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Guys a few days back we had done a detailed review of the XUV 400. But you guys demanded a comparison as well. If you see, we have not done a comparison of EV cars yet on Motoroctane. But today we have got a Maha Comparison, Of all the top selling EV SUVs coming at similar price points. So we have put Mahindra XUV 400 against its biggest contender, Tata Nexon EV Max. And the third SUV is actually a bit on the expensive side but is a good contender, It is the MG ZS EV. Today we are putting these EV SUVs against each other, And do a Maha Comparison by comparing each and every aspect. Height, space, second row space, boot space, sound quality, All these aspects will be compared and let you know, Which is the best choice for you at the end of the day.
The XUV 400 happens to be the widest, With the longest wheelbase in the segment. So having the longest distance between the front and the rear wheel of the 400, This indicates having more space in the second row than the other two. The key of XUV has the controls to lock-unlock and boot opening, And gets a flip key. While the controls on the key of Nexon are- Lock-unlock, headlight, and boot opening. And the ZS EV has a premium-looking key with controls of- Lock-unlock and boot release. The ground clearance of the XUV 400 is 180mm. And the Nexon EV max is 190mm. While the ZS EV is the least at 177mm. Talking about exterior features, All three cars are equipped with projector headlights. However, they are halogen/yellow lights on the Nexon and XUV. While on the ZS EV, they are LEDs/White colour lights. Also, Nexon EV is the only car here to offer front fog lamps. The wipers on the ZS EV and the Nexon get expensive Aerotwin blades on them. On XUV it has regular wipers, which is a cost cut. Both the XUV and Nexon come with 16-inch alloy wheels. But the ZS EV gets 17 alloy wheels. However, all three cars come with disc brakes on all the four wheels.
Each of the cars gets roof rails that are not functional. The boot space is the most in the XUV 400 as even after loading with, Big-medium-small bags, some space was still left to utilise. Nexon EV has the second-largest boot. Big-medium-small bags were able to load in it, With a little more space around to play with. Despite having the largest boot space on paper, The boot space of ZS EV isn’t practical, As we had to remove the parcel shelf to load the medium size bag, After loading the large and small-size bags. The charging port on the XUV 400 is on the left side front fender. On Nexon, it is at the rear where usually the fuel tank is fitted. While on the ZS EV, it is on the front grille. The spare wheel is 16 inches on XUV 400. But having a narrow rubber, it can be only used as a spare wheel. Nexon gets a full size steel wheel as a spare tyre. While on ZS EV it has a full size alloy wheel for spare tyre. Now let us find out which car has better interiors. XUV 400, The interiors feel premium with better touch and feel of materials. In fact the plastic quality is top-notch. The car has hard plastic on the dashboard, And even on the doors. But overall the plastic quality is pretty good. The seats of the XUV are the most comfortable among the three. You will not get tired even after long journeys.
The seats are wide with extra side support giving you that better side support. It does not have any unique features as such. However, it is ahead in terms of practicality. Even the knee room and head room in the second row is better, Compared to ZS EV and the Nexon EV Max. The boot space is largest too. And as the Nexon is the direct competitor, It has 6-Airbags, While the Nexon EV Max comes with just 2-Airbags. The interior of the Nexon EV Max feels pretty good. It feels more premium than the EV Prime. While the interiors are a mix of soft and hard-touch materials. The top of the dash and doors are of hard plastics, But the lower part of the doors get leatherette materials on them. Overall it is a feature loaded car. Even the seats are very comfortable. Also, after offering leatherette options the cabin felt more premium, But the soft cushion of the fabric seats in the previous model, Is missing on this one. Still, these seats are nice, supportive, and comfortable as well. You get a few unique features like- The ventilated seats, Wireless charging pad, Electronic parking brake with auto hold, And rear AC Vents as well. Also many will like crown jewel finish on the gear lever. And it looks pretty neat and can be a talking point when you see it for the first time. MG ZS EV comes with the most premium-looking interiors. Almost every part of the interior is covered with a soft touch material, Apart from the top of the door which gets hard plastic on it. The overall fit-finish and plastic quality are of top quality. And I feel this car is most tech-loaded when compared to the other two.
