Tata Motors set to launch high-power Tigor EV

Tata Motors is looking to make the most of the lack of rivals in the mainstream electric vehicle market in India. Building on the good market traction created by its Nexon EV crossover, which is India's best-selling electric passenger vehicle, the company has now teased its upcoming electric sedan. 

Tata Motors is now gearing up to launch the refreshed Tigor EV powered by the high-performance Ziptron powertrain, likely sourced from the Nexon crossover.

The compact sedan could be expected to come equipped with a 30.2kWh battery pack, replacing the erstwhile 16.5kWh or 21.5kWh li-ion battery options which now power the recently-introduced Xpres T, the low-powered version of the Tigor targeted solely at the fleet segment.

The company today released a teaser video showcasing the new Tigor EV hot on the heels of the Nexon EV, being driven by ace Indian Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan.

Like the Nexon EV, the new Tigor EV is also expected to get a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) driving the front wheels to deliver 128hp and 245Nm of peak torque. This would be a big step up from the 70V, three-phase induction motor powering the Xpres T and producing only 41hp.

Tata Motors' Ziptron EV powertrain offers benefits such as an 8-year warranty on the battery pack and has a claimed range of 312km for the Nexon EV. The new Tigor EV could get features like automatic climate control, touchscreen infotainment system and digital instrument cluster.

The company's electric cars are assembled at a dedicated facility in Pune, where the gliders or completed body shells manufactured at the main plant in Ranjangaon, get married with the Ziptron powertrain.

"This assembly arrangement has allowed us to have a very short footprint for the kind of volumes that we are presently doing," Anand Kulkarni, product line director - EV & ALFA architecture, PVBU, Tata Motors, had said in an exclusive interview with Autocar Professional recently.

The continued rise in petrol and diesel fuel prices in India is increasingly driving motorists to adopt alternate propulsion options and EV technology is showing a reasonable growth. What’s more, with the Central government and several State governments going all out to get motorists to make the shift to EVs with ample subsidies, Tata Motors clearly is looking to up the ante on the EV front – this time in the sedan segment.

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