By Business India Editorial

Tata Motors has launched an electric model of its popular Tiago hatchback with a sticker price starting from Rs8,49,000, making it the most affordable electric vehicle in the country. 

Tata is the only automaker currently building EVs in India and the Tiago EV is expected to further its lead in the country’s electric car market, even if much of that success is due to government subsidies and high tariffs that have kept out imports. 

The Tiago EV is significantly cheaper than India's next most affordable EV - the electric version of Tata's Tigor compact sedan which starts at around $14,940. China, however, has some EV models that start as low as 32,800 yuan ($4,525)

The operating cost of the Tiago EV is expected to be about a seventh of the gasoline version. To travel 1,000 kilometres (621 miles), a gasoline Tiago would require Rs7,500 worth of fuel whereas the charging cost for the EV model would be Rs1,100, said Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and its EV subsidiary. 

The cheapest version of the Tiago EV will have a driving range of 250 km on a single charge while a more expensive version will offer a range of 315 km.

The company aims to have a portfolio of ten electric products, a mix of existing nameplates and all new models, by 2025. Tata Motors is looking at models above the Nexon range as possible candidates for the four by four (4X4) upgrade.

“Our focus will be to try and do that in the electric vehicles. We are going to work on this in the electric version of our future SUVs,” Chandra told PTI when asked if the company is also considering four wheel drive trims in its SUV range.

Some of the products in the company's expected line up of ten electric models would feature the four by four capability, he added.

The four wheel drive mechanism allows power to flow into all four wheels of a vehicle enabling it to surpass tough off road conditions.