The front seats are wide but the comfort is just decent enough. You might come out tired after doing a long trip. We have already done a Mumbai-Delhi road trip in this car, And we really got tired sitting for long on these seats. The list of the unique features of ZS EV is pretty long. It has a big size touchscreen, 360 Camera, ADAS, Electrically Adjustable Seats, Panoramic Sunroof, And the list is pretty much long. It gets many unique features that are not offered by the other two. Getting in and out is pretty easy in the XUV400. Be it in the rear or front, You can easily slide in and slide out of the 400. In fact, Nexon is equally comfortable getting in and out. The rear of Nexon is bit raised comparatively, But overall there is no such concern. It is quite comfortable to get in and out of the Nexon EV. ZS EV is very easy to get in and out at any given point of time. It is practical and convenient to get in and out. The XUV has manual adjustments for the seats. You can adjust the height and adjust the reclining angle of the seats. But it is completely manual. Same is the story with the seats of the Nexon. Whereas the ZS EV has electric adjustment for the seats, Which is missing in Nexon and 400. The steering wheel of the XUV can be adjusted for height and not for reach. Even on the Nexon, the steering wheel can be adjusted for height but not for reach. Same is the case with the ZS EV also. The touchscreen in XUV is a responsive unit.
There is absolutely no lag and is quite easy to use. While the touchscreen quality in Nexon is decent, With some lags which is evident. Also, it is a smaller screen in the segment. ZS EV has the largest touchscreen and is quite convenient to use. Although the response could have been better. However the UI is pretty good. Reverse camera quality in XUV is the best among the three, It is pretty wide and you will have no problems in daylight or even at night. But is grainy at night for sure. Reverse camera of Nexon could have been better. Adaptation to light is only an area of improvement. Otherwise, it is good and you will not have any problem as such. Also the viewing angle is wide enough. ZS EV comes with 360 camera, But the quality definitely needs a big major update for sure. Even in dark the quality is okayish and needs to be improved. It appears to be very noisy. [XUV 400 Sound Test] [Nexon EV Max Sound Test] [MG ZS EV Sound Test] [XUV 400 Horn Test] [Nexon EV Max Horn Test] [MG ZS EV Horn Test] [XUV 400 Door Thud] [Nexon EV Max Door Thud] [MG ZS EV Door Thud] In terms of storage space, The XUV has a space to keep big one litre bottle in front door along with one small bottle. There are two cup holders in the centre console. Glove box is big enough and 2-3 one litre bottles can be stored.
You have decent space underneath the centre armrest. In the rear door you can keep single one litre bottle with some extra space. Even it has twin cup holders on the arm rest of the second row. The front door of Nexon has space to keep a one litre bottle. Glove box is deep enough for two bottles to go in easily, actually three can be stored. It does not has cup holders in the centre console, Rather they are placed in the glove box. You have decent space under the front centre armrest. The rear door has a place to keep a one litre bottle. While there are two cup holders on the rear centre armrest. In ZS EV, You can keep two one-litre bottles if they are not too big. Even in glove box you can store two bottles showing that there is a lot of storage in it. It has two cup holders in the centre console. While the front armrest has decent enough depth. On the rear door pad, one bottle is an easy fit. In terms of charging ports, The XUV 400 has a 12V and one USB charging port in front. In Nexon EV Max there is a wireless charging pad for smartphone, Along with a 12V and USB charging ports in the front. And one 12V charging port at the rear.
The ZX EV has one USB, type-c, and 12V charging port in the front, Along with a wireless charging pad for the smartphone. Even at the rear it has 2-USB charging ports. For phone storage, you have a place to keep it in the XUV 400. In Nexon EV you can keep the phone on the wireless charging pad itself. And in ZS EV too you have a place to keep the phone in front. When we performed the second row space test, The XUV happened to be the widest with a good amount of knee room, A decent thigh support, And sufficient headroom. In the Nexon EV the width is good. Not the best but it is pretty good. You have a good amount of knee room. Thigh support is excellent. But the headroom feels a bit tight. In the ZS EV the overall shoulder room could have been a lot better. This is the least in the category. The knee room is ample. While thigh support is pretty good. But the headroom could have been better. Alright guys now driving the XUV 400, Turning on the car. It’s absolutely quiet. Shifting it to drive or rather in L mode, And we are good to go. The USP of the XUV is its super light steering wheel. And the overall power and pick-up is just incomparable. Thanks to the torque that is highest of all electric cars at least, When compared to EV under 30 lakh price bracket. It has the most powerful motors. You will not take time to get used to it. And once you get used to XUV 400, Even the electric power steering wheel of other cars will start to feel heavy.
