Tata Motors to strengthen R&D, enhance expertise in EV battery packs

Home-grown automaker Tata Motors is planning to strengthen its R&D initiatives by hiring fresh staff as well as by upskilling its current employees this fiscal year. The company aims to scale up its capabilities across various business verticals, including the electric vehicle segment. Tata Motors aims to enhance its expertise in the area of battery packs and vehicle architecture as well.

The initiatives are in line with the growth aspirations and business plans of Tata Motors for the next few years, and it is hiring across various verticals such as advanced engineering, product development, supply chain, operations and commercial functions at different levels.

The company will also collaborate with other group entities, including Jaguar Land Rover in order to enhance its capabilities. “So capabilities will not be only... limited to within Tata Motors, but also seeing the opportunities of synergies with JLR as well as other Tata companies, which have a lot of capability in the area of software," Tata Motors President Passenger Vehicle and Electric Vehicles Shailesh Chandra said in an analyst call, PTI reported.

Speaking about the EV vertical in particular, Chandra said that the company has started developing capabilities in the area of battery packs, motor design, and new architectures. He noted that when the company had just started its EV business, it had hired an offline arrangement of fitting EV powertrains which used to lead to capacity issues.

However, now, the company has integrated all its products in its main assembly line. "So literally, we can fully convert the ICE (internal combustion engine) capacity into EV, so internal capacity is not an issue," Chandra stated. He added that Tata Motors is on track as far as capacity is concerned.