Tata Motors, the leader in India’s market for electric passenger vehicles, will progressively increase the proportion of capital expenditure towards electrifying its commercial vehicles, a top executive said.
“We are going to work on and keep identifying sectors more amenable for electrification in the commercial vehicle segment. We will keep technology, vehicle architecture and aggregates ready and launch products for multiple applications going ahead,” executive director Girish Wagh said, adding: “The proportion of capex investments for electrifying commercial vehicles will only increase.”
Tata Motors has invested Rs 1,000-2,000 crore in capex in its commercial vehicle business in each of the last five years.
Wagh was speaking on the sidelines of the unveiling of the electric mini truck Ace EV, which has been developed incorporating feedback from last-mile mobility providers.
The company, which has signed pacts with ecommerce players and logistics service providers such as Amazon, BigBasket, City Link, DOT, Flipkart, LetsTransport, MoEVing and Yelo EV, has already received orders for 39,000 units of the Ace EV, which promises a range of 154 km on a single charge.
Wagh said the company would target applications where the usage cycle makes the total cost of ownership of electric cargo transport vehicles closer to or below those run on CNG. “Ecommerce is booming and the demand for last-mile distribution of goods is expanding significantly. This represents the next big opportunity for customised EV solutions,” he said.
Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran said sustainable mobility is an imperative as well as a global mega trend that is irreversible. “At the Tata Group, Tata Motors in particular, we have embraced this fully and made a business model that integrates sustainability as one of the key pillars. Whether it is in passenger cars, our commercial vehicles, or in general Jaguar Land Rover, we are committed to making this transition and are accelerating it every day,” he said.
Tata Motors offers electric options in several models in the passenger vehicle segment. “In the commercial vehicles we have successfully launched electric buses and we are seeing huge acceptance and pickup in that segment. Today marks the day where we are moving into e-cargo mobility”, said Chandrasekaran, adding, the company wants to “engage and build e-cargo solutions, not only in the Ace platform, but in other categories as per what is required to serve the market across the country”.
The price of the Ace EV will be announced when deliveries start next quarter.
Last week, Tata Motors unveiled an all-new electric passenger vehicle architecture, on which it plans to introduce multiple advanced EVs starting 2025.
