Many automotive enthusiasts report seeing Harrier EV and Safari EV BIW (Body In White) on flatbed trucks near Pune city
Tata Motors currently dominates the electric car sales in India. Company’s Tiago EV, Tigor EV, Nexon EV and the new Punch EV have been detrimental to establishing Tata’s supremacy in EV space. Now, Tata is on the verge of extending its EV expertise to mid-size SUV space with Safari EV and Harrier EV.
Tata Safari EV – Company’s flagship electric offering
Punch EV is currently Tata’s rockstar in electric car realm and rightfully so. It features Tata’s new Acti.ev dedicated electric car platform with skateboards of existing ICE vehicles and is very potent, as we sampled it at the media drive event.
Both Safari EV and Harrier EV will come equipped with an extended version of this new Acti.ev platform. Both Safari EV and Harrier EV are under testing as suggested by test mule sightings. The recent Tata Safari EV test mule was spotted in Bengaluru, Karnataka. These spy shots only reveal upcoming Tata Safari EV from the side.
On the surface, there are very few changes when compared to the recently launched ICE Safari SUV. All sheet metal looks identical and Tata is not offering flush door handles with Harrier EV and Safari EV. That feature is only reserved with Curvv ICE and Curvv EV. Like ICE Safari’s fuel filler, Safari EV’s charging port is on the right rear fender too.
Wheels are identical to the ones seen on ICE Safari as well. These are 19 inchers and look gangsta with 245-section tyres. Production-spec model might feature aero wheels or at least aero wheel covers to efficiently smoothen air flow for minimum air drag and maximum range on a single charge.
Specs, range and launch
On the inside, we can expect an almost identical cabin and features with a few changes here and there to establish differentiation. Large 12-inch infotainment screen, 10.2-inch instrument cluster, Level-2 ADAS, panoramic sunroof, front and rear ventilated seats, premium touch and feel, ambient lighting, and other features are expected.
Where powertrain is concerned, Tata Safari EV will be positioned on the new Acti.ev platform that is both scalable and modular. It supports single-motor FWD and RWD along with dual motor AWD configurations. Being the company’s flagship, we expect at least one variant to get dual motor AWD layout.
If so, at least one Tata Motors PV will have the drive at the rear wheels. Also, we hope lower variants with a single motor layout get RWD instead of FWD. Battery capacity could be around 60 kWh or more. Launch is likely in 2025 and it will rival upcoming Mahindra XUV.e8 (XUV700 EV).
