Tata Tiago. A fun-to-drive and practical hatchback from Tata, not to mention value-for-money, that increased Tata’s popularity in the Indian market and also brought something fresh to the Indian market, following Tata’s Impact 2.0 design language. It seems that with the stricter emission norms and the Indian Government supporting EVs, Tata decides, to move with the times, and release a new EV version of the Tata Tiago, the Tiago EV.
The Tiago EV, indeed is an amazing product, being fun-to-drive, practical, and value-for-money, and sticking to what the Tiago does best. The caveat, however, is that there is a price hike of 4 percent in January. Even though Tata manages to make some of the most affordable EVs in India, EVs in general are quite expensive, and this is no surprise, considering the current circumstances.
So, what’s the increase?
Tata has announced that it will hike the prices of its cheapest electric vehicle, by three to four percent. The exact amount will be announced in January and should take the price of the Tiago EV up by Rs 30,000-35,000.
Why was the price hike expected?
This price hike was expected, since Tata Motors had said, at launch, that the introductory prices were valid for the first 10,000 customers only. It was extended to the first 20,000 customers as the Tiago EV received a tremendous response – to the extent that there were some early customers who could not complete their online booking. Another factor is that the battery prices have increased by 30-35 percent, according to what Mr. Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passengers Electric Mobility, had to say.
However, the caveat here is that Mr. Chandra also mentioned that the price hike will not be significant. This is because the EV shares a lot of components with the petrol hatchback, and the electric drivetrain components and materials used have a lot in common with the Nexon EV and Tigor EV. This is how, with some clever engineering and platform sharing, Tata managed to keep costs in control. Keeping the bigger picture in mind, we must commend Tata for being able to bring such affordable EVs to India, while ensuring that their cars have good quality as well.