“It is a very hardware-centric improvement” says Vivek Srivatsa on the Tata Punch EV facelift

Tata Motors were one of the first few manufacturers in India to democratise and push EVs in the mainstream segment, and the company has come a long way since it first launched the Tata Nexon EV in 2020, having crossed the milestone of 2,50,000 EVs on Indian roads. And with Tata EV having launched a facelifted version of its popular electric SUV, the Tata Punch EV, we had a conversation with Vivek Srivatsa, Chief Commercial Officer, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, to gain more insights on the electric SUV.

Talking about the contribution of the Punch EV in Tata Motors’ EV sales, Srivatsa said, “Out of a total of 250,000, I think the Punch EV would be about 35-36,000 (units), that's about 17-18 per cent. Of course, the Punch EV was launched much after the Nexon EV. But going forward, we expect the Punch EV to be a much bigger part of our sales, maybe about 30 per cent easily.”

Tata Motors have priced the facelifted Punch EV aggressively, and when asked about the Punch EV potentially eating into the sales of the Tiago EV or the Nexon EV, Srivatsa explained, “When you have a portfolio, you have to manage the portfolio. There will be some overlaps on pricing. There will be some cross-consideration. But as long as the overall volumes go up, you should be satisfied and that is the objective. Yes, there will be a little bit of overlap here and there. But I think the main issue is we want to attract the first-time car buyer now, as we presented. And I think we will really make it an attractive proposition for the first-time car buyer. And that is the main focus. There might be some overlap with Tiago, some with Nexon. But I think overall the volume pie has to go up.”

Speaking about the updates to the Punch EV facelift, which include subtle changes to the styling and more changes to the powertrain, Srivatsa said, “It is a mid-cycle enhancement and we had to just do a little bit of refreshment, I would say. Having said that, I think it changed the personality of the car quite a bit, even though very limited components were changed. We have changed the entire bumper and the rear setup. But more importantly, what is seen under the hood is the whole thing, especially in the EV world. When you increase the range of a product, that is the biggest news, right? Bigger battery, better range, faster charging. So it is a very hardware-centric improvement. And I think that is where most of the investment has gone, and that is where consumers will see daily benefits also much higher.”

The Tata Punch is one of the few cars in its segment to sport such a wide variety of powertrain options, and when asked about the multi-powertrain strategy and how it has worked out for Tata Motors, Srivatsa elaborated, “We should not deny customers powertrain choices the way we look at it. People like the product brand, they like the packaging of the product in terms of the design, in terms of space, in terms of features. But then if you tell them that you can buy it only with this powertrain and this is not available, it becomes a huge lost opportunity for manufacturers, but also for consumers. There's a lot of dissatisfaction. And that is where we said that let us invest in as wide a powertrain as possible across our products. Not only the Punch, the Nexon is a great example. It has diesel also in addition. Even our Sierra has three powertrains. Very soon one more will be added. And it's the same with the Harrier as well. We have petrol, diesel and EV now, so that’s something which is working well for us.”

We also quizzed Srivatsa on the Tiago EV getting the Acti.EV platform on which the Punch EV is already based, and Srivatsa clarified that, “The Tiago, we want to position it as a smart city car. The Punch is a versatile car, but the Tiago, we want to focus it as a smart city car. So when the time comes, we'll have to see what works for that focused usage. We have to be clear about the role of each car in the portfolio. Otherwise, if you give all parameters, then it becomes confusing for the customers. I think there's a great potential for urban mobility in Indian cities. Can I have an easy to drive, smooth, safe, not very expensive car to move within the city? Huge opportunity. And the Tiago will be focused in that direction.”

Concluding our conversation with Srivatsa was the subject of BaaS (Battery as a Service), which has been introduced for the first time on a Tata EV with the Punch EV facelift. “We have looked at Baas as just one more way of purchasing the car, especially for the entry customer. In our understanding, BaaS is something which reduces the EMI – it's a financial product, end of the day. It reduces the EMI pressure on consumers in the initial period. So this is largely for customers who are stretching their budget to buy a car. So we will restrict it only to our entry cars,” said Srivatsa. “We will not take it up higher (up the range). We all know that penetration of BaaS also is not very high. While we call it BaaS as a terminology, actually it is a financial product where the EMI of the battery is 8 years and car EMI is lower, so the upfront load on the customer is reduced, and that will largely be in the entry segment where the financial capability is limited. So we will not go beyond this. We will restrict it to our entry-level cars,” Srivatsa added.