[ACM]

cool, a spoiler and skirting kit like this one should sell well in India. Thats if we leave the potential of the ev concept aside.

An kitted out Indica sport would be interesting.

[gshanky]

This is a really wonderful effort from TATA. I hope they win this prize!! but in the mean time I request all of you to go and vote for TATA

Lets bring it to the front. Go TATA!!

[navan49]

I can't come to the judgment whether it is Vista Electra or Drive tech. But the look is beautiful and cute. If the tata's traditional noise is reduced then I can think of it in the near future.

[NOS Power]

The differences between the showcar posted on the 1st page and the competition car is that they have closed out the radiator grill and the lower grill to reduce drag, also the spoiler is not simply an aesthetic addition, it definitely reduces rear end drag and these are mods required to get those numbers coming in, so will be difficult to say whether those additions will be available for customer purchase unless for once TATA thinks of the customer.

[MihirC]

The body kit is simply awesome wow. What I loved even more was the 0-60mph timing of 11.72 secs. Thats one hell of a fast Vista man. Fast, eco friendly, good looking, roomy and comfortable, good features, Its a TATA so it will be priced reasonably.

This will be one car which will tick maximum righht boxes for everyone mate.

[ACM]

Originally Posted by NOS Power

so will be difficult to say whether those additions will be available for customer purchase unless for once TATA thinks of the customer.

TATA is one of the few car manufacturers in India who thinks about the customer, so the comment is not exactly in good taste.

Yep they do have quality issues, and have had a few really blown up cases, but then they are also the ones who definately DO NOT overprice their cars unlike most others and provide the maximium car per car or rather value per buck spent. Max space, max value, max features for the price indicates this is a company that thinks about the customer - mainly us folks in India.

[rudrah]

The Electric Vista looks great with the smoked headlights, side skirts and spoilers. I hope they introduce out here very soon..Fuel prices are sky rocketing year by year!

If you carefully notice the spoilers and the skirts, they are a complete take off from the Palio S10! Thanks to TATA-FIAT JV!

[AyAn!]

I think it would have looked a lot better without that cheesy spoiler.Would have prefered something more subtle.Love the solid looking wheels though!

[shortbread]

I find it quite ironical that the major point of discussion on the thread is the cosmetic changes on the car...haha.

Kudos to Tata for what they are doing. Pretty sure that this reasearch is an expensive affair and will not be reflecting as profits anytime soon, But the fact that they doing this shows how the company is thinking in the long run. This is a major change of mindset in India, especially since we have been witnessing for decades carmakers churning out outdated foreign models under license, the odd nip-tuck, facelift launched as a whole new model..etc..The primary concern was day to day sales and profits. Why, the nations largest car maker for a quarter of a century is simply a local operation for a jap co.

One has to appreciate the steps taken by the likes of Tata and Mahindra to keep up with the latest advancements rather than rely on hand me downs. Hopefully soon the R&D for such projects will take place in India as well.

Of course such things are irrelevant as a car buyer but it does bring in some pride as a citizen.

[zealous123]

If it gets launchesd in india i think TATA will not price it under 6lakhs..But still happy about TATA presence globally...

[anmol2k4]

Guys, here are some insights on the Automotive X-prize and Indica's current standing.

Here is some basic info from Wikipedia :-

The essence of each competition is to design, build and race super-efficient vehicles that will achieve 100 MPGe (2.35 liter/100 kilometer) efficiency, produce less than 200 grams/mile well-to-wheel CO2 equivalent emissions, and could be manufactured for the mass market.[2] Within the Competition Division, there are two vehicle classes: Mainstream and Alternative. The mainstream class has a prize of $5 million. The alternate class has 2 separate prizes of $2.5 million, one for side-by-side seating and one for tandem.

The competition started with 130 vehicles, after many eliminations there are just 36 vehicles left in the race. And yes that includes our Indica.

To choose the winner, X-prize is supposed to conduct three on-track competition stages in order to evaluate safety, efficiency and performance of vehicles.

1) Shakedown Stage (April 26 to May 7, 2010) : Fist step of the competition will be the review of technical reports, technical inspection of the vehicles and performance testing of safety elements to eliminate unsafe vehicles.

2) Knockout Stage (June 20 - 29, 2010): To advance, vehicles must pass active safety performance tests, meet acceptable emission levels and demonstrate at least 67 MPGe on a test track.

4) Finals Stage (July 19 - 30, 2010): in this stage vehicles must maintain a minimum average speed while meeting fuel economy of 100 MPGe.

5) Validation Stage (August 2010): cars will be validated on dynamometers under laboratory conditions, winner will go various testing and winner will be determined at the conclusion of this stage,

Now here are few of the sites that some here may find interesting :-

Following link will take you to Tata Indica EV X's team page. Tata Motors | Progressive Automotive XPRIZE

Following link will take you to "LIVE COMPETITION TRACKER" where you can see live video stream of competition, you can chat with other people etc. :- LIVE COMPETITION TRACKER | Progressive Automotive XPRIZE

Following link will take you to "Live Telemetry page", where you can track various vehicle being tested live. You can see live MPGe, Fuel Consumption, Fuel Cost, Vehicle Speed, Emission and position of the vehicle on Google Maps. :- XPRIZE Telemetry Site

And lastly following link is for voting, right now you can vote for "Most Innovative"(open July 6 - July 26) vehicle, later on you would also be able to vote for the "Most Practical"(open July 27 - August 16) and "Most Wanted" (open August 17 - September 6)

So I would like to kindly request all Team-BHPers to PLEASE vote for Indica EV X. :-

Voting page & Fan Favorites | Progressive Automotive XPRIZE

p.s. Sorry for rather longish post.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by AyAn!

I think it would have looked a lot better without that cheesy spoiler.Would have prefered something more subtle.Love the solid looking wheels though!

That spoiler on this EV is for reducing drag, not merely for the cosmetics. Since it serves a purpose, brings an automatic desirability to it, even if it might not appeal to the aesthetic senses.

[shortbread]

Cast my Vote!!!

Best of Luck, Tata!!

[Zappo]

The car is now on the track and is being tested. Live data as on 23-Jul-2010 at 1.04am is available from the sidelines here.

Edit:

Look at this live telemetry data grab. Look at the speeds the Indica EV is doing and then see the average FE it is returning! Its less than a liter for 100 kms. Can you guys imagine what will happen to the competition if such a production car were to be available in the market today?

[Zappo]

Hmmm no testing is on today as of yet. I hope it qualifies in the finals. Yesterday it was doing pretty good when I last checked.