Tata has been proving itself again and again by proactively taking part in the development of alternative fuel technology vehicles. In the past it launched cars like the Tata Indica Vista EV and Manza hybrid and even showcased its Mini CAT Air car recently. Now Tata along with its French partner Dassault Sytemes is working on an electric car that will cost below $20,000 that translates to over Rs. 10 lakh.
Tata’s engineering services outsourcing and product development IT services division, Tata Technologies in collaboration with Dassault Systemes has already completed the first feasibility study of its USD 20,000 electric vehicle using the latter’s 3DEXPERIENCE platform. This car is expected to be a cost effective alternative to much expansive cars like Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt and will be more suited to wider markets across the world. Leaf costs above of $30,000 if you don’t consider government rebates and the Volt costs close to $40,000. So a price point of $20,000 will make the Tata’s Electric car the Nano of Electric cars. The car is expected to be the production version of the Tata’s eMO Concept Car.
Sadly nothing has been disclosed regarding when the car is likely to get launched and how much the company is planning to invest in this project. For the company it was a challenge to install all the necessary technologies in a small space and yet maintain spaciousness for four adults.
image – Tata eMO Electric Concept Car
Tata Technologies President (Vehicle Programs and Development Group) Kevin Fisher stated,
“We are working with Dassault Systemes to leverage the talents of a global engineering team to meet numerous design and cost constraints, as well as create the targeted user experience, including a final vehicle price tag of under USD 20,000.”
image – Tata eMO Electric Concept Car Side View
He added,
“To achieve this, Tata Technologies utilized the powerful capabilities within CATIA and ENOVIA applications to quickly develop various studies, allowing global collaboration to rapidly evaluate and converge on optimal solutions,”
Dassault Systemes Executive Vice President (Industry) Monica Menghini commented,
“Tata Technologies is a key business partner for us and we see its innovative and forward-looking project as the perfect example of how our 3DEXPERIENCE platform is critical to collaboration with OEMs for accelerated development cycles.”
We are surprised to see how active Tata is when it is regarding eco-friendly vehicles and if Tata keeps up the same pace, we are sure soon it will inspire other manufacturers too. While India is still dealing with its own internal economical and political issues, developed economies have commercially adopted electric vehicles and governments are providing incentives to buy these eco-friendly cars, but unfortunately, one such program has been recently revoked in India which has caused a drop of 75% in the sales of the electric cars and two wheelers which is already very limited. We hope our government will realize the importance of clean vehicles soon and will take some steps to promote it. We will keep you posted on the latest updates, stay tuned.
