Geneva 2010: Tata debuts Nano EV concept
Chalk one more hurrah up for the Tatas and their electric Nano. With Indian streets stinking of the smell of untreated exhausts from many millions of old vehicles and with the ever increasing prices of fuel in India whenever some silly sheikh decides to build himself a new palace or acquire a new harem, this car could address two very important needs: use less imported fuel and pollute less. Unfortunately, there are problems and these are not related to the car itself: India's power sector is pathetic and many places including the capital suffer from power shortages for several hours a day. Unless this is addressed, the Nano Enectric will only work well in cities like Mumbai and Pune which have decent electric utilities. Hopefully, though, India will address the power issue - I have friends who work in the infrastructure sector talk about possibly as much as Rs 50,000 crores in new investments in powerplants. Hopefully, these will not be coal-burning plants which need imported coal.
In any case, a leading private sector company in India is doing a great job. Cheers for the Tatas for producing an electric car that is suited to the Indian marketplace. I doubt that any of the foreign companies which have set up shop in India would invest the time and the money to come up with something like this. India will have to look for Indian solutions to Indian problems, eventually. This is as good a beginning as is possible.
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This is a great development! I always wonder Mehul, will Rich people (say Managers and company owners.. who expect a lot from a Car(Comfort-style-luxury mostly) ever go for a car like Nano? Nano instead proves a car affordable to Middleclass who otherwise wont buy any car. Anyways..in Pune driving a car is one hell of a job nowadays! This is a city which has seen rise of population from 25 Lakh in 2001 to around 43 Lakh (officially!) in 2009.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the response, Avadhut. Frankly, I don't think anyone should care whether the wealthy go in for the electric Nano or not. The middle and poor class will always outnumber the rich wherever in the world you go. By targeting a majority of people, the Tatas have done a fantastic job - they have a much bigger market among Nano buyers than they would ever have had for their Jaguars or Land Rovers.
ReplyDeleteAs far as congestion is concerned, I would much rather see families go in a car like the Nano instead of on a motorcycle as my old friend Linoy Thomas pointed out. At least, inside a car - however cheap and light it may be - the possibility is that the family will be safer than on a motorcycle if a mishap occurs. This is why something like the Nano has vstly more positives than negatives in my opinion.