Tata Motors wins order to deliver fleet of 10,000 EVs to BluSmart Electric

Tata Xpres-T | Tata Motors launched Xpres-T electric car in India, starting at Rs 9.54 lakh (ex-showroom, India). The Xpres-T offer two battery pack options, 16.5kWh with 165 km claimed range and 21.5kWh with 213 km claimed range. The new Tata Xpres-T electric sedan with 16.5 kWh can be charged from 0-80 percent in 90 minutes and 21.5 kWh pack can be charged in 110 minutes, if connected to a fast charger. (Image: Twitter @Tatamotorsev)

Tata Motors has signed an agreement with BluSmart Electric Mobility to deliver 10,000 XPRES-T electric vehicles to the company, it said on June 6. The company claims the deal, which was signed on World Environment Day, is the biggest ever EV fleet order in the country.

The deliveries are expected to begin soon. Notably, order for these 10,000 units are in addition to the order for 3,500 XPRES-T EVs signed by both companies in October 2021, the statement added.

“We are delighted to continue our association with BluSmart Electric as we deploy 10,000 XPRES-T EVs across the country. Tata Motors is constantly working towards educating and enhancing the adoption of electric mobility in India and we hope that more people join us in this journey as we mobilize the nation to #EvolveToElectric,” said Shailesh Chandra, MD for Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility.

Anmol Singh Jaggi, Co-Founder of BluSmart Electric Mobility said that the company is “supercharged” to expand across Delhi-NCR and other metros, thanks to its $50-million Series A fundraise.

“We are thankful to Tata Motors for charging up our journey to scale up at a fast pace. We are building a large-scale integrated EV mobility ecosystem in India – from the country’s largest fully-electric ride-hailing service to the largest network of EV charging super hubs,” Jaggi added.

Tata Motors launched the XPRES electric sedan in July 2021 as an exclusive for fleet customers. The vehicle comes with two range options — 213 km and 165 km (ARAI-certified under test conditions); and two battery options — 21.5 kWh and 16.5 kWh, which can be fully charged from 0 to 80 percent in 90 minutes and 110 minutes respectively, using fast chargers or any 15 A plug point, as per the statement.

Further, the vehicle comes with zero tail-pipe emission, single speed automatic transmission, dual airbags, ABS with EBD as standard across variants.

Tata Motors commanded an 87 percent share of the Indian e-mobility space in FY22, the company said. It has more than 25,000 EVs on road till date.

Tata Motors had in March said it is planning to invest Rs 15,000 crore in the EV segment in the next five years. The company, which is a leader in the newly emerging EV segment with offerings such as Nexon, is also planning to develop around 10 more new offerings in the segment, according to Chandra.

"As far as future is concerned, in next five (years) we will invest Rs 15,000 crore in electrification. We are going to work on nearly 10 products with different kind of body styles, price, driving range options,” Chandra said.

Earlier in April, Tata Motors also said it is looking to ramp up the production of EVs as demand continues to outpace the manufacturing activity by a huge margin. The Mumbai-based automaker, which led the passenger EV space in the domestic market in last fiscal year, has been receiving an average of 5,500-6,000 bookings in the past two months for its EV range.

The company sells three electric products — Nexon EV, Tigor EV and XPRES-T — in the domestic market. It has also recently unveiled a coupe style SUV which it plans to launch in the next two years.