Tata Plans To Unleash Electric Revolution Across India: Will Sell 50,000 Electric Cars In Next 1 Year, 1 Lakh Cars By 2023

Mumbai-based automaker Tata Motors’ chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran said during a shareholders’ meeting on Monday that by the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, the automaker aims to sell 50,000 electric vehicles.

Tata’s EV Aim

According to the Chairman, Tata aims to hit 100,000 EV sales in the the 2023/24 period. Notably, Tata produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses, luxury cars, and construction equipment.

Currently out of total passenger car sales, only 1% are electric. The national plan is to push this number to 30% by 2030.

Up from 2% today, e-scooters as well as bikes shall account for 80% of two-wheeler sales. 

Now, there’s a catch that if the government wants its citizens to switch to the electric alternative, then it will largely depend on the success of local production, as currently the import duties by the Indian government are high.

Tesla, after aspiring to bring its EVs to the Indian market, has forlorn its hope and has abandoned efforts to set up a factory in the country.

To move into new markets, Tesla generally has a “try before buy” approach. That is, before investing the time and money in building a regional factory, Tesla generally imports the vehicles and then sells them to the buyers.

Transport minister Nitin Gadkari said Tesla that if Tesla wants to sell in India, then it must make in India. Tesla shall not be allowed to bring in the vehicle that it manufactures in China and sells in India.

Three EV models are being sold by Tata, namely, Nexon EV, Tigor EV and the newest Nexon EV Max. 

Many of the U.S. automakers build new EV production lines from the ground up. Tata says it’s able to keep costs down for the Indian consumer by repurposing a successful internal combustion engine model, the Nexon, and outfitting it with a battery pack.

Nexon is currently priced at $19,000 which can not be called cheap for the average Indian driver but is well within the reach of the country’s upper-middle class.

Tata Sells 90% of Indian EV Sales

Of India’s electric car sales, Tata commands 90% and when it comes to the goal of selling 50,000 EVs by March 2022, they seem to be pretty much on the track. 

Up from 658 electric cars last year, automaker’s June sales results show 45,197 total units sold, out of which 3,507 were electric.

Tata Chairman was optimistic about the trajectory of Tata’s performance this fiscal year with the overall supply situation, including that of semiconductors, improving and stabilizing.