Tata Tiago EV

Best Entry Level EV?

Given the sparse population of EV chargers outside of metropolitan areas, if you want to take an EV to inter-city road trips, you will need one that can deliver a real world range of at least 300 km on a charge. Most mass market EVs can’t achieve a range figure that high. The long-range variants of the Nexon EV and the Mahindra XUV400 — if driven optimally — come close, but they cost upwards of ₹17 lakhs! This means that for most buyers, an EV will not be their primary car, and that poses a question: if the EV in your garage is not going to be your primary vehicle, does it have to be an expensive SUV? 

That is where the Tiago EV comes in. It is a compact electric hatchback which can handle most of your daily needs, be it commute, grocery shopping, dropping kids at school, or visiting relatives who live on the outskirts of the city. It is packed with all the features you will need, and is significantly cheaper than larger EVs. Does that mean that it can be a worthy substitute to EVs even twice its price? Let’s find out. 

Tata Tiago EV Pros and Cons 

Tata Tiago EV Exterior Design

Unlike some newer Tata Motor cars which adopt a rather radical design language, the Tiago lineup has a more natural family hatchback look. The long yet steeply raked bonnet flows into the A-pillar, and the silhouette of the side could be used as a monogram for hatchbacks — it’s that mainstream! The rear also gets a familiar design with C-shaped tail lights and a cladded bumper. 

The Tiago EV gets a few touches that differentiate its design from the ICE Tiago, and most of these details are concentrated at the front. The grille is now closed off and gets a piano black finish, and it is lined on the lower side by a light blue insert, signifying the EV credentials. There’s a ‘.EV’ badge on the grille too. The air-dam lower down is body coloured instead of black, and sports Tata’s signature tri-arrow cutouts. Flanking fog-lamp housings also get blue inserts. Along the sides, the EV gets new aero-wheel covers, but there are no alloy wheels on offer, even on higher trims. Apart from the ‘.EV’ badging next to the Tiago logo, the rear remains unchanged. Overall, the Tiago EV doesn’t look overdesigned, and yet it is handsome.

Tata Tiago EV Interiors 

A similar story continues on the inside, where save for a few highlights, the design is identical to the ICE Tiago. There are blue outlines around AC vents and the instrument cluster, and the gear lever makes way for a rotary drive selector. Apart from that, the interior is near-identical to the ICE counterpart. The dashboard gets an island-like area on the centre which houses the air-con vents, infotainment screen, and a few other quick access buttons, including buttons to adjust regen levels. The dual-tone finish looks premium, and while some surfaces are finished in hard plastic, they don't feel low quality. The seats also get a light beige coloured leatherette upholstery with blue stitching. The overall design is very natural and premium, and feels from a segment above. 

The cabin is good on the practicality front too. There’s plenty of storage spaces all around, including a cooled glovebox. However, the bottle holders in the door pockets aren’t large enough to hold one-litre bottles. The boot space — at 240 litres — is only two litres smaller than the ICE Tiago, despite housing the battery. But that is thanks to the omission of a spare tyre. The Tiago EV instead packs a puncture repair kit, which can suffice until you find a proper puncture shop. And since this car is expected to stay in the urban environment, the lack of a spare wheel is not a big deal-breaker, but the option of having one would have been better. 

Tata Tiago EV Comfort

The Tata Tiago EV is a compact B-segment hatchback, and that is very evident on the inside. The cabin is fairly narrow, and as a result front passengers are seated pretty close to each other. The front seats are wide and offer a good amount of comfort, and the rear seats are also decent when it comes to support. The rear seat is also not wide enough to accommodate three passengers in comfort. Knee and leg room isn’t generous either. Taller passengers will also be left wanting for more headroom at the back. Thankfully, the batteries of the Tiago EV are not under the floorboard, so the floor is not raised like in most other EVs. This allows the rear passengers to have a better seating position.

