Tata Motors Reportedly Plans to Launch 2 Electric Vehicles in Europe by March 2011

Tata Motors Reportedly Plans to Launch 2 Electric Vehicles in Europe by March 2011

Tata Motors is planning to launch two electric vehicles in Europe by March 2011, reports The Hindu Business Line, a business newspaper in India.

The automaker's vice-chairman Ravi Kant told the broadsheet that these were the EV variants of the Indica Vista hatchback and Ace light commercial vehicle, and the first locations in the region would be the United Kingdom  and Scandinavia.

He added that the Indica EV could be launched in the United Kingdom as early as September. Separately, the president of the commercial vehicle division Ravi Pisharody told the newspaper that Tata had made no decision on launching such vehicles in its domestic market.

Pisharody said that the introduction of such vehicles would require infrastructure support, adding that, "primarily the network of charging stations, is practically absent in India. We cannot have electric vehicles without Government support, especially for setting up stations."

In an email, IHS Automotive analysts told Green Car Advisor that Tata Motors has been developing EVs for the European market for some time now, and has supported its interests in this field with its investment into Norway's Miljo Grenland/Innovasjon.

There has also been support from its Tata Motors European Technical Centre in the United Kingdom, which has led to the development of the Indica EV, and has resulted in it being given $15.7 million from the U.K. government.

The analysts said this vehicle is already undergoing testing as part of an infrastructural project in the West Midland, but will have been brought increasingly into focus with the announcement that the U.K. government will go ahead with offering incentives to customers buying EVs.

However, unlike Western Europe, there seems little incentive at the moment to shift towards this technology in India, and while this is not helped by the lack of infrastructure, the cost of the technology at present will place it out of the scope of the cost-conscious customers in the country, the analysts said. 

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.