After the world was left in awe by the world’s lowest priced car, Nano, its creator Tata Motors did not hesitate to take more challenges. They improved further on Nano and have built an electric version of Nano called Nano EV which is unveiled today at the 80th Geneva Motor Show. The Nano EV now expands the company’s portfolio of green electric cars. Previously it had only the Tata Indica Vista EV which was unveiled at Geneva last year.It seems that Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors, is very prompt to deliver his promises as he had said in Aug, 2008 that he is planning to produce an electric driven version of Nano. The world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano was made available commercially last September.
Electrification will be an integral part of our initiative to launch environment-friendly vehicles. The Indica Vista EV will be introduced in select European countries, beginning this year. We will progressively introduce electric vehicles in all relevant markets said Mr. Ravi Kant, Vice Chairman of Tata Motors.The Tata Nano EV will be a four seater electric car with a range of about 100 miles which means that it can go about 80 miles or about 160 km on a single charge. This would be more than enough if you use this car for daily commute from your home to office. Most of the hyped electric cars available now have far less range than this. For instance, Chevy Volt can go 40 miles on a single charge after you’ve spent $40K bucks for it.
However, don’t expect Tata Nano EV to win any race for you. It can accelerate from zero to 35 miles per hour (0-60 km/h) in 10 seconds. The car will be powered by super polymer Lithium Ion batteries which is very efficient in energy retention. The energy density of these batteries is also greater than conventional batteries.
The car is built in co-operation with Milojoebil Greenland, the Norwegian Electric Car specialist. Tata bought its majority stake in 2008.
The Tata Nano EV is still in concept stage and Tata Motors plan to launch Nano EV commercially in Europe in 2012 and some select countries like UK or Scandinavian Market. They will gradually bring the model to other markets. When it launches it is sure to make an entry to our Best 10 Electric Car List and the list of Best 10 Green Cars.
The Tata Nano standard version is now available only in India and Tata confirmed that they will launch the Europe version of Tata Nano, named Tata Nano Europa, in 2010. The Tata Nano Europa will be 20 centimeters longer than the Indian version and will have some features such as improved suspension and ABS braking. It will have a 3-cylinder aluminium, fuel-injected engine, 5-speed automatic transmission and power steering. The Tata Nano is price starts from Rs. 100,000 in India (About €1,300 or $2,000) and it is the least expensive car in the world. The price of Europa model is not yet confirmed but we expect that it won’t cross 5000 Euros. We will be informing the exact prices to you as soon as we receive it. Stay in touch with us.