More people in smaller cities are buying Tata’s electric hatchback Tiago.ev than the ones in big cities, a development that signals that mass market battery-powered cars supported by the right ecosystem carry the potential for mainstream adoption.

Tiago.ev has achieved deeper penetration than its electric SUV Nexon with about 50 per cent of the bookings for the battery-powered car coming from outside of the top 20 cities in the country.

Tiago.ev penetrated into smaller cities such as Bilaspur, Satara, Shimoga, and small towns in Kerala.

Overall, Tiago.ev secured 35 per cent of bookings from the top 10 cities and 16 per cent from the next ten cities, while the rest of India contributed the remaining 49 per cent of the bookings. For Nexon Electric, top 10 cities accounted for almost half (49 per cent) of its bookings, according to a company’s document.

The company has delivered close to 15,000 units of Tiago.ev since the commencement of deliveries in February this year. Auto analysts say that the company is ramping up the capacity for Tiago.ev and Tata Motor’s overall EV deliveries would touch about one lakh units in FY24, up from 50,000 plus units in FY23.

During an interaction a few weeks ago, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motor Passenger Vehicle Ltd & Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd had said that the company’s idea was to launch an EV in the price bracket of Rs.9.5-10.5 lakh as it had become a sweet spot. “With increased affordability, average Indian are buying cars priced in that range,” he added.

Chandra also said that with Tiago.ev, Tata Motors was keen on developing a new base of customers who would look at upgrade options in later years. “Also, anything below 200 km of real range will not be sustainable for a customer in this segment. Our expectation is that Tiago.ev will help EVs become more mainstream,” he had stated.

Actually, Tiago.ev has been able to appeal to new customer segments. About 23 per cent of Tiago.EV buyers were first-time car customers who never owned a car before. So, these people’s first car is a battery-powered vehicle.

Also, close to one-fourth (24 per cent) of Tiago.EV buyers were women. This share is more than two times of industry average for female buyers. About 56 per cent of Tiago.ev buyers were aged below 40 years.

The company’s success and dominance in the electric car market is supported by its wide EV network in the country and the Tata uniEverse ecosystem. Tata Motors’ EV network expanded from 51 cities in FY21 to 165 in FY23. Likewise, total EV dealerships grew from 97 to 250 during the period.

In addition to 5000 plus public chargers and home charging in 170 plus cities, Tata uniEverse ecosystem has also established more than 900 community/resident welfare association chargers in more than 170 societies across the top 5 metros.

“Tata Motors remains the leader in electric passenger vehicle (EPV). Its EPV sales stood at 8854 units during this fiscal (April and May), while total industry EPV volumes were at 11,782 units. Tata Motor’s EPV mix improved to 13 per cent in May 2023, after deteriorating in April, according to Kumar Rakesh, Analyst - IT & Auto, BNP Paribas India.

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