Tata companies pool resources to kickstart EV ‘ecosystem’

More than half a dozen companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Chemicals, Tata Power and Tata Croma, a chain of stores selling consumer electronics, are pooling resources and expertise to build an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem, the executives told reporters in Mumbai. The plans were announced ahead of the launch of Tata Motors’ electric sport-utility vehicle (SUV) Nexon EV, which was attended by N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, the automaker’s parent group, and family patriarch Ratan Tata.

“This is the launch of an ecosystem, which is the real need, not just another vehicle launch,” Guenter Butschek, managing director at Tata Motors, which also owns the British luxury car brand Jaguar Land Rover, said.

India, in an effort to curb high pollution in several cities and to bring down its fuel import bill, is encouraging automakers to build EVs. But it has faced resistance from some carmakers that say the charging infrastructure needs to be set up first and that battery costs are too high to build affordable EVs for the Indian market. Tata Power, which has already set up 100 charging stations, will add another 650 in more than 20 major Indian cities over the next one year, the company’s CEO Praveer Sinha said.