Tata Readies Low-Cost EV for Indian Market

India’s Tata Motors Ltd. aims to introduce a low-cost electric car for the domestic market next year.

Tata has already retrofitted versions of its piston-powered Tigor mini-sedan (pictured) and Tiago five-door hatch with electric powertrains. The cars have a range as great as 250 km (155 miles) per charge.

But those models are being supplied exclusively for fleet evaluation to the government-run Energy Efficiency Services Ltd., the Mumbai-based Economic Times notes. EESL aims to acquire 10,000 EVs for the demonstration project, half of them from Tata and half from rival Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

India’s embryonic EV market will be made up almost entirely of fleet sales over the next 4-5 years, ET reports.

Tata also will seek to attract personal buyers with a lower-priced EV—perhaps a version of the Tigor EV—next year, ET says. The newspaper notes that Tata also is developing an all-new EV, which will ride on the company’s new Alpha platform. That vehicle will be unveiled at next month’s Geneva auto show.

Tata aims to roll out retail-oriented EVs in about two dozen cities in India, chosen according to their air pollution levels, sales potential and the likelihood of local government support.