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-   -   Scoop! Tata Altroz EV to get larger battery, 40% more range (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/electric-cars/239385-scoop-tata-altroz-ev-get-larger-battery-40-more-range.html)

Buoyed by the success of the Nexon EV, Tata Motors is now gearing up to introduce the Altroz EV in the Indian market.



We have learned that the company is setting up another production line for the Altroz EV, which is expected to be launched in the near future.

The Altroz EV will use Tata's Ziptron electric powertrain. But what's more interesting is that the car is likely to get an additional battery pack option. This larger battery pack is said to offer 25-40% more range, which equates to around 500 km.



We have also learned that the same battery option will be offered in the Nexon EV as well. At present, the crossover comes with a 30.2 kWh battery pack that powers a 127 BHP electric motor. The ARAI certified range of the Nexon EV is 312 km (MIDC cycle).

Thanks to the Team-BHP fan (he prefers to remain anonymous) who sent this information in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP share page!

Link to Team-BHP News

Will be interesting to see how they price it wrt the Nexon. If launched, finally an Altroz which is fast, to match the design. Looking at how the Nexon EV has performed, this is again bound to do well, especially with the added range.

Hey Tata, just a few pointers add these features to the any new EV you release :-
1. Controllable regen with a regen off option.
2. Park option in the Gear selector.
3. Take care of your software issues.
4. Hopefully..... Cruise control.

Your Nexon-EV is a smashing vehicle with some niggles, just take care of those niggles and you can make good car great.

I agree with all your points.

This will be my next car, I am eagerly waiting for the launch. I had almost decided to buy the Nexon EV but didn't need a car as big as that. I also dislike SUVs and have always preferred hatches or sedans. My Vento TSI is on its last legs and I hope it holds on until this car is released.

For road trips my wife's Venue DCT serves the purpose.

If they offer this and 40% more battery as mentioned in the post, I can buy now :thumbs up and if it can be offered in harrier, I can buy both Altroz and Harrier.

Is this leak in return to Maruti ambitious target of ev launch in 2025?

Altroz with 500km range and under 14L, Tata please take my money!!

This makes me regret my decision to buy a new car instead of used one last year.
Would have been easy to sell it and buy this one without any thought of wasted money.

However, a point that has me worried currently is the fact that our electricity grid itself can be unreliable, especially when it rains heavily and floods or during windy cyclones. So how do I charge my vehicle then? Rely on the diesel generators?
Defeats the whole purpose of an EV and adds an additional hassle :coldsweat
Combine that with the lesser GC of vehicles and driving through water logged streets of Mumbai with tons of potholes, the vehicle seems lesser practical.

Or I may just be overtly critical of all scenarios.

In any case you shouldn't be driving around the city through windy cyclones on the flip side I have seen a YouTube video from USA where the guy used the electric vehicle as a power source during power outages. So win win situation here if we can do that.

https://youtu.be/XtJ0zEt_aHM

Nexon EV's range is technically 200km. Not 312km.

So 40% more range is about 280km which puts it on par with ZS EV and Kona. Hopefully this comes with charging capabilities of 50kw+

Any idea on the timelines? 280km of range will help you get around much of South India thanks to the new Zeon 50kw chargers.

I were you I will take the range numbers with a pinch of salt. The original range of 300km on 30 kWh battery is not what you will receive on road. On road I would expect a range of 180km.
Which means for the revised battery assuming 40% more capacity range works out to be 250km. Still a very good range!!

I dont think our grid is that unreliable that power goes out for multiple days. If Tata gives a 7kW charger with the new battery, you can charge a 40-50kwh battery pack overnight. 300km real world range will usually last most people for 1-2 weeks.

Apart from this, almost all Tata, MG showrooms have public chargers. In South India, Zeon is installing 50kW chargers along the highway at popular eateries.

This is welcome development in the EV Space. In real life scenarios, if the car manages to give 300-350 KMs, it would open up lots of interesting options.

