Government Officials Refuse To Use Tata Tigor EV And Mahindra eVerito — Here’s Why

By Sukesh

Updated: Thursday, June 28, 2018, 10:24 [IST]

The state-run Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) had supplied the Tata Tigor EV and Mahindra eVerito to the government officials. Now, LiveMint reports that the government officials are refusing to use the Tigor EV and the eVerito due to the poor performance of the electric cars.

Government Officials Refuse To Use Tata Tigor EV And Mahindra eVerito

According to a senior official involved in formulating rules and regulations for electric mobility, both the electric cars did not deliver a driving range of 80-82km on a single charge within the city limits. The official also told that the battery capacity was also not up to the mark.

But according to the vehicle requirement as per the EESL tender, the electric cars needed to deliver a driving range of over 130km as certified by ARAI. Other requirements for the EV include a top speed of over 80km/h and the vehicle should sprint from 0-60km/h in less than 13 seconds.

Both the Tata Tigor EV and the Mahindra eVerito were equipped with 17kW battery pack and the driving range was supposed to be around 100-120km on a single charge. Now, the low performance and mileage of these electric cars come as a surprise to the government officials.

As per the agreement with EESL, in the first phase, Tata Motors and Mahindra were supposed to supply 150 units and 350 units, respectively. In 2019, both the companies will supply the remaining 9,500 units of electric cars. But the latest development has put a doubt on the supply of Tigor EV and eVerito.

The lack of charging infrastructure is also one of the reasons behind the complaint of government officials. Without the availability of fast charging points, it will be very difficult to fully charge the batteries. That might be the reason why cars are delivering poor mileage. The situation might improve with more and more charging stations set up across the country.

Thoughts On Government Officials Refusing To Use Tata Tigor EV And Mahindra eVerito

The EESL had procured the Tata Tigor EV and Mahindra eVerito to supply to government officials as part of the government's ambition to go all-electric. But now the initiative has suffered a hit with government officials refusing to use the electric cars due to low performance. We expect the issues will be solved by Tata Motors and Mahindra as the electric cars are still in their early phase.