Tata Motors, MG Cut Prices On EV Lineups, Bring Them On Par With Petrol And Diesel Variants

Tata Motors and Morris Garages (MG) have slashed prices on their electric cars, bringing their EV lineup on par with petrol and diesel variants.

On February 13, Tata Motors, India’s largest electric car seller, announced significant price cuts for electric versions of the Nexon Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and Tiago mini.

While the Nexon EV has received the most significant price reduction of Rs 1.2 lakh (entry variant priced at Rs 14.5 lakh, ex-showroom), the Tiago will see a price reduction of up to Rs 70,000, with the base model now priced at Rs 8 lakh.

According to The Times of India (TOI), Tata stated that it was passing on “battery price reduction benefits” to customers. “Battery costs constitute a substantial part of the overall cost of an EV,” said the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Tata’s passenger car electric mobility division, Vivek Srivatsa as quoted by TOI.

“With battery cell prices having softened in the recent past and considering their potential reduction in the foreseeable future, we have chosen to proactively pass on the resulting benefits directly to customers,” Srivatsa added.

With this, the annual cost of driving, for example, an electric Nexon for 15,000 km will be Rs 15,000, compared to Rs 96,021 for the model’s diesel variant and Rs 1.2 lakh for petrol. This means that the slightly higher cost of purchasing an EV (compared to a petrol vehicle) can be recovered in just under a year.

The on-road price of petrol Nexon is Rs 14.2 lakh, while the electric Nexon costs Rs 15.1 lakh due to reduced registration costs for green cars. With an on-road price of Rs 15.4 lakh, the diesel variant is already more expensive than the electric variant and is expected to depreciate from day one.

Srivatsa, the CCO of Tata’s passenger car electric mobility division, said that Tata Motors was hoping to accelerate the “mainstream adoption of EVs” with the measure.

MG Motor, on the other hand, reduced the ex-showroom price of its Comet mini electric by Rs 1 lakh, and as a result, the car is now priced at Rs 7 lakh. It had unveiled a brand-new, more affordable entry-level model for the larger ZS green SUV, priced at Rs 19 lakh as opposed to the previous starting price of Rs 22 lakh.