[John]

Would love to convert one of these to electric. Wonderful memories of the Herald from my school days.

[Electromotive]

Everyone forgot the Tata Pixel?
It was a concept car based on the Nano. Looks good enough and futuristic enough to shed the Nano's negative image. Perfect for a small electric car for urban mobility.





I don't care to see any of the old Indian cars in electric. Most of them don't have any outstanding looks or grace. But I definitely want a Countach or DeLorean in electric. Hope someone design an EV with those looks.

[shancz]

M800 as a light city car with good performance.
Omni as a versatile city transport, personal or commercial. Good space for a large battery capacity.

Contessa can have a large battery pack in its boot and become a wheelie champ

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by GTO

My own '97 Mahindra Classic. It's now 25-years old, so merely a weekend toy. Would love to change over from the 2.5L Bolero Diesel to a smooth, silent electric powertrain.

I have a premonition that you would indeed do just that to your Mahindra Classic.

Whereas for me, would like to see an EV avatar of:
1. Fiat Linea
2. Abarth Punto
3. Padmini Premier
4. Hero Honda Ambition

[jeevan_61]

I might be slightly off topic here, but I would not want to see any retro car in a EV Avatar. The retro cars are what laid the building blocks for the current generation cars. They should be preserved in their original form as they are a part of the automobile heritage of our country.
I might sound biased because of my liking towards older cars, but the fact is that every old car has a story to tell, every old car has served a purpose and played a role in the making of the present generation of cars, be it an amby or Maruti 800 or an old Merc.
Electric might be the future, I agree with it and I am also bound to go the electric way pretty soon.
Old cars are not just meant to sit in a museum, they are meant to be on the road in their original Avatar, not in a modded electric form because it is the car as a whole that has made an impact in the industry, not just the body shell.
We as enthusiasts have the responsibility of preserving our automobile heritage, let's please not encourage this conversion of retro cars.

[John]

Here's an early attempt at converting an old Ambassador to an EV. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.car...ning-cost/amp/

[MaheshY1]

If good quality EV conversion kits arrive, I may keep the Nano around and convert it to Pixel when it turns 15. There's a good decade for the tech to mature, EV kit prices to correct, and for the govt to make up their mind.

The Beat will stay diesel only for highway drives and I'll transfer it to another state RC. Perhaps a W124 Merc with EV kit may also enter my garage.

[ash22]

Restro cars as EV will attract more people to EV segment.
Personally, i prefer the M800 EV.
minimum 100 to 150 kms on a single charge for M800 will be a sure hit in Indian shores.

[adityadeva]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Obvious choice for me is Tata Nano.

In terms of old car I don't mind to see Zen of original avtar in EV .

Originally Posted by anthusiast

Would love to own an Electric version of the Tata Nano. The dimensions perfectly suit congested urban environments.

In a way the Tata Nano was ahead of its time albeit costlier than expectations. Now is the right time to electrify it. Even an actual range of 100 KM would be sufficient to keep retrofitment costs low.

.

Originally Posted by DicKy

Around late 2000s, there were rumours of the Nano featuring an EV powertrain, and I would daydream of it being the perfect city car/ first car. Alas.

.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Tata Totally Missed an Opportunity here.
An Electric Nano with a 100km range for 5L, will still sell.
Market has matured now. I wish tata brings it as an EV, will be a straight swap for our 2011 Nano.

Originally Posted by arundeepbv

looks like some one heard you :-)
Tata Nano electric will be launched as Tata Neo, check out his article on the same
https://www.autocarindia.com/car-new...yem-neo-406644

Originally Posted by fordday

As others mentioned, Tata Nano Electric with 100km range will be dream come true for me.

LINK

Perfect for city roundabout.

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

If good quality EV conversion kits arrive, I may keep the Nano around and convert it to Pixel when it turns 15.

I thought that I was alone in wishing an EV avtaar for Tata Nano.

All the above quotes have simply stolen my thoughts.

I tweeted these ideas to design head of Tata - Pratap Bose and RNT. If a layman like me can think of this why not the tech honchos of Tata can't. Seems that they might have carried out a market survey and found that the brand Nano might have suffered a huge set back in terms of brand image and hence Tata is shying away from plonking in an electric motor with a Nano EV branding.

But pixel branding and serious design changes should bring in a strong EV branding for Nano. Nothing will beat it as a city car, a less powerful motor and a good battery pack ( I would recommend a Arai certified range of 250) will make the erstwhile Nano the biggest people's EV and ofcourse without the Nano Badge and older style. And for god's sake Tata don't do cost cutting gimmicks like no boot opening facility, different size wheels for front and back, etc.

[Garth]

For me it will be the Ambassador. Old world charm meets the EV age.

[Bibendum90949]

My choices in the order of preference, both cars which I own presently. I love them to the core.

Maruti Omni - this will be an unbeatable utilitarian car in EV avatar.

Gypsy - Not that I really want to see it in electric, it's for the fear of Gypsy getting extinct if it gets caught in the whirlwind of pollution norms. Another 15 more years, it'll qualify as a vintage car. I guess, it can live forever thereafter.

[AirbusCapt]

I would prefer highly customisable conversion kits. Imagine I can electrify my discovery sport after 10 years into a machine that has 4 independent motors (one per wheel) giving out say 400bhp on an all wheel drive? If the battery tech matures enough to give a guaranteed range of say 700 kms per charge, I can enjoy the car for a decade more.

[rsidd]

In a model on retro electric cars, I'm a bit surprised nobody's yet mentioned Neil Young's quixotic LincVolt project! He converted a 1959 Lincoln Continental to electric. His ambition was to show that a big classic sexy American car could be eco-friendly. Unfortunately in 2010 someone left it plugged into an untested charging system and it caused a fire, and suffered damage. He restored it, but went with cellulosic ethanol powering an on-board generator the second time round. It seems to me that, today, a pure-EV version should be entirely feasible. But, also, there is much more consumer interest in EVs now than when he started this project in late 2000s. (Pic: Neil and his LincVolt)

Youtube interview with Letterman, pre-fire

[krishnakumar]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this one.

ZEN

The car's name, Zero Engine Noise, would be such an apt fit for the EV. It was also such a cute looking car and would make for an excellent EV.

Just to be clear, I'm referring to the first generation ZEN.

[sumeethaldankar]

800 Electric.
I have already planned my retirement car, God willing. This if it happens will be my last car .

Image source