Over the past 10 years or so, a lot of new energy vehicle startups, and also legacy OEMs, have followed the same formula of starting with top of the range ($70,000 plus) electric vehicles and then moving slowly to develop lower priced versions. The majority of car buyers can’t afford those kinds of vehicles. The good news is that truly affordable electric vehicles that meet most people’s needs are finally starting to arrive now in some markets around the world — and one of them is the Tata Tiago.
The critically acclaimed MG4 is an example of these EVs. The MG4 is now available in several countries in Europe. In the United Kingdom, the MG4 EV SE Standard Range starts at £25,995, the SE Long Range £28,495, and the Trophy Long Range £31,495. £25,995 is very impressive when you compare it with vehicles in a similar class, and not just on the EV side, but also on the ICE side!
Hatchbacks like the MG4 are in a class of vehicles that are very popular in Europe and in many other places. Smaller hatchbacks such as the Ford Fiesta are even more popular. They are cheap and are a good fit for a lot of people’s needs. Tata in India makes similarly sized small hatchbacks such as the Tata Tiago. The good news is that Tata has now launched an all-electric version of the Tata Tiago and it starts from just $10,000 in India. This price is almost at parity with the ICE version. The $10,000 model comes with a 19.2 kWh battery and 3.2 kW on board charger. Tata says this version has a range of 250 kilometers. A 24 kWh battery version with 315 kilometers of range and a 7.2 kW charger starts from $14,500.
To show just how transformational these kinds of affordable EVs can be, the Tata Tiago was launched on the 28th of September and it has already registered 20,000 bookings since the 10th of October when orders opened, according to India Car News. There is now a 4-month waiting list for the Tata Tiago. 20,000 bookings is very impressive in India, where the 4-wheeled EV market has been very slow and is only just coming to life. As you can see in this article by David Waterworth, 20,000 EVs were sold in the first half of 2022 in India, the highest ever half-yearly result for battery-electric vehicle sales. So, the Tata Tiago getting 20,000 bookings in just two months is a very big deal.
The Indian market is obviously a key market for Tata. Its other EV that has been on the market for a while now, the Tata Nexon, is also doing well. There is also a waiting list for that model. I hope Tata will find the formula to ramp up production of the Tata Tiago fairly quickly and enter the export market. The world needs more of these affordable EVs. Although it is not in the same class, we saw the impact the Wuling Mini EV had in China. The Mini EV has sold close to a million units in China in less than 3 years. The Tata Tiago, The Leap Motor T03, and several other small EVs in this class could really have a transformational effect and catalyze the mass adoption of EVs on a global scale.
