Tata Tiago EV

The Tata Tiago EV is not just the smallest car in Tata’s lineup, but also the most affordable one. It has been given a facelift, which has been launched at Rs 6.99 lakh. This update comes with reduced prices throughout the lineup, making the Tiago EV the most affordable electric car in India. Even the prices of the top-spec variants have been reduced, despite the car now offering a better interior experience with more features, and even faster charging capabilities.

With no direct rival as such, the Tata Tiago EV sits in a space of its own, and it is a great option for someone who wants a small car with low running costs at the lowest possible purchase price. But are there any compromises due to its small size that could nudge you to look for something bigger and more expensive? I drove the car in Bangalore for a full day, including mixed city and highway driving, so let's find out what it really offers.

The pre-facelift Tata Tiago EV was a simple little hatchback, but had started to show its age from some angles. The updates made to the exterior of the facelifted model bring much needed changes and make the design look more fancy than before. Before we take a look at the changes, you can read just how much the new Tiago EV has evolved over the outgoing model.

The design seems to be inspired by the new Punch EV with a full body coloured treatment. It might look a bit weird to people, given that they expect the bumper to be finished in a different shade, and you will definitely miss some contrast here.

There are vertical openings in the lower part of the face for cooling purposes, along with some closed slats towards the side. Those slats also have a dummy housing for the fog lights, which Tata only offers as an accessory with the Tiago EV, despite being offered on the petrol version. The next big change is to the LED headlights, which have been updated for a sleeker look. The LED DRL’s placement gives it an eyebrow-like effect, and instead of the piano black panel, you now get a body coloured panel between the two headlights. 

In profile, changes are simple. To add some contrast, it gets slim gloss black cladding around the wheel arches, C-pillar, ORVMs.

The front doors have the new "Tata.ev" logo as well.

Apart from that, the 14-inch wheels and silhouette have been carried forward from the older car.

Tata has made big changes to the rear of the 2026 Tiago EV, and this is probably the only place where the outgoing model has started to show its age the most. The design now looks a lot more modern with a connected LED tail light, however, the middle panel isn’t actually illuminated.

The tail light itself gets multiple individual LEDs and Tata has also redesigned the boot lid a bit.

The ‘Tiago.EV’ wordmark sits right in the middle.

Unlike the front, the bumper is clearly differentiated from the body with a trapezium outline. The reversing lights have been placed in the centre of the bumper, which might not be easy to spot for the driver if the car behind is too close.

The 2026 Tata Tiago EV is available in 6 colour options with some rather interesting names: Daytona Grey, Pure Grey, Pristine White, Dehradun Dew, Sobo Surge, and Pangong Pulse. The Dehradun Dew and Sobo Surge pastel colours really stand out from the lot. Check out which colour is available in which variant here.

For a detailed breakdown of the new Tiago EV’s design, read this story.

If you think Tata has done a lot to the exterior of the 2026 Tiago EV, you’ll be even more surprised to see the changes inside. Gone is the old-school dashboard design, replaced by a sleek and minimalistic layout

It features a dual-tone theme with black and a contrasting blue fabric on the top half of the dashboard. Both the digital screens are now floating, and not part of a binnacle, and even the two-spoke steering wheel gets a never-seen-before Tata EV logo with an offset position towards the right. 

However, the wordmark on the steering wheel isn’t the only thing offset, as the driver’s display also feels a bit crooked due to the sloping design of the dashboard. If you’re one with OCD, it might be triggered due to the angle of the instrument cluster.

Tata has also redesigned the AC control panel which uses piano black elements for the lower half, but thankfully, still gets physical buttons and knobs so functionality hasn’t taken a hit.

Small changes like the new power window switches also help the Tiago EV feel more premium.

In terms of quality of materials, the fabric on the dashboard feels nice to touch, but will get dirty very soon. The plastics, both on the top and bottom, feel really smooth. 

