Tata Motors looking to increase EV production as demand spikes

Tata Motors is planning to ramp up production of electric vehicles as demand for its battery-powered models continues to outpace the manufacturing activity by a huge margin, a top company official told PTI. The home-grown automaker has been receiving an average of 5,500-6,000 bookings in the past two months for its EV range.

The huge demand for battery-powered models has led to a backlog of customer orders. "We are seeing that the demand is significantly outpacing the supply. The numbers are just the ones which we are able to supply, the demand is definitely much stronger which is reflected in the number of bookings with us," Tata Motors Managing Director Passenger Vehicle and Electric Vehicles, Shailesh Chandra told PTI.

Tata Motors could supply around 3,300-3,400 units of EVs last month, thus adding a huge number to the backlog. Thus, the automaker is trying to ramp up the capacities by increasing the sourcing of semiconductors. For this purpose, the company had initiated various steps such as design modifications and sourcing from multiple vendors to increase the availability of essential semiconductors.

Chandra also noted that demand for electric vehicles can be significantly higher than 30 per cent level because by 2030 as "when the inflection point is hit, the growth is absolutely uncontrollable". He added that the main factors which will limit the growth will be the pace of supply ramp-up and capacity and ecosystem development.

He added that despite various ramp-ups over time, the company is not able to meet the demand. “So the demand will definitely, we believe, go beyond this 30 per cent mark," he said.

At present, Tata Motors sells three models in its electric portfolio - Nexon EV, Tigor EV and XPRES-T. The company also recently unveiled a new coupe style concept electric SUV, called Curvv, which it plans to launch in the next two years.