Tata Motors dismissed reports of performance issues related to its electric vehicles supplied to state-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), saying its first electric product, the Tigor EV, was custom-made according to EESL’s requirements.

Leading financial daily Mint reported on Wednesday that senior government officials have refused to use electric cars made by Tata Motors because of poor performance and low range.

According to the newspaper, government officials complained about the “low range of the electric vehicles”, saying they failed to run even 80-82 km on a single charge within city limits and their battery capacity was not up global standards.

“Based on our interaction with the customers and EESL, we have not heard range as a major concern,” a Tata Motors spokesperson said.

Tata Motors said its research findings showed the average daily running for personal use is around 50-60 km. “Therefore, with an overnight charging, a range of 130 km is more than adequate to meet the daily requirement. Also, with a fast charging network, the range concern could further be taken care of,” said Tata Motors spokesperson.

Last September, EESL floated a tender to buy 10,000 electric vehicles for government departments to replace its existing fleet of petrol and diesel run vehicles. In the first phase, Tata Motors supplied 350 units of the Tigor while Mahindra Electric delivered 150 e-Verito cars. In the second phase, a total of 9,500 units of EVs will be delivered to EESL, of which 3,800 will be provided by Mahindra and the rest by Tata Motors.

Under the EESL tender, the vehicles were supposed to have a range of more than 130 km without AC as certified by Automotive Research Association of India.

EESL was not available for a comment on this issue.

Citing EESL’s tender of 10,000 cars an “unprecedented initiative to accelerate the adoption of electrification” Tata Motors said that it was the first big step and the most effective way of generating real interest in the country for electric cars.

“We believe that EESL, after intensive consultation of experts, was able to strike the optimum balance between meeting the daily running requirements of the end-users and most importantly, price accessibility, finalised the tender specifications.”

In India, 74% of the car buyers are still price conscious with a budget of Rs 400,000 to Rs 800,000, Tata Motors said in a statement. “In such a scenario, the biggest barrier to adoption of electric cars is price of the car itself, and battery cost is the key variable determining the same. The specification chosen by EESL helped in keeping this aspect under control, while choosing a range, which was good enough for the city use,” Tata Motors clarified.

“In future, as the battery prices keep coming down, it is an imperative to increase the range for bringing further mental comfort to the consumer”

Sources close to Mahindra also said that the company is working on improving the range of its e-Verito cars.

EESL floated a second tender in March to procure an additional 10,000 electric vehicles as part of the government’s national e-mobility programme.

Mahindra e-verito

Tata Motors dismisses reports of poorly performing EVs