Tata Motors debuted the Altroz EV at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, where it was slated to be one of its first EV launches, and again at the 2020 Auto Expo in close-to-production form. The Tata Altroz EV will be released in India in 2025, around five years after the concept was initially shown to a worldwide audience.
Tata Motors was having significant hurdles in the development of the Altroz EV, which was scheduled to be introduced following the Nexon EV. The Altroz EV’s stumbling block was the battery pack’s packing under the floor, which decreased ground clearance by around 20mm to 145mm. Raising the Altroz to compensate for the loss of clearance was not an option because it would entirely change the posture of the hatch and make it appear like a crossover.
For a long while, there was no news of the Altroz EV and Tata Motors introduced the Tiago EV in September 2022 and Punch EV on January 17, 2024 instead. Speaking on the sidelines of the Tata Punch EV launch, Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Motors’ Passenger Vehicles Business and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, confirmed that the Altroz EV is in the pipeline and will arrive next year. When asked about the five upcoming models based on the Acti.EV architecture, he said, “Punch is the first one, Curvv will come next. Harrier will also come by the end of this calendar year. Then we would have Sierra and Altroz coming in 2025.” It seems like Tata Motors has now successfully sorted out the battery packaging issue.
Considering the Altroz EV would be based on the same platform and architecture as the Punch EV, we could see similar-sized battery packs on offer (25kWh-35kWh), with similar ARAI-rated ranges (315-421km). In addition, the outputs of the Altroz EV’s motor should also be similar to the Punch EV’s 82-122hp. Like their ICE counterparts, there will be a certain overlap in terms of price between the Altroz and Punch EVs (Rs10.99 lakh-15.49 lakh, ex-showroom, India), but their respective target customers should be different enough to ensure minimal cannibalisation of sales.