Tata Motors may follow its peers and jump on the electric vehicle bandwagon next year.
Tata Motors has already developed an electric version of its existing range including the Tiago and Tigor but stopped short of going ahead with a full-scale commercial launch because of the limited charging infrastructure in the country.
The electric version of Tiago, Tata Motors’ top-selling model, was set to debut in 2017 but was put on the backburner. A senior Tata Motors official hinted Moneycontrol at the possible launch of a fully electric vehicle in 2020.
Tata Motors’ rival and car market leader Maruti Suzuki has already announced its first electric vehicle launch in 2020. Maruti’s parent Suzuki Motor Corporation and Toyota are jointly working on the e-car with a focus on keeping the cost to the consumer as low as possible. India’s second largest car maker Hyundai will launch an imported electric SUV in a few months.
Mahindra and Mahindra, the pioneer in the electric vehicle space, has also promised to launch the electric version of the KUV 100 this year and an electric version of the XUV 300 in 2020.
Tata Motors’ reluctance to launch an e-car stems from the fact that the charging infrastructure remains grossly underdeveloped in India giving rise to issues such as range anxiety.