The Tata Tiago EV aims to be the affordable electric city car in India. Will it succeed?

India is one of the most populated countries in the world and one of the largest markets you can find. But, unlike China, per capita income is quite low. This means buyers have to look at very affordable vehicles. Tata is aware of this and, although it is the country’s leading manufacturer, it isn’t usually known for luxury cars or high performance.

The Tata Tiago EV is the brand’s bet on a small electric car, easy to handle and able to reach its potential customers. But the bet is rather low-key, because in the country they still prefer combustion-engine vehicles, which remain quite affordable.

An affordable city car

This model has a size suited to getting around the city, with a length of 3.77 metres and a wheelbase of 2.4 metres. Its small size will make it well suited to the tastes of Indian drivers, who are used to manageable and economical vehicles.

That said, the batteries it uses won’t allow very long journeys, though they will be sufficient for daily mobility. It is expected that there will be two battery sizes, 19 and 24 kWh. This will allow a range of between 250 and 315 kilometres under the MIDC cycle. If we look at it under the more restrictive WLTP cycle, this drops to between 150 and 200 kilometres.

The interior is quite austere and does not feature any remarkable technology. It does allow fast charging of the battery, and the brand assures that it can recover up to 110 kilometres in just 30 minutes of charging. As for the price, we would love to see an electric vehicle at that price in Europe.

The entry version will have a starting price of around 10,000 euros. The other version will cost 14,000 euros. Deliveries will begin in January 2023 and orders are already being taken. Tata even expects orders to be modest, although we know the electric car market in India has also grown.

We must remember that Tata had to withdraw a combustion-engine vehicle so cheap that it aroused user distrust, the Tata Nano. So we will have to wait and see what reaction this very special electric vehicle receives.