Overall, the changes to the design and material finishes of the Tiago EV’s cabin make it feel special, however, fit and finish inconsistencies that we’ve seen with other Tata cars persist. Our test model had fabric coming out of the door armrest, huge panel gaps in places and sharp edges on some plastics; all of which take away the work that Tata has done to make this cabin a better place.

It is high time that Tata works on the final finish of its products, because inconsistencies like this are not acceptable, and take away from all the hard work they’ve done to make the cabin feel premium.

Front Seats

The front seats of the Tiago EV are comfortable. They have well contoured side supports and balanced cushioning, which won’t give you a reason to complain about. I appreciate the slightly bumped up edge of the seat which helps improve under thigh support, while the front armrest ensures further comfort on long journeys.

There’s manual height adjustment, meaning tall drivers won’t have an issue with headroom, and if you wear a headgear like a turban, you shouldn’t have an issue as long as you’re not over 5’8. 

I did miss telescopic adjustment in the steering wheel though, as I prefer to sit in a slightly further away position, but it should be manageable for most people. I also found the steering wheel to be a tad bigger than a car this size should have, but it is still easy to use and maneuver in the city.

Rear Seats

For a small car, the Tiago’s rear seats are spacious and comfortable enough. A taller than average person can sit behind their own driving position, and the only place where they might want some more room is the head space. 

In terms of comfort, the underthigh support is good and the cushioning is comfortable. Tata has now added rear AC vents to offer some direct cooling and relief in our critically hot summers, and the only thing really missing now are adjustable headrests.

Because without them, even for someone with a height of 5’8, they feel inadequate, and for you to rest your head on them, you will have to slide down into the seats. 

It is a small car after all so you can’t seat three adults abreast, but two adults and a kid for short city runabouts is manageable. 

Storage and Practicality

The Tata Tiago EV has enough storage and practicality to accommodate items of four adults on a roadtrip. All four doors get 1-litre bottle holders with some additional space for slim items like a cloth.

The central console has two small cupholders; they won’t accommodate a 1-litre bottle, only a takeaway cup from your favourite coffee shop.

There are two pads to keep your phone, a small cooled glovebox that will fit two 1-litre bottles with ease and a small cubby underneath the front armrest. 

The rear passengers get two back pockets in each seat. There is no central armrest in the 2026 Tiago EV, so no cupholders either.

Charging Options

The 2026 Tata Tiago has no wireless phone chargers and neither does it get a USB Type-C fast charging ports for the rear passengers – both of which are present in the top-spec petrol Tiago. However, it does get a 12V socket in the front armrest, along with a USB and Type-C charging port at the front.

Boot Space

At 240-litres, the boot space of the 2026 Tiago EV facelift can either accommodate a medium-sized trolley along with a couple of duffle bags, or you’ll have to play some tetris to accommodate two cabin sized trolleys. The batteries down below eat up into the height of the boot, and the area isn’t too deep either. 

If you don’t have rear passengers, but do have extra luggage, you can fold the seats down. But they don’t fold flat and there will be a big hump in the middle, which will make it difficult to push larger bags inside.

There is no spare wheel in the Tiago EV either, just a puncture repair kit.

Even before this update, The Tata Tiago EV already had a healthy functional feature list with equipment like passive keyless entry, start/stop button, automatic headlamps, automatic wipers, automatic climate control, cruise control and powered outside mirrors.

Even the infotainment kit was up to date with a 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which has been carried over without any changes. It’s still easy to use, has a crisp display and phone-like response times.

What’s new is the 5-inch digital driver’s display. It still is a basic unit which doesn’t get any different layouts or fancy animations, but it relays information clearly. But on a bright sunny day, it does pick up a lot of glare, so the brightness could’ve been better. In the lower variants without the infotainment, this screen can be used to connect bluetooth and operate your media.

