BT-NASSCOM virtual roundtable: How Electra EV built Tata Motors' electric cars

Pune-based Electra EV, known for supplying critical electric vehicle (EV) parts like battery system, traction power, on-board chargers, and control systems, etc. has seen a 10-fold jump in demand this year. The Ratan Tata-backed firm provides powertrain solutions to Tata Motors and other automakers in the country. In fact, last year more than 25 per cent of the e-four-wheelers on Indian roads had an Electra EV powertrain.

At Business Today-NASSCOM virtual roundtable, Samir Yajnik, Executive Director, Electra EV spoke to Business Today about lessons from Tata Motors' first electric car, the Tigor EV and the experience of driving an electric car. As per the company, until August, it was making 100-150 EV kits a month. But now, the production numbers have already ramped up to 1,000 units. Around 2,000 units of Electra EV-powered vehicles have been sold so far.

"Driving an EV is a completely different experience than building one. The connected enterprise already exists in a car today. The amount of software and AI used has grown massively," he said.

Electra EV's first project was the Neo EV which was the electric version of Tata Nano. The project could not attain its fruition because of certain regulatory hurdles. Yajnik also talks about his learnings from that project and adds that today, data is being used to improve battery life and driving experience. "In three years, there were three different versions of the powertrain. We are working to make our components more 'aatmanirbhar'," he said.

The company is looking to invest significantly in terms of battery localisation and assembly. Electra EV is betting heavily on EV adoption in the country. In 2020, the market grew by 20 per cent to 156,000 EVs. Yajnik's expectations are fuelled by people's changing perception towards clean mobility accelerated after the pandemic.

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