[rajshenoy]

Not a subject matter expert but i always felt that one can anyway start with similar infrastructure that powers electric trains on our roads and connect public transports to this grid.

One of the main delays in adopting EV are the Battery technology and this live grid can offset this.

And my commonsense tells me that building this infrastructure is much cheaper than investing on Metro/mono rail etc.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

I keep hearing comments from many people in most of the EV forums saying India is not ready with electricity and charging infrastructure.

But the fact is lot of improvements happened in the last 2-3 years.

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

One of the main delays in adopting EV are the Battery technology and this live grid can offset this.

Improvements have definitely been made in the production area. But the key question is, how will we charge our EVs? 90% of India parks its cars on the road.

I think electric cars have a long way to go in India, and they'll increase in popularity only when:

1. Battery tech improves even further (it is every year)
2. EVs go mass market and the price / benefits ratio is comparable to regular cars
3. Charging stations are as ubiquitous as petrol pumps
4. The charging is quick!

Our country's adoption rate is very slow. Take hybrids for instance. They've been around since like forever and are best suited to our low speed stop-and-go traffic conditions. But there's not one proper hybrid this side of 30 lakhs.

[Cool_leo_guy]

Originally Posted by GTO

Our country's adoption rate is very slow. Take hybrids for instance. They've been around since like forever and are best suited to our low speed stop-and-go traffic conditions. But there's not one proper hybrid this side of 30 lakhs.

One of the reasons for failure of hybrids is their high cost of purchase and ownership. Also they were variants of models which themselves were not exactly setting sales charts on fire. And they were almost 50 to 80 percent more expensive than their ICE brethren, making them more of a statement than serious contender for market share.
In a country obsessed with "sasta and achchha" and "kitna deti hai", where majority of best selling cars are all under rupees 10 lakhs, unless initial price is brought down to more affordable(read "sasta aur achchha") levels, the EV and hybrid gravy train will keep languishing on the platform and will never start it's journey, let alone reach anywhere.

[Prafful_Rathod]

Originally Posted by GTO

3. Charging stations are as ubiquitous as petrol pumps
4. The charging is quick!

I see the above two problems as the main cause of reluctance towards EVs in India. While technological advancement can improve the range, but just imagine if the fastest charging point takes about an hour or two to charge the car, do we have the patience to wait (Indian perspective).

Charging problem needs a radical solution in India, which I am hopeful will come through sooner than later.

[RavenAvi]

Birdies are chirping that the Tiago electric, in it's LHD avatar, will enter production by next month-end.

Tata is probably targeting the export markets first, to gauge the response to the newest iteration of it's contemporary bestseller.

[kvish]

Considering that the Mahindra E2OPLUS is 60KG heavier than the Tiago, an identical battery/motor arrangement should suffice. This might just be the right car to start the electric car revolution.

[naut]

@Mods,

There's a factual error in the article published on teambhp latest news regarding this topic @ https://www.team-bhp.com/news/rumour...export-markets

The article says "The main reason behind Tata first targeting export markets with the Tiago hatchback is probably the high taxes that have been made applicable on hybrid and electric vehicles after the implementation of GST in India. This has made it difficult to price an electric car competitively in the country. "

While I don't know about the exact reason, I definitely know for sure that the tax on pure electric vehicles has certainly reduced after GST. Only the tax (GST) for hybrid vehicles has increased. Can you please correct this? So, all electric Tiago pricing would not have been negatively affected.

Here's a link to an article wherein this is clarified: http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...on-405230.aspx

[sri_tesla]

As @naut mentioned, full electric vehicles attract much lower taxes (12%) compared to other types and segments. Only hybrid vehicles attract highest slab (43%).

I think Tata is delaying India release because of no charging infrastructure. Tata should release it as early as possible. Along with difficulties in the initial phases, they will also get first mover advantage.

[G V Krishna]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

I think Tata is delaying India release because of no charging infrastructure.

If this is true, then it would be a fundamental mistake. My philosophy is that infrastructure, product , service support are a tightly coupled cycle. One cannot wait for infrastructure alone to be developed so that would be consumed later by the products. If you make a product that can directly charge from a 16Amps (220V, 50Hz) socket and gives you a range of around 150KM on single charge, and price it for office goers, students or I would say for the mass markets (Tesla Model-3), the infrastructure 'evolves' along with the growing number of electric vehicles. It is a high time in India, that we have electric cars. We are lagging way behind the world.

Also, the point our beloved Govt. should be concentrating on is uniform plugin charging stations/Standards, so that irrespective of the car manufacturer/model the charging station should be useful (more like a micro USB charging pin standard that is followed by 99% mobile companies.).

