The parent company of JLR is adding some entry-level spark to its own cars.

Indian automotive giant Tata has done the inevitable and electrified one of its budget vehicle offerings.

The Tigor sedan is amongstTata’s most popular vehicles and a new version was introduced late last year. Now Tata has revealed a battery powered Tigor, which might become one of the first truly affordable electric vehicles to be marketed.

Electrification does not change the Tigor’s appearance much, although it does sacrifice some luggage space. The battery-powered Tigor has a boot capacity only 330-litres, which is 90-litres less than the petrol-powered version.

For that sacrifice in luggage space, you gain a 16.2kWh battery pack, powering a 30 kW electric motor which drives the front wheels. Peak torque output is 105 Nm.

Tata claims a range of 142 km for the Tigor EV and recharging efficiency depends on what you are plugging it into. A conventional wall socket will take six hours to charge the Tigor to full capacity, whilst a DC 15 kW fast charging unit reduces that to an hour and a half.

Pricing? The Tigor EV is positioned at an estimated R200000, with India acting as its launch market. Tata has a small offering of just 3 cars in South Africa so it would be a bit optimistic to expect it to immediately jump on an electric vehicle option for SA.

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