Lower segment cars yet to achieve price parity, make case for ubiquitous charging infra: Shailesh Chandra

Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, told reporters on February 13 that the lower segment EV models, which are priced below Rs 10 lakh, are yet to receive price parity with ICE models. According to Chandra, the lower-segment cars make the case for ubiquitous charging infrastructure. 

Chandra says that price parity can be achieved if the real range is above 400 km. The price parity for the lower EV range will not address the issues hindering EV adoption in the country, as per Chandra.  

 “Where the issue remains unresolved, but which also makes the case for ubiquitous charging infra to be in place, is the lower segment cars, where we are yet to hit that sweet spot of achieving price parity because you don't have that kind of GST benefit. Also, to give a 400-kilometre car a price of less than 10 lakh in those segments, and that is where we are trying to work towards,” says Chandra.

According to Chandra, the mainstream EV adoption will take place when the 400 km range is available in the lower segment cars. 

“Today, the median price of cars in India is at Rs 11 lakh. So, the belly of the market is around Rs 8-12 lakh today, which in the future, might go to Rs 10 to Rs 15 lakhs. We need to make cars available with more than 400 kilometres real range and bring parity that will be the take-off of mainstreaming in electric vehicles. Because I don’t see there’s a problem above Rs 17 or Rs 18 lakh cars in terms of overcoming the range anxiety,” says Chandra. 

On Thursday, the electric vehicle arm of Tata Motors launched the Open Collaboration 2.0 initiative to install 400,000 mega public charging stations with 120 kilo-watt hour capacity by 2027.

Tata.ev, the country’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, launched Open Collaboration 2.0 on Thursday to expand the EV ecosystem. The company has collaborated with four charge point operators—ChargeZone, Statiq, Tata Power, and ZEON—to build the extensive network.  

While the automaker has not disclosed the investment made for the initiative, in the first phase, the company will be launching 500 mega chargers in the first phase of the initiative on top EV markets i.e., Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Pune highways, along with TATA.ev Verified Chargers, assuring quality infrastructure. The initiative will have a unified charging helpline and seamless payment solution to address customer concerns and to make the charging ecosystem more accessible and dependable as EV adoption continues to rise. 

Notably, as Tata.ev gears up to build the EV ecosystem, it has not yet evaluated partnering with other OEMs. “Each mega charger will have at least 120 kilowatts of overall capacity. Configuration-wise, we would like for it to be 120 kilowatts too. A larger unit with four guns, but depending on various constraints, we will see whether in some locations we might also have 60 kilowatts and two units. But the intent is there would be at least four parking spots, and that there would be four guns, and the maximum pull would be 120,” says Balaje Rajan, Chief Strategy Officer, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. & Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd.

The development comes at a time when Tata Motors is under the threat of losing its EV crown against rival JSW MG Motor. In January, JSW MG Motor was just 782 units behind in sales from Tata Motors.