Tata Motors Ltd. on Wednesday introduced the Curvv.ev, a sport utility vehicle (SUV) coupe starting at an ex-showroom price of ₹17.49 lakh. The top-end variant is priced at ₹21.99 lakh (ex-showroom). The company also showcased the Tata Curvv, which will be introduced in September with petrol and diesel engines. 

The EV provides a long driving range of 585 km on a single charge for the 55kWh battery pack and 502 km for the 45kWh one, the company said.

“It is a watershed moment for us, especially in the EV space, because we always had the ambition to deliver a 400-km plus car [in one charge] at the price of an internal combustion engine [car],” Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. said in an interview.

He said given that 85% of inter-city drive in India was less than 400 km, most of the customers would now start feeling comfortable to go for longer drives and not use the EV as a just city car.

“So, for me this is a big inflexion point in our [EV] journey. Let us see how the whole market reacts to it by the vehicle has overcome some of the residual barriers [for EV adoption],” he said.

Curvv.ev is the second product on Tata Passenger Electric Mobility’s (TPEM) advanced Pure EV architecture – acti.ev, after the Punch EV. Loaded with advanced features, this EV had achieved price parity with its mid-size SUV ICE counterparts in the industry, the company said.

TPEM also introduced the Tata.ev Charge Point aggregator to help EV users to find a charging point while on the go.  “Today marks an important milestone in our SUV journey with our foray into the fast-growing mid-SUV segment. We are very proud to launch our most innovative SUV yet with a new typology – India’s very first SUV coupe,” Mr. Chandra said.

“With the Curvv, we are pushing further the boundaries of design, safety and technology. The Curvv also takes forward our established strategy of offering choice to discerning customers with its multiple powertrain offerings in EV, petrol and diesel,” he added. “We are boldly bringing price parity between EVs and equivalent ICE vehicles. The extended range and attractive pricing of this product extraordinaire makes EVs an even more compelling proposition by breaking several perception barriers,” he added.