What is great here though is the ride comfort. The suspension setup hits the sweet spot, balancing highway stability and low speed comfort. The Tiago EV rounds off most bumps and potholes well, and the ground clearance is also good enough to not have you scraping speed breakers. 

Tata Tiago EV Performance and handling

Tata Motors offers the Tiago EV in two different battery and drivetrain configurations. The smaller battery pack is paired to a 60 bhp motor, while the larger battery pack is mated to a 74 bhp motor. Tata has tuned the performance of the Tiago EV to be more linear and natural, since that is what most everyday users will desire. And consequently, the Tiago EV doesn’t deliver brisk acceleration. Instead, the power is built up in a more gradual manner. Both variants also get two drive modes which you can toggle between using the rotary drive selector, but the drive selector itself is slow to respond. This is especially evident when parking or taking 3-pointer u-turns. The sport mode adds a pep to the driving experience of the Tiago EV, but for most urban driving conditions, city mode is more than sufficient. The Tiago EV does a great job of masking the lower torque figure, and it won’t leave you wanting for more, unless you go chasing triple digit speeds on highways. 

The Tiago EV handles city roads pretty well — as you’d expect from a commute focused hatchback — and it stays stable on early triple digit speeds. It is also a happy handler, and can be fun driving in corners. Push it too hard though, and the tyres will start to squeal. Should you get one, upgrading to a stickier set of tyres after wearing out the first set will make your Tiago EV an even more fun to drive car.

Tata Tiago EV Battery, Charging, and Range

The Tata Tiago EV gets two separate battery options. The Long Range (LR) variants get a 24 kWh battery pack, while the Medium Range (MR) variants get a 19.2 kWh on. The former has a claimed range of 315 km on a single charge, which should translate to a real world figure of around 200-220 km. The MR on the other hand has a claimed range of 250 km, and that should give you around 150 km of range on a single charge. Taking into account that most Tiago EV buyers will use it within the city, both figures are decent. We would recommend the LR variants though, as not only does it offer a longer range, but it also gets a more powerful motor.

Both variants also support DC fast charging, and a 10–80% top up will take less than an hour. A home wall box charger or a portable charger will take close to 7 hours for the MR and 8.7 hours for the LR to charge from 10–100%. Tata Motors is also offering a faster 7.2 kW AC charger at additional cost, which drops the charging times for the MR to 2.6 hours, and LR to 3.6 hours.

Tata Tiago EV Key specifications 

Tata Tiago EV Safety Features

While there is no crash test rating for the Tiago EV, the ICE Tata Tiago scored a 4-star GNCAP crash test rating for adult occupant protection and a 3-star rating for child occupant protection. Since the Tiago EV has the same underpinnings, you can expect similar results from it. The Tiago EV is equipped with all the safety features that you’d come to expect from a car from its segment, like dual airbags, ABS, EBD, corner stability control, brake assist, battery cut-off and auto-door unlock on impact, front seat belt pretensioners and load limiters, rear parking camera with sensors and dynamic guidelines, and a tyre pressure monitoring system. 

Tata Tiago EV Technology and Infotainment

The Tata Tiago EV is fairly equipped for a car of its size. It gets a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and the system is paired with an immersive 8-speaker Harman sound system that delivers segment-leading audio quality. Behind the steering wheel is a small digital instrument cluster which displays most of the basic information, including the tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) readouts, trip computers, speed readouts, and more. The layout is a bit confusing at first — thanks to the compact size of the display — but you will get used to it in a short while. The Tiago EV is also equipped with a cooled glovebox, and a USB charging port.

Is the Tata Tiago EV for you?

The Tiago EV does exactly what most people need a secondary vehicle to do. It is compact, feature rich, has low running costs, and the comfortable ride and peppy motor make for a great commuter. Considering what it offers, it is priced well too. It can be a worthy replacement not just for ICE powered hatchbacks, but also other larger and costlier EVs, especially if you already have a larger or ICE vehicle in your garage. All of these factors make the Tiago EV an easily recommendable and value for money hatch.