Way back in 1998, Tata Motors had revealed the Safari, the first completely Indian SUV. Move to 2019, they repeat the event with the first Indian electric SUV.

Tata Motors had revealed the Ziptron platform as the solution to the issues faced by electric vehicle acceptability few months back. Today the company revealed the Tata Nexon EV, the first indigenous battery electric SUV based on the same technology. Ziptron is a platform developed by Tata Motors which would be used to develop a series of electric vehicles. The platform aims to provide zippy fun to drive vehicles which are reliable, cost effective and practical.

The Tata Nexon EV is based on the Tata Nexon, a very popular mini SUV from the company. However, the Nexon EV has got a facelift with a more modern and thinner grille flanked by slim headlamps. The face has a better road presence than the existing Nexon. It will be offered in three trims, XZ+ LUX, XZ+ and XM. The first two trims would come with a dual paint scheme while the XM will have a single colour paint scheme. These cars would cost between INR 15 and 17 Lakhs (US$ 21,325 and 24,170). This puts these cars in the range of other similar sized IC engine cars.

The Tata Nexon EV is powered by a 129 PS permanent magnet synchronous motor which generates 245 N-m of torque. The power and torque is transmitted through a single speed transmission. It has a battery pack with a capacity of 30.2 KW-h which operates at 320 V. This allows the Nexon a practical range of 300 km between charges. The battery pack is liquid cooled for better performance in the hot Indian conditions. It is also water and dust proof adhering to IP67 standards. Thanks to the high voltage system, the car can be charged to 80% of the capacity in one hour when using a fast DC charger. In case of using a 15 Amp charging socket, the car can be fully charged in 8 hours.

The Tata Nexon EV has independent MacPherson dual path struts with coil springs at front while the rear suspension comprise torsion beam with hydraulic shock absorbers. Steering is electric with speed based assistance. The Tata Nexon EV is 3,994 mm long, 1,811 mm wide and 1,607 mm tall. It has a boot capacity of 350 litres, sufficient to hold more than just a weekend worth of luggage. The wheel base of 2,498 mm gives sufficient interior space to seat five in comfort. The car has been provided with a 7 inch Harman infotainment system offering top-notch connectivity and unmatched acoustics. It also supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Entertainment is taken care of by a 100 W Harman system which comes with four speakers and four tweeters.

The single electric motor is capable of pushing the 1,400 Kg car from 0 to 100 km/h in 9.9 seconds. Tata Motors has provided the Nexon EV with two driving modes, Drive and Sport. The battery pack is installed below the floor, lowering the CG and hence improving the driving characteristics of the car. In case the driver gets to enthusiastic, Tata Motors have provided with Disc brakes and front and drums at the rear. Braking is assisted by ABS and EBD along with cornering stability control. Airbags for both the driver and front passenger are standard.

Tata Motors has also offered a SIM based connectivity on the car along with mobile app which can control 35 features ranging from remote commands, vehicle tracking, driving behavior analytics, navigation and remote diagnostics. The ZConnect App also enables owners to locate the nearby charging points, TML service stations, set-up speed alerts, track vehicle location and many more features.

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