Tata Motors disrupts EV market with new Tiago

Mumbai: Tata Motors, the country's biggest automotive company by revenues, Wednesday sought to democratize the adoption of electric vehicles (EV) by introducing the Tiago at a price point sufficiently disruptive for mainstreaming the powertrain hitherto associated largely with luxury cars.

The first 10,000 buyers of the Tiago EV will pay between ₹8.49 lakh and ₹11.79 lakh ex-showroom for the various variants, drastically narrowing the price differential between EVs and cars powered by traditional fossil fuels.

Tata Motors, already the biggest in India's EV space, expects the share of the powertrain to be in double digits of total before FY23 winds down, with incremental buyers for the new Tiago EV leading the march.

Tata Motors is set to close FY23 with sales of 50,000 units. People aware of the plans said it has planned an output schedule for 100,000 EVs in FY24, with a vision of 30% EV penetration by 2025-2027.

Available in two different powertrains of 24 kWh and 19 kWh of Ziptron battery, the Tiago EV offers a range of 315 km and 250 km, respectively, per charge. Tata Motors claims that in comparison with a petrol-driven hatchback, the EV can help a buyer save about ₹60,000 to ₹70,000 on running costs annually, assuming the person drives 1,000 km every month.

Tata Motors will come out with new Altroz EV and Punch EV in the coming year or so, expanding the choices for EVs in the sub-₹15 lakh segment and increasing the addressable market.

Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, told ET the Tiago EV will help the company take electrification to the masses. "We think the EV powertrain could account for a third of our total Tiago sales. Apart from expanding the portfolio, we are also opening up many new markets and the coverage will now cross over 170 locations, which will bring in a lot of incremental buyers," said Chandra.