Tata Nano is one of the most iconic Indian car for its price tag to make a four-wheeler more accessible at just Rs 1 lakh. But the realistic costs of making a car made it impossibly difficult to deliver on that promise.
Tata Nano was discontinue in 2019, after 11 years with not good sales.
But the Tata Nano still represents Ratan Tata’s goal of an affordable car for the masses, and 2YoDo also believe it could come again in a new EV avatar.
Tata is currently the leader of the electric car in India with a portfolio of EVs that have a claim range of over 300km.
Its latest offering is the Tiago EV, the electrified version of its current entry-level model, which gets the choice of two battery sizes.
In its base trim, the Tata Tiago EV uses a 19.2kWh for a claimed range of 250km, powering an electric motor rated at 61PS and 110Nm.
If we compare to the original Tata Nano that was power by a 0.6-litre petrol engine making just 38PS and 51Nm.
An electric Tata Nano with Tata’s new Ziptron technology should be able to offer slightly less performance than the Tiago EV in exchange for a similar claim range of around 250km.
If Tata Nano can still deliver over 175km in the real world, the Tata Nano EV would be a good option for intra-city travel.
The focus on building an affordable car that can be an alternative to a two-wheeler force Tata to take cost-cutting measures that result in a compromise product with no other appeal than the price tag.
The original Tata Nano lack any sort of safety features as standard and any practical comforts and use wheels with only three lug-nuts.
And the design was unique and distinctive, with a good cabin to easily fit four adults.
Tata address the lack of features in the facelift Tata Nano with front fog lamps, a four-speaker audio system, keyless entry and front power windows.
All these features made it better equip than the likes of the Maruti Alto 800.
2YoDo feel that for the Tata Nano to make a return, it needs to be more than just an affordable micro-car.
Tata Nano should be improve with the new safety mandates that would require it to have six airbags, ABS, ESC and rear parking sensors.
Tata Nano needs to offer features like a touchscreen infotainment system, power-adjustable ORVMs, USB charge ports, and LED DRLs.