All of a sudden, one can think of taking this car on Highway drives with less anxiety of battery dying down. On most of our highway's, We move at an average speed of 60 KM/hour, which would would translate to five-six hours of non-stop driving. Planning to re-charge these EV's during tea/lunch breaks, looks a more of reality with this kind of range.

This would also make other big players in the industry wake up and expedite the introduction of electric vehicles here. Currently all of them are busy making C-SUVs with Internal Combustion Engines and introducing various transmissions that existed with them for many years in other markets. It would not be wrong to say that these other players have no real urgency in moving to electric platforms.

Tata does not have its own automatic transmissions, 1.2 Turbo engines are also not a standout. Hope this long range EV becomes a reality sooner and kickstarts some real competition in the EV space.

You need to understand that you can still commute for about a week without electricity if you are topping up your vehicle everyday. I don't think week long blackouts are a thing anymore.

Even in the unlikely event you had to rely on diesel generator once a year, how is that defeating the purpose? On one hand, 99% of time you were using electricity, on the other, your efficiency is still better than running on a diesel engine because diesel generator can run at high efficiency band compared to your traction engine.

EVs are actually better in water logged areas, they are less likely to get washed away, thanks to heavier build and batteries and drive components are sealed with this situation in mind.

And potholes? How are EVs at a disadvantage in comparison to ICEV?

No kind of spaghetti math gives 500km. 500km needs more than double the battery size since you’re adding capacity but also weight. If you added capacity while keeping weight same, then maybe it can give 500km but honestly, 250km is a lucky city drive figure even for Nexon.

So it’s definitely not 500km. 1.4x of ARAI 312km is still 436km, not 500km. What does come to mind now that I write this, is that Altroz is lighter (less weight) and has lesser GC and more aerodynamic. So maybe it can get upto 400km on ARAI, but I’d still say real range won’t be more than 300km.

Not that it’s bad — but I’m confused as to what will be the pricing? They’re giving more range and for that, bigger battery. So naturally, cost will increase.

But they can’t price it too close to Nexon due to risk of cannibalising Nexon sales. After all, I think, with petrol looming over century, people would rather have a 400km (theoretically, oc) electric hatch than 300km electric suv.

What’s your take BHPians?
400km Electric Hatch or 300km Electric SUV (both arai, so factor 0.7 for real range)

I hope you meant ARAI.

To get 500km ARAI. We’d easily need about 50kWh to get 500km range (assuming increase in weight is cancelled out by the increased aero) since Nexon also fetched 300km ARAI on 30kWh.

Nexon EV 30kWh battery is about ₹3.4L. That alone makes 50kWh battery costlier by ₹2.25L. (₹5.25L total)

It’s difficult to draw comparison between Nexon ICE model and EV because base model don’t have same equipment and features. Top end, though, has same features.

Nexon XZA+ (Diesel/AMT dual tone) is 12.8L ExS.
Altroz XZ+ (D) is 9.5L.

Pricing an altroz EV with 50kWh battery (alone costing 5.25L, we haven’t yet talked about motor and BMS, at least another 1.5L) on a diesel version already costing 9.5L, yeah, we exceeded the 14L mark before even adding motor and BMS.

If we assume chucking out engine/exhaust, transmission and fuel tank + all assorted parts saves 1.5L, it’s still over 14L when adding 5.25L battery pack.

I’m not discouraging, just making an educated guess based on current battery prices and model lineups. (I assume Tata earns same margin on both EV and ICE, so the profits already included in the price at which ICE models sell) Lower trims might cost lesser, specially when using the 30kWh same unit as Nexon, but the 500km trim? Not so soon.

Of course it would be ARAI, but if Altroz can manage real world range 300-350 Km, it would be a very compelling choice around 15L.

Altroz is already a well accomplished car with space ride and dynamics. Altroz EV with ~50KWh will be a no brainer.