| Press
Room |
The
Tata Nano is no longer the world's cheapest car! Jostling
along with Tata Nano, this July, will be Tara Tiny and Tara
Titu. These are zero emission, electric cars and cost only
Rs 99,000! And they come from the Tara International stable.
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Tara S Ganguly, the
company's chairman and chief executive officer, had a big
dream. And he set about realising it 'in a small way.' Tara
International has teamed up with China's Aucma, a leading
player in the electrical vehicles and appliances segment,
to manufacture these cars. |
At
the moment, four variants of electric cars are ready at the
Tara International factory at Palta, a few kilometers from
Kolkata. These are Tara Tiny, Tara Titu (two-seater and four-seater,
respectively), Tara Shuttle, and Tara Carrier. While Tara
Tiny and Tara Titu are priced at Rs 99,000 (approximately),
Tara Shuttle and Tara Carrier are priced at Rs 500,000 (approximately).
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The
company will also launch electric bikes priced between Rs
12,000 and Rs 35,000.
The Tara series cars are available in electric red, black
and white. Bikes comes in varied hues -- green, blue, red,
etc. To know about the specifications of the car and see more
pictures of the world's 'cheapest' car. |
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| Conversation
with Rediff Mail |
| March
17, 2008 |
Each
of the cars can be recharged daily at 220 volts through 15
amp sockets, whereas the bikes can be recharged through 5
amp sockets. |
A
daily 6-hour charge enables bikes to travel 80 to 100 km,
whereas the cars (all variants) need 8 hours of charging to
cover the same distance |
Some
of the cars that are available at the moment at the company's
factory are left-hand drives as "they are meant for the
markets in the United States and China," informed Ganguly.
"Those meant for the Indian market are being reassembled
at our workshops." |
Apart
from West Bengal, the company's other production centres are
located in Pondicherry and Lucknow. |
March
17, 2008 |
Speaking
to rediff.com, Ganguly played down the competition-with-Nano
line. He categorically stated that neither he nor his cars
have any intention of taking on the Tata Nano. "Nano
is a Rs 1-lakh car. In its case, it is the cost that is the
centre of attraction." |
"But
the cars that I have conceptualised are 'green' cars. Therefore,
the question of comparing these (environment-friendly cars)
with the Nano doesn't arise at all," he said. |
When
asked why had he planned to launch electric vehicles, Ganguly
replied, "Electric cars perform certain jobs much better
than any other alternative -– gasohol (a fuel mixture
of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline), biodiesel, compressed natural
gas and liquid petroleum gas." |
"One,
they are simple, because the number of moving parts are fewer
in number -– just 35, compared to over 2,500 for gasoline-powered
vehicles. Fewer parts mean less maintenance and simpler service.
Also, electric cars do not need oil, filters and coolants."
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Do
battery operated cars have any disadvantage? "The only
disadvantage lies in their speed. These cars cannot run faster
than 50 kms an hour. But then that is supposed to be the sane
speed for confined and populated areas," he justified.
|
March
17, 2008 |
Tara
International has teamed up with China's Aucma, a leading
player in the electrical vehicles and appliances segment,
to manufacture these cars. |
The
company has introduced 'distributed manufacturing on contract
system,' informed the company vice president Biswajit Das,
while speaking to rediff.com. |
"It
means, the company is training a group of units at various
parts of India to assemble the car and bike parts, repair
and maintain them. The company plans to set up 50 such units
across the country, out of which five are ready as of now."
|
March
17, 2008 |
Till
date, the company has received an order of 100 Tara series
cars from a London-based company.
Ganguly is extremely optimistic about the future of this car
as he feels, "In this age of global warming and increased
pollution, our future lies in green cars. I am extremely confident
that these cars will be runaway hits in the international
market." |
March
17, 2008 |
Having
obtained a management degree from Columbia University, Ganguly's
mission has always been fighting pollution. He specialised
in renewable energy. |
"Way
back in 1994, I thought of zero-fuel car but could not launch
one as the economics did not back me up then," he said.
Crude oil was $10 per barrel then. But now that it has crossed
$100 per barrel," said Ganguly. |
"Now,
people are driving fuel cars at an average of Rs 6 per km.
One can drive our cars at 40 paise per km." |
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