New model targets low-penetration sub-₹12-lakh segment with higher range, faster charging and lifetime battery warranty.
20 Feb 2026 | 201 Views | By Ketan Thakkar & Prerna Lidhoo & Darshan Nakhwa
With the launch of the Punch.ev, Tata Motors is targeting India’s entry‑level car buyers, a segment where EV adoption has so far lagged. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd expects the new Punch.ev to help democratise electric-vehicle adoption in India’s entry car segment, where penetration remains sharply lower than in ...
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With the launch of the Punch.ev, Tata Motors is targeting India’s entry‑level car buyers, a segment where EV adoption has so far lagged. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd expects the new Punch.ev to help democratise electric-vehicle adoption in India’s entry car segment, where penetration remains sharply lower than in higher-priced cars.
Managing Director and CEO Shailesh Chandra said that with the new Punch.ev the company has focused on solving key barriers such as range anxiety, charging access, and price concerns that have slowed adoption in the sub-₹12 lakh market.
The domestic EV market has grown steadily over the past seven years, but penetration remains uneven across price bands. Chandra said India is set to cross 200,000 passenger EV sales in FY26 with overall penetration at about 4-5%. However, the entry segment continues to lag.
Chandra said around 65% of passenger-vehicle sales occur in the sub-₹12-lakh segment, or roughly 3 million units annually. EV penetration here is only about 1.6%, with around 50,000 electric cars sold each year.
In contrast, the segment above ₹12 lakh, which accounts for about 35% of PV sales or 1.6 million units, has achieved EV penetration of around 10%. “This is a real challenge in mainstream,” Chandra said. “And if this segment does not get electrified, then you will never achieve the target.”
Bridging Entry-segment Gap
Tata Motors said the new Punch.ev has been designed to address the key barriers holding back EV adoption in the entry segment.
“This will be the first car in the entry segment which can deliver 350 km real-world range with a 40 kWh battery,” Chandra said. The vehicle’s certified range stands at 464 km, while the company has highlighted a C75 real-world range metric based on data from vehicles that have collectively run over 12 billion km.
He said the model also brings faster charging and a lifetime battery warranty, features typically seen in higher-priced EVs. The vehicle supports fast charging, with a 20-80% charge in about 26 minutes and a 135 km top-up achievable in 15 minutes. “We are introducing the Lifetime Battery warranty for the first time in India. And you will get very accessible and attractive price point,” he said.
Chandra said the company’s EV journey has evolved from conversion-based electric models to dedicated EV architectures over the past seven years. This shift has enabled improvements in range, charging speed and localisation. “So by offering you this kind of a comprehensive solution in the entry segment,” Chandra said, “this will be a car which will go beyond the city limits.”
Punch currently contributes about 15-20% of Tata Motors’ EV sales. The company expects volumes for the model to rise sharply after the new launch. “I believe that 30-50% jump we should get,” Chandra said, referring to expected growth in Punch EV volumes over the next year.
He added that the share of Punch.ev in overall EV sales may remain similar as other models also expand. The company is preparing to launch Sierra EV in the coming months, which will take its EV portfolio to seven models.
Charging Ecosystem Push
Tata Motors said it has worked on charging infrastructure and ecosystem support alongside product improvements. TATA.ev’s charging network covers over 2.3 lakh charging points across 1,500 cities through home, community and partners’ public charging. It has aggregated over 30,000 public chargers in collaboration with over 30 charge point operators from about 500 public chargers in 2020.
The company has also verified thousands of charging points for reliability through its app. It plans to expand high-capacity “mega chargers” and expects to have about 800 such charging points by the end of the financial year, with plans to scale further.
Price Parity Challenge
Chandra said the entry segment remains highly price sensitive and that recent GST changes have widened the gap between EVs and internal-combustion models. “It has made it more difficult,” he said, referring to price parity in the entry segment. He added that the new Punch.ev has been engineered to narrow that gap while improving range and ownership confidence.
He further added that while the model may still carry a premium over some ICE variants, the gap has narrowed enough to support wider adoption. “This takes it to the next level. And therefore, it should help the adoption,” he said.