This car has a really light steering wheel. This car has been focused on performance and ease of driving. So even if you are coming from a small size car, It will not take long to get used to this car. Even the edges of the bonnet are clearly visible. Overall you have no problem with the pick up. Plus, If you drive within city limits, I think you will not take time to get used to it. You will not have the problem of judgement in most of the cases. Even if the dashboard is pretty large, The edges of bonnet are visible and that smoothes out the drive experience. Even the ride quality is pretty good. Now there are few cars around so let’s check its turning radius. The area here is a bit tight right now. So we almost made the U-turn, But as there are cars ahead of us we couldn’t complete the turn. So just need to take a reverse and we are good to go. I think if there were no Scorpio and scooters then we could have been able to turn in one go. Turning radius is not an issue as it is light and convenient to drive. So you will not have problem to park or drive in tight lanes at any given point of time. The overall ride quality is really good. Even I think its handling is one of the best in the entire category. You will enjoy taking this car at corners and it will go smoothly.
The way it holds itself on the road is very good. So you will surely enjoy driving this car. We have not done the range test by far, But you can expect it to be between 300-350 km. Even for quick accelerations on highways, It is very easy to go harder on the pedal. Now if I want to stop in ahead of that car, So I will just shift to L mode, Lift the accelerator pedal, And the car will slow down and come to a halt on its own. It is a one pedal mode. So again if I want to stop, It slows down itself as soon as I lift the accelerator pedal. So while driving in city traffic the one pedal driving really makes it easy to drive. And on highways the regular D mode should be sufficient. But if you need more power you can switch to fast or fearless mode. In this mode the car will go real quick and it will be fun to drive. Hardly any car can give this kind of performance. You will have to spend around 35-40 Lakhs to get that kind of crazy performance overall. Now let’s drive the Nexon. So guys here we are in the Nexon EV Max. Turning on the car, Shifting to the drive, The car is so silent that if I turn on the AC then I can hear the AC fan noise as well. So I will switch off the AC for the time being. And here we go. The Nexon EV Max comes with more range and power than the Nexon EV Prime. It has better performance and range than the EV Prime. The good thing about the Nexon Max is that it is pretty silent, And if you need to do quick overtakes then you get sufficient power as well. Just switch to sports mode and you will get better acceleration. Overall it is an easy car to drive. But if you are driving such a big car for first time, Then it might get hard as the dashboard is very huge, And as the bonnet is sloping down, the edges are not visible.
That’s the only reason why you may take time to get used to it, especially in the city. But on highways, you will not have such problems. If the bonnet was flat and edges were visible then it could have made things easy in city too. The turning radius of the EV Max is decent enough and you won’t have any problem. It can take U turns pretty easily. Alright? In terms of overall performance, I don’t have any complaints. Even the ride quality is pretty good. We drove this car through bad roads and many of the jerks were not filtered inside the cabin. It is neither too soft nor too hard. It is one of those cars that has perfectly balanced suspension setup. Visibility is quite good but the A-Pillars are very thick. And that might hamper the visibility while driving on a single lane road, Or taking turns on single lane ghat sections. Rest nothing more than that. This car has been with us as a long termer and we have experienced the range. So the EV Max has returned the range of 300-350 km of range inside the city. What’s different in the EV cars is that the motors do not get multiple gears. It has just a single gear on it. And so the range will drop if you go faster. Due to that the range is better in city and goes down on highways. Although if you are driving at speeds of 70-80 kmph, Or going downhill, Then you might get a better range. Basically it is just like petrol or diesel car, Drive calmly for more mileage. But if you go very fast then the range is going to drop down. You get an optional 7.2kWh charger with the EV Max. And you will have to pay some 50,000 Rs for that, And they will install it at your home itself.