The top-spec Tiago EV continues to get a 4-speaker sound system, which is sufficient for most people. But if you're an audiophile, you’ll be sad to know that Tata used to offer a banging 8-speaker sound system in the Tiago EV once upon a time.

Another new addition is the 360-degree camera. As is the case with all Tata surround view cameras, the quality here is really good, it offers multiple angles to view from and makes life much easier for new drivers trying to maneuver the car in tight parking spaces or traffic.

It also gets a blind spot monitor, but it takes up the entire screen whenever activated, rendering your navigation useless. If you don’t know the route you’re travelling on, it is better to switch this feature off. 

While the Tiago EV gets everything you need, it does pinch a bit knowing that the petrol version gets extra features like wireless phone charging, fast type-C charging ports for the rear passengers and fog lights despite costing less.

While Tata has introduced 6 airbags as standard now alongside other existing features like ABS with EBD, tyre pressure warning system, ISOFIX mounts and three point seat belts, critical features like electronic stability control with traction control and rear defogger and rear wiper are limited to the top-spec variant.

Other top-spec safety features include rain sensing wipers, blind view monitor with 360-degree camera, and hill-hold control.

There is no crash test report from Bharat NCAP yet, but the petrol Tiago had scored 4-star rating for adult occupant safety and 3 stars for child occupant safety in crash tests conducted by Global NCAP earlier.

Performance

The powertrain options in the Tiago EV remain the same as before and you can check out its specifications in this table below:

Driving the 2026 Tiago EV is now a lot easier and friendly for new drivers. In the city mode, Tata had dialled down the throttle response, which means the performance doesn’t feel urgent by any means. It crawls really smoothly, so parking it close to an object will be easy, and it picks up speed in such a linear manner that the overall experience feels very gentle.

There’s still enough performance if you need it. Put some more degrees into the throttle and it’ll provide you quick overtakes in the city. I appreciate that Tata hasn’t taken the fun away from the sports mode at least. It lets you have some fun, gives instantaneous performance for effortless overtake at highway speeds, and it’s the mode to be in when you want to cover distances quickly on highways without being stuck behind slow moving traffic. It’s quick and instant, but never overwhelming or scary.

It still gets four regen modes: Level 0, 1, 2, and 3. They can be toggled via the buttons on the central console and I do wish Tata would’ve given paddle shifters which feel more intuitive to use while on the go. But the regenerative braking itself kicks in very smoothly, irrespective of the mode you’re in.

Ride And Handling

And irrespective of the roads you’re on, the Tiago EV feels comfortable. The cushioning is plush so it blocks all the imperfections at city speeds, while the car feels stable while going over any sudden undulation at higher speeds. The suspension works silently, there’s not a lot of tyre noise that filters in through the cabin at higher speeds, and even over deep potholes or sudden depressions, the jerk and body movement, both are well controlled. 

But if you’re driving alone and tend to carry slightly more speed over a speedbreaker, the rear will give you a slight toss, so it's best to keep your speed in check.

Charging Details

On the battery front, I would recommend you to stretch your budget for the bigger battery pack as it not only offers you better expected real-world range of around 200km compared to the smaller battery's 150-170km, but it also gets the lifetime warranty (15 years only).

A welcome update in this department is the fact that there has also been an upgrade in the charging speeds of the hatchback as it is now compatible with DC charging speeds of up to 30 kW. Topping it up from 10 to 80 percent now takes just 35 minutes as claimed by Tata, while the previous took almost an hour for the same.

So this enables you to take the Tiago EV for inter city trips too, where you can quickly top up your battery while getting a coffee.

You can check out the variant-wise battery options of the Tata Tiago EV here.

The 2026 Tata Tiago EV is available in three variants: Smart, Pure+ and Creative+.

The variant naming is based on battery pack size, where the Smart gets the smaller 19.2 kWh battery pack, while the Pure Plus and Creative Plus variants are available with both 19.2 kWh and 24 kWh battery pack options.

