In Conversation With Anand Kulkarni, Vice President Of Electric Vehicle And ALFA Architecture At Tata Motors India, On The Tigor EV And Its Ziptron EV Platform

Tata Motors India recently unleashed the facelifted Tigor EV, the second model based on Tata’s Ziptron EV architecture. Not only does it get updated cosmetics like its internal combustion engine counterpart, but it also has a beefier Ziptron powertrain. We caught up with Tata Motor’s Vice President, Electric Vehicle And ALFA Architecture, Anand Kulkarni, on the decisions behind the Tigor EV ahead of its August 31 launch as well as the Ziptron EV platform. 

Alan DCruz: Can you tell us how the Ziptron platform differs from the previous EV platform, the Xpres-T?

Anand Kulkarni: So, the Ziptron platform is essentially a high-voltage architecture that we debuted or inaugurated with the Nexon EV. It was essentially to debunk the myths around electrification which were quite prevalent at that point in time. This includes apprehensions on the performance, range, reliability, safety, charging and more. So the Ziptron platform seeks to break these myths and it has become hugely popular on the Nexon EV. Today, we have a total of about 8,500 four-wheeler EVs on Indian streets, of which about 6,500+ are the Nexon EVs and that's gone on to sort of establish pole position in the EV segment. So, we are now combining the Tigor EV with the Ziptron platform. 

The Tigor EV did exist in its previous avatar of the low-voltage solution that we think is exceedingly important and great for fleet applications, which is the one we will make sure goes on the fleet. The Xpres-T is the fleet branding and the new Tigor EV based on Ziptron is a personal segment car, which will appeal to customers who want to experience performance along with the rest of the benefits of an electric vehicle. 

AD: Is there any range expectation for the Tigor EV? There was no mention of it at the unveiling so can we assume a little bit, just going by the fact that the battery capacity is a little smaller and also the power output is slightly less. So would it be a little less than the Nexon?

AK:  Yes, that is correct. We haven't announced the range today but we will on the day of the price reveal. You’ve got some things right. First of all, I would say that it's based on the Ziptron platform, so there is a certain guarantee of range because the removal of range anxiety is one of the pillars of Ziptron. Now, since you see that this is the Ziptron high-voltage architecture., you will also notice the battery capacity is roughly around 12-13 percent lower than the Nexon EV. But then the motor is also a little smaller, suited to the needs of a vehicle of this sort. But it's going to be an extremely nippy motor, I can assure you when you get your cars to drive, you will find that out.  

The second thing is because the car itself is of a lower, smaller format, it sort of balances itself out. That's as much as I can reveal today. Let’s wait a few more days for the actual numbers. 

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AD: Talking about the charging infrastructure, we have noticed most facilities in Pune offer easy charge -- the older type of charge -- which is compatible with the Xpres-T platform. Is there any plan to upgrade those or have a dual system for those chargers?

AK: We are working on multiple aspects. You are right, that in some cases, there is a distribution in the fleet that is out of the 8,500, 6,500 have the CCS 2, which is the charging system that goes on the high voltage. Then you have the earlier one based on the GB YT standard on the Xpres-T. Both of these are available, and as a result of that, you may have actually seen one that has the charging for the GB YT connection. 

But I would like to also tell you that Tata Power is rapidly expanding the network. Today, they have 640+ charging stations across the country. And what we have seen is most of the personal users tend to charge at home in a majority of the cases. The highways are what we need to connect so that when people go slightly longer distances, the charging facility is easily available. 

So, we have enabled a lot of corridors, where the majority of movement of personal cars happens. For example, Ahmedabad-Mumbai, Mumbai-Pune, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur, Delhi Agra, Jamshedpur-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Visakhapatnam, and Chennai-Bengaluru. These key areas have already been connected. Out of these 640+ fast chargers, a majority are CCS 2, and people are benefiting from it.

One of the myths is that electric vehicles tend to be driven only in the cities. But in reality, these vehicles are being used in several areas. You need to plan a little bit ahead, but highway journeys are definitely possible, in fact, people are already doing it. 

Raunak Awasthi : So, what is the reason behind choosing the Tigor and not the Tiago for this?

AK:  What we’ve done is combined three pillars: technology, safety, and comfort. Within the comfort pillar, you have a sedan that by essence conveys a certain degree of safety and comfort. Hence, we thought it was important for people to have this choice and it already existed for us. It was already electrified, therefore, we chose the car. 

RA: Aren’t both cars essentially the same?

AK: You are right, but there is a difference. With small format cars, you need to be able to package all the components in a proper safe way and the Tigor is a four-metre car. The Tiago is a smaller format car. Now, when you have electric batteries placed in the rear, you also need to make sure if there is an impact from the rear, you have some space available so you need to work around a lot of other safety aspects as well. So, there are benefits in certain cases and we thought that the Tigor is able to bring across these benefits in a much better manner.  

RA:  By the Ziptron platform you mean the batteries and the motor right, not the entire platform?

AK: Ziptron includes the batteries and motors, you are right. The most important part is that the batteries are liquid cooled and also IP67.  The motor is liquid cooled and has an IP67 rating, which means we can give it a phenomenal amount of life, durability and reliability. But along with it, the Ziptron architecture also has some other aspects, for example, the DC converter, the onboard charger, and the power distribution unit. There’s also an ECU that works like the ECU in an internal combustion engine model. 

So all of these components put together make up the architecture. For example, the reliability that we’ve achieved with so much data over so many kilometres on the Nexon. All of those improvements have gone into the Tigor to make sure that on day 1, everything starts off with the level that we have already achieved. 

And of course, as you know, the Tigor comes equipped with the IRA connectivity app. The connectivity essentially works in terms of diagnostics, information, geolocation positioning, being able to have safety interlocks built into the usage of the car, and more. So the IRA app also combines all of these utilities for a customer along with the rest of the features of an electric vehicle.

AD: Any numbers that you have for us, expectation wise, in terms of sales? I know Nexon is doing quite well; I think they just recorded a sale of 650 units in June. Do you expect the Tigor EV to do more or is it going to take some time to get to that level?

AK: You said it correctly. In the last quarter, we sold about 1,715 electric vehicles, a large percentage of that was on account of the Nexon EV. Going forward, and one of the data points that we would love to share with you is, today, whatever inquiries we get for the Nexon, as a trade plate, as a brand, almost a quarter of them are for electric vehicles.  

So there's a huge interest in electric vehicles. We have, of course, been blown away by the kind of uptake there is; we love it. And we think when more choices are available to the customer, we will have a good response, fingers crossed on that. It would be very difficult for us to mention numbers. At this point in time, we should wait and watch but let me tell you we are geared up and happy to do whatever numbers.