Tata-Chrysler Deal Could Bring Nano Minicar EV to U.S., Tata Also Confirms Low-speed Electric Truck Plans
By John O'Dell June 2, 2008Ace mini-truck may hit U.S. as low-speed electric vehicle in Tata-Chrysler deal.
By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor
In a move that could have strong implications for the arrival of the ultra-low-cost Tata Nano mini-car in the U.S. market, Tata Motors has announced that it’s teaming with Chrysler LLC to build mini-trucks in America, at least one model a low-speed electric vehicle.
Speaking with reporters in Mumbai last week, P.M. Telang, executive director at Tata Motors, confirmed a January report that the two manufacturers will develop battery-electric versions of the trucks. Tata Motors and Chrysler have given no specifics about the trucks themselves, and no production date or manufacturing site has been confirmed.
However, a glance at Tata’s current Indian market offerings shows that the most probable candidate is the company’s Ace mini-truck.
With prices starting at only $5,000, the Ace is a cut-price utility vehicle that can be had as either a small pickup or passenger van.
Rugged and cheap, the Ace could be a handy delivery vehicle for the American market – especially in crowded city centers. But its feeble17-horsepower two-cylinder diesel engine would have to go as it’s too under-powered for American roads. Good News and Bad News
Since the Tata Nano hatchback made its debut at the New Delhi Auto Expo in early January, Tata Motors has constantly been making headlines.
Not only did the Indian company create an entirely new low-cost class of car with the Nano, it then pocketed two of the most prestigious nameplates in the automotive luxury world. In March, Tata finally confirmed its purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company, at a price estimated at roughly $2 billion.
While Tata has been riding a wave of positive press and acquisitions, Chrysler has been drowning in red ink and sinking market share.
Since parting with Daimler in August of last year, the beleaguered American auto company has slashed costs by selling factories, eliminating vehicles (such as the PT Cruiser convertible and Dodge Magnum wagon) and reducing dealerships.
About the only recent bright point has been a creative plan to build a full-size pickup for Nissan, in return for a Nissan-designed small car that will be re-badged as a Chrysler.
An Electric Nano?
Exactly how this, and the recent mini-truck announcement, relates to the $2,500 Nano requires a careful look at the product portfolios of each company – and a hefty dose speculation and automotive crystal ball-gazing.
The rumor mill was abuzz in March, during the Geneva auto show, with the suggestion that Tata might attempt to introduce the Nano to European and American markets in electric-powered form.
Tata Motors would not comment on these rumors during the show. However, it’s a poorly guarded secret that Tata wants to sell the Nano in Europe and, possibly, the United States, within three to four years.
Replacing the Nano’s current gasoline-powered engine with an electric motor could be the easiest way to crack these two markets.
The Nano could potentially be sold as a low-speed vehicle (LSV) here in the States, or as what is sometimes referred to as the “quadricycle” class of city-cars in Europe.
The regulations are slightly different in America and Europe, but the general rule is that these city-cars have limited power, top-speeds between 25 to 30 mph, and cannot be driven on highways.
Avoiding Safety Costs
These vehicles are also exempt from stricter safety standards that apply to normal road cars.
Interestingly for Tata Motors, its new mini-truck partner just happens to have an electric vehicle in its lineup. Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) has been owned by Chrysler since 2000.
GEM’s lineup includes a wide variety of strange-looking urban run-abouts that appear half golf-cart and half lunar-rover.
Sold in America and Europe, the battery-electric GEMs are registered as low speed vehicles and limited to a 25 mile per hour top speed in the U.S.
According to GEM’s website, the vehicles meet all federal safety regulations for the LSV segment.
These requirements are ridiculously Spartan, and include items such as “a safety glass windshield, wipers, headlamps, taillights, turn signals, high mounted stoplights, mirrors, and three-point safety belts.”
Nano as an LSV?
That’s awfully basic stuff, and also part of the reason for speculation that the Nano makes better fiscal sense as a low -speed vehicle in America and Europe. During the Nano’s launch in New Delhi, Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, said that it would be possible to add safety items – like airbags – to the car.
At the moment, the Nano does without airbags, ABS, or any form of traction control. Rather than add in complexity and extra cost, Tata could use the Chrysler mini-truck arrangement as a stepping-stone to creating an electric-powered Nano low-speed vehicle that wouldn't need the safety equipment of a highway car.
Chrysler gains another much-needed infusion of cash via the mini-truck deal and electric-vehicle technology. Meanwhile, Tata eliminates the need to drastically re-engineer the Nano to meet stricter safety standards, while also getting a foot into the American market.
So could Nanos someday appear in showrooms next to, say, a Jeep Wrangler or Chrysler 300 sedan? It’s highly unlikely.
But then again, it’s even harder to imagine a Nano sharing floor space with a brand-new Jaguar and Land Rover.
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We've had such a truck available around here for a couple of years. Getting a close up look at them, they really look cheap. I think my lawn tractor would be safer in a collision. Seriously.
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