Tata Electric Cars May Get Tesla-Like Autonomous Driving Feature

Tata Motors could offer self-driving autonomous technology on future EVs based on the Avinya concept underpinned by a new Born Electric platform

Tata Motors has been on a roll as far as electric mobility is concerned. The homegrown carmaker has laid down its grand vision for the electric vehicle (EV) space for India and overseas markets as well. The carmaker’s electrification strategy will be headed by the Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM) division which is responsible for all EV-related developments.

In this regard, the company has recently unveiled pre-production concepts Curvv and Avinya which are going to form the base of upcoming Gen 2 and Gen 3 EVs from the brand respectively. The Avinya concept is based on a new ‘Born Electric’ skateboard platform purely dedicated to future EVs.

Autonomous Driving in future EVs

It has also come to light that Tata Motors is envisioning autonomous driving technology for models based on the Avinya Concept. Anand Kulkarni, VP- Product Line and Operations, TPEM, revealed that Tata Motors is looking into this aspect. The architecture is fully capable of incorporating Level 3 or even higher levels of autonomous technology.

He further added that fully autonomous driving is also possible for this platform but there needs to be enough demand in global markets. Currently, there are a few car manufacturers who offer higher levels of autonomous driving features. One of them is Tesla, who also has plans of launching their electric cars in India.

Avinya Concept Based On Full EV platform

The Avinya Concept measures 4.3 metres and the platform can accommodate cars between lengths 4.1 metres to 4.5 metres. This architecture is versatile in adopting a wide range of body styles as well as drivetrains. Models based on this platform can be front-wheel driven, rear-wheel driven or all-wheel driven. According to Kulkarni, it is important that this architecture meets all safety regulations for autonomous driving. This platform will be laced with modern connectivity features that will play a crucial role in autonomous tech.

He further highlighted that there is nothing common between this Born Electric platform and internal combustion engine (ICE) platform. In his words, it is a pure ground-up EV only platform and cannot ever take an IC engine. This skateboard architecture has been created by moving the wheels to the farthest points and creating a space in the middle to fit in the battery pack.

Expected Range, Battery Swapping tech & more

Tata Motors is working on its elaborate plans that include launching ten new electric cars by 2026. The company isn’t working on a battery swapping technology in this segment as of now, however, this platform offers a provision of such a setup to be added later. Large EVs based on the Avinya concept are likely to have a claimed range of 500km on a single charge that should translate to a real-world range of around 370km.

It also came to light that Tata Motors isn’t looking to dive into hybrid powertrains and will instead work to provide a ladder to customers for EVs with a specific range and features built into them according to market demand. The first product based on this new Born Electric platform is expected to be a large SUV which is likely to be an electric equivalent of Safari or Harrier.