Tata Tiago EV Smart

• Entry-level Tiago EV variant with the 19.2 kWh battery pack.

• Exterior gets R14 steel wheels and chrome line door handles.

• Interior features Fabricia Luxe dashboard, SportLuxe steering wheel, Premium Melange fabric seats and Digital Island Cluster.

• Tech and convenience features include automatic climate control, iRA.ev connected car technology with 40+ features, multi-drive modes, regenerative braking modes, HD rear-view camera and 20.32 cm touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

• Also gets steering-mounted controls, electrically adjustable ORVMs with turn indicators, all four power windows and 65W front USB charging.

• Safety package includes 6 airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, iTPMS, ISOFIX mounts and i-High Beam Alert.

• The Smart already feels surprisingly feature-rich for an entry-level EV hatchback.

Tata Tiago EV Pure Plus

• Available with both 19.2 kWh and 24 kWh battery pack options.

• Builds on the Smart 19 variant with subtle styling and convenience enhancements.

• Adds R14 wheel covers and shark-fin antenna with GPS.

• Retains all the major comfort, safety and technology features from the Smart 19 variant.

• The 24 kWh version additionally offers improved range, better real-world usability and lifetime HV battery warranty coverage.

• Tata claims fast charging capability that can add 100 km of range in just 18 minutes.

Tata Tiago EV Creative Plus

• The top-spec Tiago EV is available only with the 24 kWh battery pack.

• Exterior upgrades include R14 Hyperstyle wheels, LED DRLs and Lux Beam LED headlamps.

• Feature additions include 360-degree Surround View HD camera, Blind View Monitor, ESP with traction control, Hill Hold Control and cruise control.

• Convenience upgrades include Passive Entry Passive Start (PEPS), autofold ORVMs, rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlamps, electric tailgate release, cooled glovebox, rear AC vents, front armrest with storage and one-touch driver-side power window.

• Also gets the larger Ultra View 26.03 cm HD touchscreen infotainment system and all-door soft-touch fabric armrests.

CarDekho Recommends

• The Smart variant feels feature-rich enough for most city users and works well as an affordable entry point into EV ownership.

• The Pure Plus variant is the sweet spot in the Tiago EV lineup, available across both battery options. The larger 24 kWh battery option and lifetime HV battery warranty make it significantly more practical for long-term ownership.

• If you want a completely feature-loaded experience with all the premium features and advanced technology, then the Creative+ variant is the one to pick.

The Tata Tiago EV was already a fantastic car for somebody who wanted a small car with low running costs for their high daily running. What Tata has done with this update is improve its value proposition by reducing the price and simultaneously giving it contemporary looks, a premium interior and segment-first features and safety tech.

If you have a high running, occasional use of second row, and don’t want to compromise on the in-cabin experience of the car in terms of its feel and features, the Tiago EV is a great choice for under Rs 10 lakh (ex-showroom). And at that price, you can’t say the same for anything else in the country, which makes it a unique proposition. Only if Tata rounds off the rough edges and fills the gaps in its quality control and after sales service, the Tiago EV would be my default recommendation for a small electric car.

Other Options to consider

MG Comet

Reasons to consider

• Tiny size means it is great for urban city traffic

• Quirky design grabs a lot of attention

• Better fit and finish consistency in the cabin

Reasons to ignore

• Not as comfortable over bad roads

• Rear seat ingress egress is tough and comfort isn’t as good

• Not as practical as the Tiago EV

• Performance isn’t as effortless on the highway

Tata Punch EV Reasons to consider

• Bigger batteries offers more range

• More premium and feature loaded

• Better second row experience with adjustable headrests and central armrest

• Offers a better road presence

Reasons to ignore

• More expensive

Citroen eC3

Reasons to consider

• Really comfortable ride quality

• More space at the rear

• Bigger boot space

Reasons to ignore

• Significantly more expensive

• Not as feature loaded

• Interior doesn’t feels basic