The new Acti.ev dedicated electric car platform debuts with Tata Punch EV and will be used with future Tata electric cars
India is no stranger to Tata Motors. The company has been a staple automaker in India catering to a wide variety of customers ranging from PVs to CVs. But the company’s latest launch is one that is poised to be a trendsetter, a benchmark for vehicles to follow under the Rs. 15 lakh mark. Say Namaste to Punch.ev that is Tata Motors’ most ambitious launch in the recent past.
Tata Punch EV – Perfect “Urban Vehicle”?
Among the many first-ever titles within India and the world, Tata Motors has added a new title to its name as it launched India’s first dedicated EV platform in the form of Acti.ev, debuting with Punch.ev. Tata Punch EV has been priced between Rs. 10.99 lakh and Rs. 14.49 lakh (ex-sh) and these are killer prices considering everything Punch EV packs.
Tata Motors product team explained how the company threw stereotypes of segment-wise features out of the window and aimed to nail a perfect Urban runabout vehicle. In that regard, we can see a lot of components that Punch EV (marketed as Punch.ev) shares with much pricier and premium siblings like Nexon, Harrier and Safari. Even design language is shared with these pricier siblings to establish a family DNA that is distinctly and impactfully, a Tata.
Exterior design changes
Fascia is all new and gets sleek connected LED DRLs with sequential LED turn indicators. The center LED light bar incorporates welcome and goodbye animations along with battery charging status when plugged in. Headlights are LEDs housed in projectors, accompanied by LED projector fog lights with a cornering function.
Front charging port Is a first for Tata and is possible due to the Acti.ev dedicated electric platform. This unlocks charging convenience, something that can’t be said about Nexon.ev with a charging socket at rear left quarter panel. The charging cap opens electrically too, which is a nice touch. Closed-off grill and air vents in lower bumper to cool brake rotors are other notable elements.
Side and rear are identical to regular Tata Punch with an IC engine, except for the new 16-inch alloy wheels with Punch EV. These wheels are wrapped with low rolling resistance tyres from Apollo. Tata is providing all four disc brakes with Punch EV due to added performance from its electric powertrain.
New-age interiors
Futuristic and prominent exteriors are perfectly complemented by the interiors with cutting-edge gadgetry that is shared with more premium Tata products. Dashboard layout is identical to its ICE counterpart along with door panels. But the overall ambience has lifted several notches with all the new elements that Punch EV now gets.
We’re talking about a fluidly fast and crisp 10.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a 10.2-inch instrument screen that grabs all the attention. New leather-wrapped steering wheel is shared with Nexon facelift and gets illuminated Tata logo. Centre console is all new too and features a new touch and toggle style climate control panel. Further down, we get a rotary gear selector with an integrated circular display. This is where you find the Sports and Eco driving mode buttons along with an electronic parking brake with auto hold button.
New infotainment screen supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay along with 360° camera feed and Arcade.ev app suite. It currently offers a few OTT and video streaming services to watch when the car is standing still or moving at a tortoise pace. For safety reasons, of course. Tata promises that this is an evolving platform that will host more functionalities with OTA updates. Punch EV offers Jio Saavn audio streaming too, with a 1 year subscription. The Harman-branded music system could have offered more bass with a dedicated subwoofer.
The new instrument screen is not only a digital TFT unit, it is fully configurable too. Offering functionalities that cars of rival brands from two segments above, don’t offer. It shows all the vehicular data including range, speed, drive modes, regen modes, TPMS data, trip data, blind spot assist and many more. The most impressive functionality has to be full-screen navigation on instrument cluster for a driver-friendly approach.
Other notable features on the inside include good quality leatherette upholstery with front ventilated seats. Despite the fact that all equipment and features on Punch EV are designed to pamper front seat occupants, Acti.ev dedicated electric platform has unlocked more room for rear passengers. Kudos to Tata Motors for offering a sunroof as an optional extra for additional Rs. 50K, something that other manufacturers should probably take note of.
