The success of Tata Motors’ electric vehicles (EVs) has doubtless contributed to the image of it being a tech-first brand, and the key figure behind Tata’s rapidly evolving EV portfolio is Anand Kulkarni, who has been crowned the Tech Maestro of the Year at the car&bike Awards 2024. Kulkarni, who is Chief Product Officer and Head – HV Programs at Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (TPEML), has been intrinsic to Tata’s impressive turnaround in the passenger vehicle space, and in 2024, played a key role in further solidifying Tata’s position as the market leader when it comes to EVs.
Also Read: Tata Motors To Roll Out 5 EVs Based On Dedicated 400V ‘Acti.ev’ Platform By 2025
It was at the start of 2023 that Tata began the rollout of its most affordable EV yet, the Tiago EV, which, while still utilising the platform of the combustion engine model, offered adequate interior and boot space, along with a usable real-world range, all at a reasonably affordable price. Kulkarni and his team brought the Tiago EV to life at a time when practically no other carmaker in India is even close to producing a five-door, all-electric hatchback that starts at under Rs 10 lakh. The Tiago was instrumental in pushing Tata well over the 1 lakh EV sales milestone, the importance of which cannot be downplayed.
More importantly, Kulkarni, along with the company top brass, made two key decisions that promise to smoothen – and fast-track – Tata’s future EV strategy. The first of these was to utilise group company JLR’s (formerly Jaguar Land Rover) Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA) for its upcoming ‘Avinya’ series of EVs. The idea with Avinya is to provide an experience that no Tata has ever offered, and to use a purpose-built platform designed by luxury-focused JLR promises to be a step in the right direction.
The second decision was to incorporate all mass-market Tata EVs on a single, flexible, dedicated EV architecture, dubbed ‘acti.ev’. Finishing touches to the architecture, and the first model to be built on it, the Punch EV, were applied last year, and the Punch EV is now on sale, and is on track to become Tata’s best-selling EV. The acti.ev platform, being a born-electric platform, brings improvements in weight saving, packaging and space efficiency.