Although the car comes with a 3.3kWh charger, Which can be plugged to any AC or refrigerator socket and charge your vehicle. Now let’s move towards the next car which is the MG ZS EV. Here we are in the ZS EV. Turning on the car, Shifting to the drive, And here we go. So overall even the ZS EV is pretty easy and light to drive. But if you drive for first time, Like if you are driving a bigger car for first time, You may take time for the judgement as the edges of the bonnet are not visible. What I noticed is that the dashboard of all three cars is pretty huge. The pick up and performance is pretty good. There is absolutely no problem with this car in terms of outright performance. What I feel is that the ride quality of this car could have been better. I mean, The ride quality is good but when you take it on bad roads, That time you start feeling the softness of the suspensions. This is the only area which shall be improved. Other than that I don’t have any problem with it. Steering wheel is very light. Oh did you see how the car bounced? So yes it is on the softer side. The turning radius seems to be big while taking the U-turn. Rest of the cars almost did 50-60% turn, First take a look at this. It is the rear traffic cross alert feature where it alerts me if anyone is crossing back while reversing. And that’s a very good feature to have in your car. Also rest both the SUVs miss out with this feature. You even have some extra ADAS features in this car like, Lane keep assist, And even the blind spot assist. So if there is a car on the next lane, Then the yellow sign on the ORVMs blinks indicating not to change lanes.
So you get all these features. The range is between 300-350 in most driving conditions. Once you start using KERS better as all three cars get connected car tech, You can improve your driving and learn to drive an electric car in a much better way. I am not saying that you will not be able to drive an EV. But once you start learning your range will improve as well. You get a 7.5kWh charger with this car. Whereas the wall box charger which is basically the travel charger, That is the normal 15-16 ampere which can be used at any given point of time. Speed breaker test of XUV 400 is excellent. Nexon is also pretty good and was the second close best. ZS EV is third. But overall all did pretty good. Don’t worry on that part. In terms of braking, The XUV 400 has one of the best set of brakes. Even the Nexon EV has got solid brakes. Also, the ZS EV has good braking. So no problems with braking in any of the cars. On the hill climb, the XUV is the fastest. You can go quick and fast even if the car is fully loaded. Without any problem. Even the Nexon did the climb without any struggle. All three are EVs so uphill is not an issue. And as expected Nexon was also pretty quick. The same is the case with the ZS EV too and, ZS EV also moves very sprintly even when it is fully loaded. But in all of the three, the XUV 400 was the best. In the headlight test, The throw of low and high beam of XUV 400 was decent enough, Although the spread was pretty good. So the throw could have been better. The throw and spread of the headlight of Nexon EV Max are decent enough. But I feel both can have a slight improvement, especially the spread of the light.
The lights of ZS EV are white. And overall spread and throw are just decent enough. Although the sharpness of the light is missing. Now the question is which car should you buy and for what reason. So this was our first EV Maha Comparo where we shared each and every detail. You have missed a lot if you have directly jumped on the verdict. You will miss the important part of the video where we give you clarity on which car is suitable for you. So if you have come directly on verdict, Then I will recommend you to go back and watch the entire video, As only then you will get clear choice to pick your car. Now before going to the verdict, I know many of you might be confused. Like which car to buy? Shall I buy an EV or petrol car or diesel or a hybrid? Then in that case you can get on a phone call with me or my team of experts who have driven all the cars, And get your doubts clarified. So that you as a buyer do not end up with the wrong car. Our mission is to simplify your car buying experience, And we bring clarity to your confuses, Especially with all the current technologies and give you unbiased opinions. Now moving to the verdict, If you have no issues with the budget and you want everything in the car, Then MG ZS EV is an excellent choice for you. But if your budget is limited, Then both Nexon and XUV can be a better choice to buy. XUV offers features that you generally don’t count. 6-Airbags, Spacious second row, Big size boot, And a Wider car. Whereas in Nexon you get visible features like, Ventilated seats, Rear AC Vents and Electronic parking brake. So these are a few differences and both are perfect in their own way. It depends if you are an XUV person or the Nexon person. All three cars are perfect in their own way, Take care guys, Drive safe, See you tomorrow, Bye!