You would be surprised to know how early Tata had commenced its operations and R&D in the electrification industry.
The EV version of the Bolt hatchback was the first electric vehicle from Tata Motors 4 years before the Nexon EV. This model was designed by the R&D division of Tata Motors in the UK. As matter of fact, the R&D department of Tata Motors in the UK has been experimenting with a whole fleet of vehicles that were and are still sold in India. Tata Ace, Vista, and Indica are some of the prominent names that were dedicated to the R&D required for the electrification of cars. However, these models were never designed for the market. Check out this red Tata Bolt with an electric powertrain.
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Tata Bolt – The First EV Before Nexon
The Bolt EV was reviewed by the staff of a Red Ferret back in 2016. The design of the exterior was nothing vastly different from the regular Bolt that was sold in India at the time. It means that it was still largely based on later generation models of Indica. It used to be solid and rugged. The R&D department retrofitted a battery pack into the bottom rear of the car and took the traditional IC engine out. No other changes were made either to the exterior or the interior. The all-black interior reek of good quality for a small car, mentions the presenter. He is also left impressed by the driving dynamics of the car once he takes it for a spin on the test track.
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Specs
The Tata Bolt EV was retrofitted with a Li-Ion battery pack and an 80 kW electric motor that is powered by the e-Drive technology developed by Tata Motors at the time. The battery powers the electric motors to give a range of about 100 km on a single charge. It could be charged up to 80% within 6-7 hours. The top speed of this test mule was around 135 – 140 km/h. There are various drive modes depending to choose from. Also, the regenerative braking was also available and was quite strong and aggressive for recuperating the maximum range.
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The Tata Motors official explains that there were no plans for a market launch as this would serve as the testing vehicle for future products from the Indian auto giant. And now we know what those other products are. The future products from Tata Motors like Curvv (based on the Gen-2 platform) and Avinya (based on the Gen-3 platform) look promising and indicate the direction in which the company is headed.
