars, you have forgotten a fantastic feature which is unheard of in petrol cars. That is, hill-hold feature. This is a huge convenience for a beginner or an average driver and relieves one of de-clutching nightmares.

e20 is the clear winner in the convenience of driving, pleasure of driving and will be for many years to come, I think.

Reply

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