The growing trend of shifting towards electric vehicles has resulted in five new EV launches in the country this month (Jan 2020)
It’s not even a month into 2020, and the automotive industry has already been blessed with a range of two-wheelers and four-wheelers from different manufacturers, which also include a total of five fully-electric vehicles. We have compiled a list of the five EVs that have been launched in the country in 2020 till now. Take a read –
1) Bajaj Chetak
Bajaj Auto revived the Chetak nameplate with the launch of a new fully-electric retro-styled scooter this month. The Chetak electric is available in two variants – Urbane, which is priced at Rs 1 lakh; and Premium, which is being offered at Rs 1.15 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom).
The Chetak has been equipped with a 3 kWh lithium-ion battery that can be charged with a 15 amp electrical outlet, which will fully charge the battery in five hours, while an hour of charging will be enough to juice up the battery to 25%. Bajaj claims that the Chetak with a full battery can be ridden for 95 km in the Eco mode, while Sport mode will return a range of 85 km.
Since the Chetak is being positioned as a premium product, the e-scooter is being offered through KTM dealerships across the country for now, until Bajaj updates its showrooms to accommodate the electric scooter.
2) TVS iQube
TVS Motor was quick to deliver a reply to the new Bajaj Chetak, and launched its first fully-electric scooter called the iQube in under two weeks of the former’s launch. The iQube is powered by a 4.4 kW electric motor, which gives the e-scooter a top speed of 78 kmph, with a claimed a 0-40 kmph time of 4.2 seconds. The scooter uses a 2.25 kWh lithium-ion battery and has a claimed range of 75 km on a full charge.
TVS has equipped the iQube electric scooter with a TFT screen which enables features like navigation assist, geo-fencing, remote battery charge status, last park location and incoming call and SMS alerts, etc. The scooter can be connected to your smartphone via a dedicated app. For now, the TVS iQube is only available in Bangalore at a price of Rs 1.15 lakh (on-road), with other metro cites expected to follow soon.
3) Ather 450X
Ather Energy Pvt Ltd is a homegrown EV start-up, which launched its first product – the 450 e-scooter in 2018. Fast forward two years, the company has now launched a facelifted model for the scooter, which is being called the 450X.
The scooter has an improved range over its predecessor, and now can be ridden up to 85 km (Eco mode) on a full charge. The Ather 450X comes with a new Android OS, with a Snapdragon 212 quad-core 1.3 GHz processor with 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage.
The 450X has been launched in two trims, namely the 450X Plus and 450X Pro, which are priced at Rs. 1.49 lakh and Rs. 1.59 lakh (ex-showroom, Bangalore) respectively, if you choose to pay upfront.
However, the Ather 450X can be had at a base price of Rs 99,000 (ex-showroom, Bangalore), but you need to subscribe to either the Plus (Rs 1,499 per month) or Pro (1,999 per month) monthly pack.
4) Tata Nexon EV
Moving on to four-wheelers, Tata Motors launched its first fully electric SUV in India, which is the electric version of the Nexon, earlier this week. The e-SUV is being offered in three trims – XM, XZ+ and XZ+ Lux, with an introductory price of Rs 13.99 lakh, Rs 14.99 lakh and Rs 15.99 lakh (ex-showroom) respectively.
The Nexon EV is the first car to be based on the brand’s Ziptron EV technology. It comes with an IP67 rated 30.2 kWh lithium-ion battery, which comes paired to a 3-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor that puts out at 129 PS power and 245 Nm torque. The battery can be charged from 0 to 80% in just an hour, while 20 to 100% with a regular 15 amp charger will take about eight hours. The Nexon EV has an ARAI certified range of 312 km.
Externally, the car boasts features like automatic headlamps, fog lamps with cornering ability, 16-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, automatic rain-sensing wipers and an electric sunroof. Tata has packed the Nexon EV inside the cabin as well, and it gets features like keyless entry, push-button start/stop, a wearable key, an electric tailgate, a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment with smartphone connectivity, fully automatic climate control and Tata’s ZConnect technology, which offers 35 connected car features.
5) MG ZS EV
MG Motor India recently launched the Hyundai Kona electric rivalling ZS EV SUV at a starting price of Rs 20.88 lakh (ex-showroom). The e-SUV is being offered in two trims, which are Excite and Exclusive, and in true MG fashion, both the trims have been packed to the brim with features.
The entry-level Excite trim comes with automatic projector headlamps, 17-inch alloy wheels, an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, keyless entry, push-button start/stop, tyre pressure monitoring system and an electronic parking brake.
The top-end Exclusive trim (priced at Rs 23.58 lakh ex-showroom) gets additional features that include leatherette seats, electric adjustment for the driver’s seat, a PM 2.5 filter for clean air, a panoramic sunroof, and rain-sensing wipers. On the safety front, the car has been equipped with six airbags, ABS with EBD, ESC, hill-start assist, hill-descent control and rear parking sensors and camera as standard.
MG offers the ZS EV with a 44.5 kWh liquid-cooled IP67 rated battery, which delivers an ARAI certified range of 340 km. The battery is coupled with a permanent magnet synchronous electric motor which belts out 145 PS of maximum power, and 353 Nm peak torque.
With the 15th edition of the Auto Expo set to commence in about a week’s time, we expect a lot of other manufacturers and start-ups to display their upcoming or concept electric vehicles and technologies at the said event next month.