Electric vehicles (EVs) have caught the fancy of the Indian government in the last one-two years or so as it makes an effort not only to control pollution but also to save the costs of a vehicle or car owner and Tata Motors is turning out to be a winner in the segment in India.
Electric vehicles, as many of us know, operate on batteries, and hence, do not dig deep into our pockets. I mean, they are cheaper for the customer to operate compared to passenger vehicles that run on petrol that costs over Rs 100.
We are not delving into cost implications at this point. We will take up the cost comparison issues in a future article.
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| Tata Nexon EV |
For now, let us consider a petrol car. If your car runs 1,000 km in a month, which is not unusual, your fuel cost will only be: Assuming your car gives 15 km/litre.
Then, your petrol consumption is: Rs 1,000/15, which is equal to 66.66. Now, if petrol is Rs 100, then your total cost is 66.66 x Rs 100, that is Rs 6,600. So, won’t you get bankrupt?
Well, even without calculation, you can safely assume that on an EV, you will save two-thirds, that is, your (operating) cost could come up to a maximum of Rs 2,200. However, the EV prices are much higher compared to ICE cars.
Now, you might ask where should I buy an EV? Well, there are many companies readying or have readied an EV assembly in their factories. But for now, over 70 per cent of the EV market belongs to Tata Motors.
Others that have jumped on to the EV bandwagon are MG Motor India, Hyundai and Mahindra and Mahindra (in the non-luxury segment). While Hyundai has the Kona electric (starting Rs 23.5 lakh or Rs 23,50,000), MG has the ZS electric (Rs 20 lakh onwards or Rs 20,00,000) and Mahindra Verito (Rs 10.15 lakh or Rs 10,15,000).
These are the only e-vehicle models rolled out in India now. But right now, Tata Motors is going a little slow on its models. It has only two models that are powered by batteries — the Nexon (Rs 14.3 lakh onwards or Rs 14,30,000) and the Tigor (Rs 12 lakh or Rs 12,00,000).
However, the number of models could skyrocket to 10 in the next three years only! Even customers are slowly lapping up EVs but, at the same time, are not completely dumping petrol or diesel vehicles. In the wake of Covid, the waiting period for non-EVs is four months but for EVs, it is six months.
No, that does not mean that EV sales are higher. In April-September 2021, Tata Motors sold around 4,400 EVs — 3,600 Nexons and 800 Tigors, which is minuscule compared to its petrol or diesel cars. EVs accounted for less than 0.5 per cent of Tata Motors’ sales in that period.
According to Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, the auto giant will prioritise EVs as they are in a steep growth phase.
The EV company of the Tatas has investors TPG Rise Climate and ADQ as stakeholders (11-15 per cent). And, it currently does not have any unit but solely relies on the facilities of Tata Motors’ passenger cars for supplies.
Till December 2021, EV share in Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle sales (domestic) was 6 per cent. This is the highest figure since the automaker entered into the EV space in January 2020.
There is a plan by Tata Motors of bringing in more EVs into India, maybe in the next one-two years, and this will give it the winning edge over rivals.
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