Having delivered 1000 Tigor EV to the Maharashtra government as part of the Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) tender, Tata Motors is now evaluating potential markets in India to introduce its electric models for sale to private car buyers.

On being asked about the prospect of expanding electric vehicle sales to the mainstream car market, Mayank Pareek- President of Passenger Vehicle business, Tata Motors told Autocar India, “We are thinking about it. It will happen in particular cities first, and then I think it should spread. We are talking to some customers and we have got an extremely good response.” Pareek also hinted such sales could start within this fiscal year.

The idea to evaluate certain cities for launch of its EVs is centred around the miniscule charging infrastructure across the country. “We have today the Zest, Bolt, Tiago, Tigor and all are possible to have an electric powertrain. But suppose we sell an electric car to somebody in Mumbai, where will he/she charge the vehicle? At the end we will be blamed. So I am working on customer satisfaction first. It’s like selling a car to somebody where there is no fuel pump and that is non-negotiable. Customer satisfaction should be the paramount,” said Pareek.

The Tigor EV and Tiago EV made their public debut at the 2018 Auto Expo. Both models use a three-phase AC induction electric motor that produces 30kW or the equivalent of 40hp.

Also see:

Tata H5X could get hybrid powertrain

Tata Tigor Buzz to launch soon

Mahindra, Tata Motors to deploy 1,000 EVs each in Maharashtra

EESL aims to procure 20,000 EVs by March 2019

Tata developing EV battery pack with over 300km range

Tata Motors unveils EVision Sedan Concept at Geneva motor show