Tata may have kept us waiting — eagerly and anxiously — for the all-electric Harrier.ev, but by the looks of it, it’s clearly been worth the wait. It took them quite a while after letting the world know about the chances of such a model to finally bring out what can be the turning point in the EV SUV space. Curiously, Tata Motors skipped the usual scenic test drive route for this meet and instead opted for a track that has previously hosted world championship rounds of both Formula 1 and MotoGP. We report live from the Buddh International Circuit.
Before I tell you what we think about the Harrier.ev from the limited time we got with the car — don’t worry, a comprehensive road test is scheduled to happen very soon. We must recapitulate what the all-electric SUV has in store for the new buyer. The biggest draw has to be the dual-motor all-wheel-drive setup, which delivers a combined output of just under 400 bhp and a impressive peak torque of 51.49 kg-m. You can opt for a standard single-motor variant as well, but that’s a story for another day. Battery capacities vary too, depending on the version you choose: 65 kWh and 75 kWh.
Power play
Tata started with a neat tablecloth-pulling trick, where the car’s sudden acceleration pulled the tablecloth without giving the tableware enough time to fall. Its a trick usually performed with supercars, whose mind-numbing acceleration makes them ideal for something like this, but with 51.49 kg-m of torque, it’s clear that the Harrier.ev is no short on pulling power. As it turns out, no one seemed to warn Tata about the Harrier.ev’s immense pulling power — so, to further prove the SUV’s capabilities, they brought in one of Tata’s humongous armoured military vehicles.
Co-developed with DRDO, this was Tata’s WhAP 8x8 (Wheeled Armoured Platform), ready to be towed by the Harrier.ev — on the back straight of an F1 circuit. Covered under camouflage itself, possibly hinting at future applications or simply to match the military vehicle, the Harrier.ev showed no resistance in towing the heavyweight. People were stunned, jaws dropped, yet the Harrier.ev carried on as if it were just another day.
Like I said, our time with the Harrier.ev was fairly limited — more of an introductory encounter than a full-fledged road test — but it was still enough to appreciate what this all-electric family SUV offers. A claimed 6.3 seconds is all it takes to go from 0 to 100 kmph — which isn’t just impressive given the Harrier.ev’s size and weight, but also surprising, considering the Harrier isn’t positioned as a performance SUV by any stretch.
Road manners
Around corners, it behaved as expected: body roll was well-contained, if not entirely absent, it was stable, composed, and predictable. We can confidentally report that the suspension and onboard ESC have been calibrated to keep the Harrier.ev out of embarrassing situations.
That’s a quick overview of the Harrier.ev’s road manners — but considering this is effectively the only AWD version of the Harrier SUV you can buy, irrespective of the powertrain, you’d naturally be curious about its offroad capabilities, right? A specially designed off-road set up for just that, and this is where the Harrier.ev’s dual-motor AWD setup showed its true colours.
Torque Test
Next up was the axle-twister pit — a perfect test to assess whether a car can transfer power between wheels, even when one loses contact with the ground, to pull itself free. The Harrier.ev’s instant torque and cleverly calibrated traction control left no doubt that it’s well-suited for challenges like these. Taking it up a notch, we also tested the car’s off-road cruise control, which enabled it to smoothly navigate boulders and ruts — one can steer and tap the brakes if required. The speed was set at 5 kmph, providing ample time to make corrective inputs, if needed... but we can confidentally say there was no need for human intervention.
A steep 34-degree incline was tackled with ease, while its braking control during the descent was appreciable, too. The water-wading pit wasn’t so much a challenge as it was a showcase of Tata’s engineering prowess and the Harrier.ev’s go-anywhere capability. That capability was further highlighted by driving over a tricky, right-angle bridge. There was even a brief jump section — something the Harrier.ev handled with ease.
This experience helped us understand why it’s all right to be excited about the Harrier.ev. We will continue with how it is to drive and live with in the full review, but for now, this press meet has made it clear that the Harrier.ev is far from just another electric vehicle. It is a feature-rich and immensely capable SUV that will only further Tata’s success in the EV space.
Everyday Excellence
The track day and pre-defined off-road course showcased many of the SUV’s capabilities, often surpassing our expectations, and needless to say, it’s unlikely that a Harrier.ev will ever be subjected to extreme conditions in everyday use. To be a successful product, it’ll need to have the right features, charging convenience, a comfortable ride and handling setup for public roads, and, most importantly, a solid real-world range. We’ll come to that in the review, but from what we’ve seen, Tata has added everything one can think of in the Harrier.ev: from performance, practicality, and safety, to even some segment-first features. These are exciting times, and there’s no doubt that cars like the Harrier.ev contribute a lot to that.
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