A simple car like Tiago/Celerio that gives me a range of 150 KMs on a single charge and which I can plug into any 16 Amps socket that is found across India, and costs around 6-7 lakhs (on road) would be an instantaneous hit at least in metros/cities. What say folks?

[RavenAvi]

The Tiago Electric is scheduled to be unveiled to the public at LCV 2017, the UK’s low carbon vehicle event convention at Millbrook, UK, which will be held between 6th & 7th September, 2017, as per this tweet posted by Tata Motors European Technical Center:

[greenhorn]

converting a car from IC to electric is a trivial exercise for a large manufacturer - there is an episode of wheeler dealers where they take some classic, and take it to a firm that specializes in electric car conversions - battery packs, motors and controllers are all available off the shelf for retrofit, and its just a matter of making some adapter to fit to the transmission. The show showed a maserati biturbo converted to electric, and on top of that, they improved the performance of the car from the factory for a 10K or so cost.

The point being, creating an EV conversion of a car is not a big achievement for a mass manufacturer. as demonstrated - these retrofit firms do it day in & day out. Heck, Tata themselves have "launched" some 5 or 6 EV's so far. I see these random Sport and EV editions of tata cars as nothing but branding/marketing exercises, and begin to start ignoring tata's cries of sporty and electric 'wolf'

[NiInJa]

A couple of years back, I had a very negative mindset about electric cars, but I am changing now. This does look like a great start for Tata, finally they are acting fast and will be in a better position when the time arrives to switch to electric cars. (in Europe/UK its already happening)

Coming to Indian market, this being price sensitive, it will be interesting how Tata prices its EV. Infrastructure is still an issue, but think about it, if I have a parking space at home and have a charging point there, I wouldn't need any other charging point if I were to use it for office commutes or city runabouts. Small EVs make a very strong case for themselves. For long drives, I might hire an Uber cab or Zoomcar. To summarise, if internal combustion engine cars get expensive and EVs get cheaper, we are looking at a radical change in car ownership.

[discoverwild]

Tata Motors is all set to reveal its first ever Electric Vehicle (EV) for the Indian market in September this year. The Tata Tiago EV is expected to borrow heavily from the Bolt BEV prototype, the electric version of the Bolt, according to reports.

Tata Motors, in collaboration with its subsidiary, the UK based Tata Motors European Technical Centre (TMETC), has been working on battery-operated electric vehicles for quite some time.

TMETC commented on the LCV 2017 (a Low Carbon Vehicle event, scheduled in Millbrook, UK, on September 6-7, 2017) with a post on the micro-blogging site, Twitter, that they will soon be launching the Tata Tiago EV in the market.

The carmaker has used the Tiago as a base for the new EV, as the hatchback’s relatively low-cost platform should help offset some of the costs of the battery and related components.

The government’s recent push towards electric vehicles is sure to have given a boost to Tata’s plans to roll out its own range of EVs sooner rather than later.

Also Read: Tata Tiago crosses 1 lakh bookings

Along with the Tiago EV, the carmaker is also working on the electric versions of Nano, which has been caught-on-camera, being tested near Coimbatore.

Tata Motors is also testing a fully electric bus for eventual roll-out. With this, Tata Motors took another initiative to reduce vehicle emissions.

http://<br /> http://auto.economicti...go-ev/59768794

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by discoverwild

Tata Motors is all set to reveal its first ever Electric Vehicle (EV) for the Indian market in September this year. the carmaker is also working on the electric versions of Nano, which has been caught-on-camera, being tested near Coimbatore.

Disclaimer, especially @ discoverwild: This comment is not aimed at you specifically, I'm just annoyed that people keep falling for Tata motors publicity stunts which are beginning to get old by now. How many more EV prototypes will then launch ( I'm sure the nexon EV is right around the corner), and how many more of them will be spotted testing in the wild, and how many more times will they claim that they are "just about to launch" something? it was only a year back that we had a round of nano "just about to launch in india"

http://www.carblogindia.com/tata-nan...pecifications/

Tata Motors looks all set to launch an all-electric version of the Nano in India.

And now this. if a vehicle that was announced and displayed 7 years ago, and supposed to be launched shortly a year ago is still in testing, what are the odds for a vehicle that was shown just 1 year ago to be ready for prime time, and that too in india, where there is no demand, or incentives?

[discoverwild]

Greenhorn, as you see above I have not added any comments on the post. Just added it as I read it. I have my doubts too, esp the timing of the launch, if at all.

I wouldn't call it a marketing gimmick or brand exercise either as most reporters try to assume things over and above what was quoted in the hope of sensationalism.

All I can probably add is that when the EV scene kicks off, provided the Government allows it to, Tata will be there in the picture from the start with whatever knowledge they have gained through the years.