Tata Motors says the upgraded Punch.ev, with higher real-world range, faster charging and its new Acti.ev platform, is aimed at repositioning the compact EV as a practical primary car for intercity travel.
20 Feb 2026 | 11 Views | By Prerna Lidhoo and Darshan Nakhwa
With a real-world range of up to 355 km and faster charging, Tata Motors says the Punch.ev is now positioned as a credible primary car capable of intercity travel and long-distance use with a single short stop.
“The real-life usage range which used to be 280-290 kilometers on the ...
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With a real-world range of up to 355 km and faster charging, Tata Motors says the Punch.ev is now positioned as a credible primary car capable of intercity travel and long-distance use with a single short stop.
“The real-life usage range which used to be 280-290 kilometers on the outgoing punch, now becomes 335 to 355. That unlocks significantly more use cases,” Anand Kulkarni, Chief Products Officer, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility told Autocar Professional. “Because the charging speeds have been enhanced, it means that short stops can give you that additional 150-200 kilometers, which essentially allows you to do even 500 kilometers at a stretch, with a small tea break.”
The Tata Punch.ev is the first vehicle built on Tata's dedicated acti.ev (Advanced Connected Tech-Intelligent Electric Vehicle) architecture, designed for superior efficiency, performance, and modularity, part of what the company calls its Gen 2 EV architecture strategy.
"The Punch EV was the first one to debut with the Acti.ev platform. It is basically a platform which has been designed around the battery. So battery becomes the core," he adds.
According to Kulkarni, the Gen 2 approach focuses on designing the underfloor around the battery, enabling flexibility across battery sizes, chemistries and capacities. “What we had said was that we will be able to have flexibilities of doing multiple things, multiple drive arrangements, multiple battery sizes, multiple battery chemistries… That is precisely what is unfolding right now.”
The updated Punch EV now comes with two battery options—32 kWh and 40 kWh, replacing the earlier 24 kWh and 34 kWh packs. “There is a 40 kilowatt hour, which is meant to be the real car, but then there are customers who want to use it for city applications. That becomes 32 kilowatt hour,” Kulkarni explained.
A key technical upgrade is the new 6-in-1 integrated drive unit, which combines the motor, controller, gearbox, DC-DC converter, PDU and ODC into a single compact module. “What that gives us is a very compact footprint. So it occupies lesser space, it gives us significant weight saving and it also gives us efficiency improvements,” he said.
The weight savings are channelled into a larger battery without increasing overall vehicle mass. “You do not negatively impact with the weight, but at the same time you are able to provide more range because there is efficiency coming in, there is additional capacity of the battery coming in.”
Kulkarni pushed back against the idea that the Punch EV is only meant for city use. “When you have the ability to do 500 kilometers with one stop, you are talking about really this car becoming the primary car,” he said. “Why should you only look at only city usage? This becomes a credible inter-city car.”
Drawing parallels with earlier Tata EVs, he added, "If you saw Nexon EV, the Nexon EV Max, for example, the penetration jumped up when the 40 kilowatt hour battery was done… once you have unlocked 325 odd kilometers… you unlock a significant portion.”
Tata is also doubling down on ownership assurance. “The lifetime warranty is not only on BaaS. The lifetime warranty is on the vehicle,” Kulkarni clarified. “We are offering a higher range. We are offering a faster charge. We are offering a warranty that is a full assurance, so that the customers don't need to bother about what happens to the battery.”
On battery-as-a-service (BaaS), he was clear it is not central to the strategy. “The BaaS is an offering that we are giving to people in case there are some people who want to utilize it. It's not the center of the core offering,” he said, adding, “the industry penetration for BaaS is very low… it's a financial product, right? It's not a technical product.”
On localisation, he said Tata has focused on non-cell components while battery cells remain imported. “Cell localization is still some time away, but… there are non-cell aspects where a significant amount of value chain control can be affected, and that is what we have done,” he said, adding that this has helped the company qualify for PLI-linked domestic value addition.
The Punch EV continues with LFP chemistry, now in prismatic cell form.
Despite increased competition, Tata says volumes are rising. “Today, we are selling 9000 plus cars every month… the volumes have increased 35%,” Kulkarni noted.
Ultimately, Tata’s focus remains on mass-market adoption. “That can happen only when you mainstream it. That can happen only when you solve real problems, not through loans or not through tools,” he said. “We need to solve for having a range which is credible enough including charging speeds and the assurance that we need to give to our customers.”