Zoomi Life

Want a car for $2,000 and want it to get at least 50 miles to the gallon?  Tata has you covered with the Nano.  How about an EV sedan with an extremely low price tag?  Tata will be producing the all-electric Indica to reach market at the end of the year.

The little Indian company has been producing cars for some time.  The Nano entered the market in India with a lot of fanfare as one of the lowest-priced cars in the world at only $2,000USD base. Tata plans to bring the Nano to North America in 2011 or early 2012 with a similar price tag.  The car is gasoline engine powered and gets 56mpg.  It’s styled similar to the i MiEV, as a four-door hatchback sedan.  It’s a micro-car.

Note: This is the Diesel-powered version.

The Indica EV will enter the Norwegian market at the end of the year, though Tata has given no other information on it. Citing a lack of lithium supply, the company has not made any plans to put that car into other markets yet.  The Norwegian market is prime for an EV and Tato already has a presence there, so entry will be easy for them.

I have two opinions on both cars: 1) the Nano will likely never make it to the U.S. simply because no crash test information is available and I doubt the company has even tried yet, especially at $2,000/car; 2) the Indica might go to Norway this year, but since no data whatsoever is available for the electric version of this car, I’m dubious.

I say this because Indian companies are famous for making huge announcements amidst lots of fanfare and then never delivering. Remember the compressed-air powered car?  Well, they made three of them (that I know of) and that’s it.  I tend to treat press releases from India the same way I treat emails from Nigeria…lots of salt.

Sources: 1, 2