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Priyanka Vyas

New Delhi, Sept. 6 Tata Motors’ electric version of Indica, set to enter the domestic market in next two years, is likely to be priced at an affordable rate for the mass market.

“I don’t think the present companies launching electric cars have an understanding of the market dynamics. We will price the car, which will be affordable for the mass market,” said Dr Clive Hickman, who heads a staff of over 3,000 employees at Tata Motors Research and Development division in India and the UK.

Talking to Business Line on the sidelines of the SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) annual convention, Dr Hickman said if there were economies of scale, the cost of production of the model could be brought down significantly. He also said the pricing of electric cars depended on the extent to which the parts could be made in India.

He was responding in the context of the current electric car models such as Reva — which are priced from Rs 2.99 lakh for the base model in Delhi after availing a 15 per cent subsidy on the base price of the vehicle, a 12.5 per cent exemption of VAT and refund of road tax and registration charges. It is, however, sold at Rs 3.5 lakh in Bangalore.

The electric Indica prototype — unveiled by the company’s Managing Director, Mr Ravi Kant, earlier during the week — is set to make its debut in Norway by next year. It would later be introduced in other European countries with Government support and infrastructure for such vehicles.

He said that for the Indian market, its ‘mild hybrid’ Indica launch was well on track and would make its entry during the year as it would not require any specific infrastructure that supports electric or hybrid vehicles. The ‘mild hybrid’ has features such as shutting the engine off when it is idle and restarting it instantly on demand. He also said that Tata Motors would be ready with a prototype of fuel cell buses by 2010.

More Stories on : Outlook | New Products & Services | Tata Motors Ltd | Power

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