India-based Tata Motors is reportedly working in partnership with French company Dassault Systems to develop an electric car that is expected to be priced under $20,000.
Tata and Dassault are working on a design that will attempt to keep the weight and cost of the car down. The goal is to produce a sub-$20K car with a competitive 100-mile (161 km) range on a single charge. The company has said that one of the major challenges is to fit all the systems the car needs into a small footprint, while maintaining spacious seats for four adults.
According to The Hindu Business Line, Tata Technologies President Kevin Fisher has said that the company is working with Dassault to “leverage the talents of a global engineering team to meet numerous designs and cost constraints, as well as create the targeted user experience, including a final vehicle prices tag of under $20,000.”
The statement from the company did not mention when the car is due to be launched, or indeed any timeline. Tata has previously shown its first eMO (electric mobility) concept, pictured above. The concept served to demonstrate the feasibility of building an electric car at an attractive price, the company has said.
Tata had also planned to begin selling its Tata Vista Indica electric car last year in India, but it hasn’t materialised in the market yet. The company has said that car has a 100-mile, single charge range.
It’s going to be interesting to see what Tata comes up with. If they can develop an electric car for under $20K, it will likely be a welcome addition to significantly more expensive plug-in cars already on the market. Will this new Tata electric car be sold internationally, I wonder?
Image: Tata eMO concept
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