Tata Green Car Advisor Blog on Edmunds' Inside Line

October 3, 2008

Bail-Out Passes, Includes Plug-In hybrid Tax Credits. Now Bring On the Cars!

In case you've been in a deep, dank cave with no wireless connection for the past few hours, the news du jour is that the House has approved the Wall Street rescue measure that includes the original $700-billion in bail-out bucks plus wads of cash for renewable energy, biofuels and energy-efficiency programs.

The $17 billion energy package also includes a plug-in hybrids tax credit plan with an estimated price tag of $1 billion. It won't expire until the auto industry has, collectively, sold 250,000 plug-in cars and trucks that run at least part of the time on all-electric drive from energy stored in rechargeable, on-board batteries.

While none of the major automakers has yet to offer a plug-in, just about all (Honda Motor Co. is a notable exception) are working on them, with General Motor Corp.'s Chevrolet Volt perhaps the best known of the bunch.

Reporters walking the floor of the Paris Auto Show this week, however, are seeing a lot more as European car makers seem to have embraced the idea of electric cars and gas- and diesel-electric hybrids with a fervor usually associated with revival meeting preachers.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell October 3, 2008, 12:47 PM
Categories:: Chevrolet, Fuels & Technologies, General Motors, Green Vehicles, Honda, Legislation, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opinion, Plug-ins and Electric, Renault, Smart, Subaru, Tata, Toyota

August 29, 2008

The New Competitors: India's Three-Pronged Approach To The Electric Car Market

By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor

Unwilling to leave the potentially lucrative electric vehicle market to Japanese, European and - maybe - American carmakers, Indian auto companies are rushing to develop EVs of their own.

The impetus is twofold: To combat gridlock and air pollution at home, and to cash in on global demand for cleaner, eco-friendly vehicles.

The Indian firms will be joining a rapidly growing field of manufacturers looking to market environmentally-focused vehicles.

Industry heavy-weights like General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Renault-Nissan and Daimler all have promised to bring plug-in hybrids or battery-electric vehicles to market within the next three-to-five years.

Some of their upstart Indian competitors, however, say they will hit the market with their electric vehicles as early as the end of this year.

To find out what's on tap, Green Car Advisor took a look at three of the main players in the burgeoning Indian electric vehicle market.

Reva

Reva Electric Car Co. is the minnow of the bunch. And no, we're not referring to the 102 inch length of the company's cartoonish-looking two-door hatchback (right) -- four inches shorter than a Smart Fortwo.

Based in Bangalore, Reva is a small family-owned company that happens to be one of the most established electric car manufacturers in the world, with a vehicle that initially went on sale seven years ago.

A Reva offers room for two adults plus two children in the rear, and a top speed of 50 miles per hour.

Since retail sales began in July 2001, some 2,600 Revas have found homes. Chetan Maini, Reva's deputy chairman and chief technical officer, says the majority have been sold in Bangalore and London, where it's called the "G-Wiz."

Maini explains that Reva's intention was to begin with "one Indian city and one European city," and build the business from there.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); John O'Dell August 29, 2008, 2:45 AM
Categories:: Alternative Fuels, Fuels & Technologies, India, Mahindra, Plug-ins and Electric, Reva, Tata
Technorati Tags:: Electric Vehicles

August 27, 2008

With 120-Plus Teams In The Wings, Automotive X Prize Officially Opens Registration

Organizers of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize opened the official registration process this week - the first step in qualifying for the fuel efficieny competition's $10 million in prizes - after receiving letters of intent form more than 120 teams.

The prospective entrants are from 17 countries, with most coming from the U.S. - 28 states are represented on the initial list.

The contest challenges entrants to design, build and operate a production-capable vehicle that can deliver, at minimum, the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon fuel economy.

Prospective entrants range from Indian automaker Tata Motors to a high school team from West Philadelphia.

Missing from the preliminary list are all of the major U.S., European and Asian automakers, but a few celebrities apparently will be on hand, among them Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Young, who has said he intends to enter his 1960 Lincoln Continental - converted to a plug-in hybrid running on biodiesel..

Registration closes January 1, 2009, and entrants then will have about eight months to prepare for a series of competitions that will start in New York in September and take the vehicles to as many as nine major U.S. urban areas through early 2010.

Winning teams must deliver vehicles that achieve at least 100 miles per gallon-equivalent fuel economy and meet stringent emissions standards. the teams also must present compelling business cases for their vehicles.

Click here for more information about the competition, the prize and the entry process.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell August 27, 2008, 12:54 PM
Categories:: Alternative Fuels, Biofuels, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Fuels & Technologies, Green Vehicles, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Tata
Technorati Tags:: $10 million X Prize

July 30, 2008

Volkswagen Overtakes Ford as No. 3 Automaker Worldwide

Ford Motor Co. started taking large steps away from gas guzzlers and toward a fuel-efficient lineup earlier this month, but the efforts came too late to prevent Volkswagen from overtaking it for the No. 3 spot among automakers by global sales volume.

