India’s first Tata Nano EV

If promoted differently, the Tata Nano may have been a smashing success for Tata Motors, but ultimately it was an unfulfilled ambition. If Tata Motors had conceived of the Tata Nano Electric now, when demand for small electric vehicles is skyrocketing, the idea would have fared well.

While we wait for Tata Motors to release the Nano Electric, which seems like a far-fetched pipe dream at this point, we can’t rule out the prospect of the Tata Nano being converted into an EV using aftermarket components. ‘Zikoo,’ a company based in India, has proposed turning the Tata Nano into an electric vehicle, demonstrating how practical the concept of a small-sized automobile like the Nano electric may be for navigating congested city streets.

This modified Zikoo Tata Nano Electric is detailed in a video uploaded to YouTube by user “DDS.” Zikoo’s co-founders, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Yugant Solanki, took a facelifted version of the Tata Nano Twist and installed an electric motor in place of the gas engine.

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The rear-mounted gasoline engine of the standard Nano has been swapped out with a 3 kW electric motor in this Electric variant. The 5-speed automatic transmission in this prototype has been swapped out for a 5-speed clutch-less manual transmission, making it identical to the transmissions seen in the Hyundai Venue and the Kia Sonet. With this upgrade, the Nano Electric is the world’s first fully electric car to use a conventional manual transmission without a clutch.

Due to the fact that this Tata Nano Electric is still in its early stages of development as a project vehicle, its exposed controller unit is located in the trunk. In the video, the Zikoo team makes it crystal clear that eventually, this controller unit will be moved to a new location beneath the trunk. A 72V charger is included with the vehicle. This Tata Nano Electric’s battery pack is located up front, beneath the hood. This set is comprised of six 12V 28Ah lead-acid batteries wired in series.

The founders have stated that they are exploring the potential of lithium-ion batteries, despite the fact that doing so will significantly increase the price of the process as a whole. In addition, they state that this Tata Nano Electric can reach speeds of up to 80 km/h and has a claimed driving range of 65–70 km. The total price tag for converting this Tata Nano into an electric model comes to about Rs 1 lakh.

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