Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, the electric vehicles subsidiary of the Tata Motors is on a scorching pace to dominate the industry. Its EV Tata Nexon is the runaway market leader in the country. For all practical purposes, there is no number two to it as of now (Tata EVs have 90% share of the market). And with an eye on the future, just last week the company lifted the covers on Tata Avinya Concept. It is built on born-electric pure EV architecture, on which only EVs will be developed. And it will hit the market in 2025. Tatas had also taken off the lid on another SUV concept Tata Curvv earlier last month.
Amidst this, the company said that it would soon start manufacturing batteries ---- an important cog in the EV wheel.
It is pretty much clear that the Tatas, who have a head start in the EV game in India, want to drive home that advantage and dominate the entire ecosystem.
Tatas to ramp up EV production
After the launching the Tata Avinya, N Chandrasekaran, said, "We have prepared to make all the strategic investments required. We aim to eventually go global." He added that the Tata group will soon reveal plans to manufacture battery cells locally and is also evaluating manufacturing semiconductors in-house. Tata also plans to increase EV annual production to over 80,000 units this fiscal, up from 19,000 a year ago.
Last year, Tata's standalone EV subsidiary TPEML announced its plans to launch 10 new EVs by 2026, and will pump in Rs 15,000 crore over the next four years to build 3 dedicated platforms to roll out those vehicles.
Shailesh Chandra, MD, TPEML, said: "We have already started testing the vehicles in some of the markets where we want to launch our EVs."
Chandra said that currently the organisation already assembles modules. He said that now the process of indigenously developing the battery management system is ongoing. He said that a lot of things that go into the making of a battery pack are being localised.
Other Tata companies are contributing their mite
Several Tata Group companies including Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Tata Elxsi and Tata Consultancy are all chipping in their best to help TPEML.
For instance, Tata Power is installing EV charging points to give a boost the infrastructure. Tata Elxsi has set up an innovation centre in Bengaluru for EVs. It is creating reference designs and solution accelerators for critical EV subsystems like battery management systems and motor control units, among others.
The Tata Group is also in talks with at least three State governments to invest $300 million (approx. Rs 2,245 crore) towards a new semiconductor assembly and testing unit. Once set up, the semiconductor assembly unit would function as a captive plant for Tata Motors.
Chandrasekaran is confident of pulling it off, and his words reflect that. "At the Tata Group, we are uniquely positioned to bring all the expertise that is necessary to build these mobility solutions and are confident that in the years to come we will make a larger and sustainable impact not only in India but globally as well."
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