India announces national electric car model, cheapest ever

Tata Motors has surprised everyone by announcing the all-new Tiago EV on World Electric Vehicle Day 2022 (September 9). With the new Tiago EV, Tata Motors is planning to increase its presence in the Indian electric car market, which it currently dominates with a market share of 88%.

Although the price has not been announced yet, the new Tata Tiago EV will aim to be Tata Motors' cheapest electric car, or rather a "national" electric car, like the company did with the "national" car Tata Nano in 2008. The company currently has the Tigor EV and Nexon EV in its list of best-selling electric cars, of which the Tata Tigor EV is the cheapest starting at Rs 12.24 lakhs (about 361.5 million VND).

The Tata Tigor EV is currently India's best-selling and most affordable electric car, but with the new Tiago EV coming soon, it could get even cheaper.

Like the Nexon EV and Tigor EV, the new Tata Tiago EV will also be based on the design of the ICE. The Tiago EV is expected to retain the exterior look of the petrol Tiago, with only some EV-specific styling cues like the closed grille at the front and the blue highlights all around, something the company has also done with the Tigor EV.

The new Tata Tiago EV is also expected to retain the cabin layout of the Tigor petrol with a dual-tone black and grey interior. Here, the car could get blue highlights around the dashboard and center console, similar to the Tigor EV.

The interior of the Tata Tigor petrol model is said to be "carried" over to the electric version.

Tata Motors has not revealed any details regarding the powertrain of the Tiago EV, but it is likely to retain the same front-mounted electric motor and battery layout as the Tigor EV. Currently, the Tigor EV is equipped with a front-mounted electric motor that is capable of producing 75 horsepower and 170 Nm of torque. So the Tiago EV is expected to achieve similar performance figures. In addition to the engine, the Tiago EV could also share the 26 kWh lithium-ion battery pack from the Tigor EV.

The battery pack on the Tigor EV has a maximum driving range of 306 km in the Tigor EV and if a similar battery pack is used, the Tiago EV will be the cheapest electric car in India with a respectable driving range.

With the Tiago EV set to become the cheapest electric vehicle for India, Tata is aiming to achieve 30% penetration of electric vehicles by 2030. The Indian carmaker recently expanded its EV lineup with the Nexon EV Max with a powerful motor and a larger battery pack.