Tata Technologies, the Tata group's engineering services outsourcing and product development IT services division, has allied with France's Dassault Systemes to develop an electric car with a price target of USD 20,000, or Rs 10 lakh. It has completed the first feasibility study of this project using Dassault Systemes' 3DEXPERIENCE platform. No details were provided, however, like when the vehicle is expected to launch.
The Rs 10 lakh target is an interesting one, considering that is the same price that the Toyota Prius C hatchback sells for in the US market. Of course, other competition like the Nissan Leaf cost 30 per cent more than this, but we find it a little hard to see why a regular car buyer will pick the Tata car over the established Prius brand, which had reached number 3 on the global sales chart this past quarter.
Tata Motors, the passenger car divsion of the Tata conglomerate, had developed an electric Indica Vista in 2010 that was supposed to go on sale in the UK, Norway and Denmark by 2011. It had even won the small passenger EV category in the RAC Future Car Challenge in 2010. However, nothing has been heard about the project since December 2011, when the company announced that the car will be eligible for a number of benefits alotted to electric cars in the UK.