Powertrain, specs and dynamics
Tata’s new Acti.ev platform on Punch EV is offered in two versions – Standard Punch EV and Punch EV LR (Long Range). Standard Punch EV gets a 25 kWh battery pack powering an 80.5 bhp and 114 Nm electric motor and claims 13.5 seconds to 100 km/h and 315 km range on a single charge. LR model packs a larger 35 kWh battery pack powering a 120.7 bhp and 190 Nm electric motor and claims 9.5 seconds 0-100 km/h, 140 km/h top speed and 421 km range on a single charge.
Car reviews these days are all about the features and gadgetry with very little mention of car’s actual dynamics. Since Tata Punch EV is debuting the new Acti.ev dedicated electric car platform, I would like to talk more about car’s dynamics.
Tata had arranged for a small off-road and handling course to demonstrate dynamic capabilities of Punch EV. Where Tata had arranged for multiple off-road scenarios including rock beds, step climbs, hill descent, water wading, inclined driving, dug potholes and more.
Punch EV has an approach angle of 19°, departure angle of 28° and ramp over angle of 15.1° along with an unladen ground clearance of 190 mm. All of this ensured Punch EV cleared all these off-road obstacles with flying colours. The 360° camera feed on a large infotainment screen helps a lot in tackling tough terrains and urban jungles alike. What impressed me more than off-road behaviour was on-road behaviour. Looking at Punch’s tall-boy design, one wouldn’t usually associate it with good dynamics. But Punch EV with Tata’s new Acti.ev platform will surprise you, for sure.
It is not just that electric cars have heavy batteries on the floor taking centre of gravity lower. The Acti.ev dedicated electric platform is designed and developed to be significantly stiffer than non-dedicated platforms shared with ICE counterparts. Tata’s product team personnel who accompanied me on this dynamic testing, asked me to trust the car and push it as hard as I could around corners. And to my surprise, Punch EV donning Tata’s new Acti.ev platform handled exceptionally well for the price bracket. You can carry a lot of speed into a corner and Punch EV delivers with a surprising amount of composure.
Added performance and dynamics need extra stopping power and this is where rear disc brakes come into the limelight. If Tata Motors offered a RWD version of this car with a manual handbrake and called it Punch EV Racer, it would make for a tempting hot hatch proposition too. Steering wheel gets paddle shifters to cycle between the three regen modes. L3 offers the strongest regen, but it doesn’t stop the car completely. One pedal driving is under consideration, as revealed by Tata’s product team. We couldn’t draw opinions on range with this brief media event, though.
Safety and other attributes
Tata is offering 6 airbags as standard fitment with Punch EV and the car now gets 3-point seatbelts for all occupants. Other safety attributes include all four disc brakes, TPMS, ESP and the likes. Where crash safety is concerned, Tata Punch EV doesn’t share the same 5 star crash rating as ICE Punch as it is an all new platform. Given that it is a Tata product, we expect nothing less than stellar crash performance by Punch EV.
There is very little to fault with Tata Punch EV. Whatever tiny little niggles we could find are easily forgivable considering Punch EV’s aggressive pricing. However, I would have liked it if the car’s rotary gear selector dial didn’t move when the car’s gearbox hadn’t shifted due to partial brake application at user/driver’s end. Traditional gear selector stalks for automatic vehicles don’t physically move when gearbox hasn’t shifted.
A similar thing happened to me during the brief media drives where I slotted to D, from R with partial brake application. Gear selector dial rotated, but the gearbox didn’t shift to D because of the partial brake applied at my end. I thought the car would move forward. However, it moved backwards. This is not exactly the car’s fault and prospective buyers will get used to it in a day or two and then it feels like second nature.
Conclusion
Many of you must have witnessed a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. With Punch EV, Tata Motors is doing the impossible by pulling a hat out of a rabbit by offering a surprisingly well-packaged product at a jaw-dropping price point. If you’re buying any car across any segment within Rs. 15 lakh price bracket, we would highly recommend Tata Punch EV over most of the other offerings. It’s that good of a package.
