Indian Autos blog

Tata Motors is getting ready to the launch of an electric version of Indica Vista in the United Kingdom. The company has secured an electric vehicle manufacturing center in Coventry, which is capable of building 1,500 electric vehicles every year. The Vista EV was pioneered at Tata Motors UK subsidiary, Tata Motors European Technical Center Plc (TMETC). Tata Motors in a statement – With a top speed of 114 km  [ Read More ]

International media is abuzz talking on the possible markets for the proposed Indica Vista EV. The company is ready with the product and is presently carrying out real world tests in Europe to see how the car copes with those conditions. German, French and Japanese companies have started arriving on the EV scene and Tata’s Vista EV will be among the first lot of new generation EVs in Britain to  [ Read More ]

Recently, the British government revealed the list of 9 electric cars that are eligible to receive subsidies of up to £5,000 under a plan to promote low-carbon transport and the Vista EV made it to the list!

The idea is to promote electric vehicles by offering the cay buyers cash back of £5,000 towards the purchase of a low-carbon car from January 2011 to the end of March 2012. The government has promised to dole out £43 million until the end of March 2012 just to make sure that car buyers are attracted towards electric vehicles that are emission free.

The other vehicles on the list include Mitsubishi’s iMiEV, Daimler’s Smart fortwo electric drive, Peugeot’s iON, Citroen’s CZero, the Nissan Leaf, the Toyota Prius Plug-in, Vauxhall’s Ampera and General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt.

To go one step further, the UK government is also investing 20 million pounds to set up local charging points for 5 regions – the Midlands, Greater Manchester, East England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Pretty soon, one more name will be added to the club of “Green Cars”, our very own Indica Vista. Mind you this is a very exclusive club consisting of G-Wiz, Chevy Volt, Tesla roadster, Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi’s i MIEV.

Tata showcased the prototype of the Vista EV at London Future Car Challenge along side 60 other vehicles from different manufacturers and swept the show completely by winning the 2 main awards:
• The Most Economic Small Passenger EV
• The Most Economical & Environment Friendly Small Passenger EV.

Buoyed by this success, Tata motors is completing the work on the Prototype and gearing it for an official launch.

The EV is a result of a collaboration with Miljo Grenland Innovation of Norway, a company which specializes in the development of innovative solutions for electric vehicles. Essentially, this Indica Vista EV runs on super polymer lithium ion batteries that provide it a range of approximately 160 miles.

The car will be made in the UK and for that the company has also applied for GBP 10 million loan under the UK Government’s Automotive Assistance Program. However, no launch date has been confirmed.

The Tata Indica Vista EV (Electric Vehicle) did not get the required support from the British government for a local assembly line, eventually forcing Tata to look elsewhere for the required sum. But in Norway, things have looked brighter and the government has granted permission to set up a plant that will assemble Indica Vista EV SKDs brought from India.

The Indica Vista EV runs on lithium-ion battery packs and will become India’s second EV to be exported – the first car was the Reva or G-Wiz known internationally.

The Indica Vista EV offers massive cabin space and is perkier than the diesel and petrol counterparts. It has a top speed of 151kmph and a offers 190Nm of torque.

The Indica Vista EV will be produced in association with Miljo Grenland / Innovasjon, Norway in which Tata Motors’ UK subsidiary, Tata Motors European Technical Centre plc, holds 70 per cent stake.

The 2009 Barcelona Motor Show (which will be held in Barcelona ) has the Audi Q3 prototype on display to gather crowds and journalists. The other star attraction of the show will be at the Tata stall. Yep, the Nano Europa is going to Barcelona next week. The show begins on the 9th and goes on till the 17th.

Interpress Motor reports apart from the 3-cylinder Nano Europa, the Indica Vista EV, Sumo Grande, Safari, Xenon, Ace Electric and the Indigo will be present.

Are they referring to the Indigo Vista? Or will they display the normal Indigo? I remember Tata choosing Bologna in 2007 to unveil the Safari 2.2 VTT. I wonder if they’ll show the Indigo Vista in Barcelona.