The change reflects sales figures the two automakers recently provided for the first half of this year. If sales trends hold true through the remainder of this year, the new world order among automotive giants will be Toyota in the No. 1 position, followed by General Motors, Volkswagen and Ford, respectively.

Toyota led GM at the half by about 278,000 vehicles, while VW saw a global sales increase of 7.2 percent to 3.31 million vehicles and Ford watched its sales fall 11 percent to 3.09 million vehicles.

Ford, which has been exceedingly slow to respond to the growing demand for fuel-efficient vehicles, ceded the No. 2 spot to Toyota in 2003.

Exacerbating the situation for Ford is the recent sale of Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors. The two brands no longer contribute to Ford's overall sales tally. But with sales of the British luxury brands under 300,000 vehicles a year, they would not have contributed enough to enable Ford to retain its position among automakers.

Scott Doggett, Contributor

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (3); Scott Doggett July 30, 2008, 1:07 PM
Categories:: Emissions, Ford, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Jaguar, Range Rover, Tata, Toyota, Volkswagen
Technorati Tags:: Emissions

June 2, 2008

Tata-Chrysler Deal Could Bring Nano Minicar EV to U.S., Tata Also Confirms Low-speed Electric Truck Plans

Ace mini-truck may hit U.S. as low-speed electric vehicle in Tata-Chrysler deal.

By Nick Kurczewski, Contributor

In a move that could have strong implications for the arrival of the ultra-low-cost Tata Nano mini-car in the U.S. market, Tata Motors has announced that it’s teaming with Chrysler LLC to build mini-trucks in America, at least one model a low-speed electric vehicle.

Speaking with reporters in Mumbai last week, P.M. Telang, executive director at Tata Motors, confirmed a January report that the two manufacturers will develop battery-electric versions of the trucks. Tata Motors and Chrysler have given no specifics about the trucks themselves, and no production date or manufacturing site has been confirmed.

However, a glance at Tata’s current Indian market offerings shows that the most probable candidate is the company’s Ace mini-truck.

With prices starting at only $5,000, the Ace is a cut-price utility vehicle that can be had as either a small pickup or passenger van.

Rugged and cheap, the Ace could be a handy delivery vehicle for the American market – especially in crowded city centers. But its feeble17-horsepower two-cylinder diesel engine would have to go as it’s too under-powered for American roads.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); John O'Dell June 2, 2008, 3:01 AM
Categories:: Chrysler, India, Plug-ins and Electric, Tata

May 15, 2008

Nano Maker Tata to Compete in Automotive X-Prize

If a $2,500 car from India isn't enough for automakers to worry about, Tata Motors now says it will develop an all-electric vehicle to compete in the upcoming automotive X-Prize competition.

The contest, underwritten by Progressive Insurance, is offering a $10 million purse to contestants who can come up with a new car that is suitable for mass production and can achieve fuel economy equivalent to 100 miles per gallon or better. Entrants also have to have a business plan for making and marketing their vehicle.

Organizers hope the competition will showcase viable alternatives to the internal combustion engine as well as technologies that improve ICE performance and reduce emissions.

Tata, best known for the four-seat Nano "people's car" that it introduced at the New Dehli auto show earlier this year and has said will sell for the equivalent of $2,500, actually plans to enter two vehicles in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X-Prize competition, the Santa Monica-based X-Prize Foundation said this morning.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell May 15, 2008, 8:48 AM
Categories:: Alternative Fuels, Emissions, Plug-ins and Electric, Tata

February 11, 2008

Tata's $2,500 Car Slated for Europe in 2012

India's Tata Motors wants to bring the next generation of its super-affordable Nano car to the European market by 2012, the company's compact car projects director said in an interview with the German magazine Focus.

"We will develop a successor model in four years time, which will meet the Euro 5 emission regulations and the crash standards in Europe," Girish Wagh was quoted as saying in an advance abstract of the article published Sunday and reported by Reuters news service.

Tata unveiled the $2,500 Nano, the world's cheapest car, at the New Delhi auto show in January and said production of the four-seater would begin lateer this year fat the Tata factory in West Bengal.

Tata has said it will initially produce about 250,000 Nanos and expects eventual annual demand of 1 million units...

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell February 11, 2008, 12:00 PM
Categories:: India, Tata

January 23, 2008

Chrysler Reported in U.S. Electric Truck Deal With Tata

Tata Ace could be heading for U.S. as a low-speed electric truck.

Chrysler Corp. and India's Tata Motors reportedly have signed a development deal for Chrysler's neighborhood electric car unit to import and market a new vehicle based on the Tata Ace mini-truck.

While the 1-ton truck uses a 17 horsepower diesel motor in India, the U.S. version would use a battery-electric drivetrain from Chrysler's Global Electric Motors, according to a report this week in India's Business Line magazine.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); John O'Dell January 23, 2008, 2:30 PM
Categories:: Alternative Fuels, India, Plug-ins and Electric, Tata