Tata Motors on Monday kicked off customer deliveries of the electric version of its mini truck 'Ace' with price starting at Rs 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom).
Initially, the company will commercially introduce the electric mini truck in ten cities, starting with Delhi, Pune and Mumbai followed by Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai, Tata Motors Executive Director Girish Wagh told reporters here.
The first fleet of 25 vehicles of the Ace EV was delivered to e-commerce, FMCG and courier companies, and their logistics service providers, including Amazon, Delhivery, DHL (Express & Supply Chain), FedEx, Flipkart, Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, MoEVing, Safexpress and Trent Ltd. The homegrown auto major had unveiled the Ace EV in May last year and signed pacts with leading e-commerce players such as Amazon, BigBasket, City Link, DOT, Flipkart, LetsTransport, MoEVing and Yelo EV, to supply the vehicle with orders for 39,000 units at the time of unveiling.
Asked about the current order size, he said the number has increased without disclosing details, with good interest coming from FMCG firms, parcel and courier companies. Wagh said Tata Motors is trying to fulfill the orders at the earliest but due to supply chain issues, specially the recent Covid-19 outbreak in some countries, its production has been hampered a bit but the company has enough capacity available at its manufacturing plant at Pant Nagar.
He said Tata Motors has spent time since unveiling the product last year to fine tune it and prove its performance across applications, and also comply with the new regulation on battery standards. "The introduction of the Ace EVs on Indian roads marks a big step forward in the journey towards zero-emission cargo mobility," Wagh said. Further, he said, "The holistic solution co-created with our partners effectively caters to a variety of intra-city distribution needs and delivers a superior value proposition to all stakeholders." Tata Motors said the Ace EV is the first product featuring its 'EVOGEN' powertrain that offers a certified range of 154 kilometres on single charge.
It is powered by a 27kW (36hp) motor with 130Nm of peak torque.
It comes with a standard complimentary five-year annual maintenance contract. Tata Motors had launched its mini truck Ace with conventional engine in 2005 targetting last mile delivery segment and has sold over 20 lakh units in total.
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