Tata Tigor EV

Electric cars are finally trickling down to the mass market. You no longer need to shell out over Rs 20 lakh to get your hands on one you can realistically use every day. Tata is spearheading this change. The Nexon EV is now India’s EV poster boy. 

The follow-up to this saga is the Tigor EV, which currently is the most affordable electric four-wheeler in India you can buy for private use. Is that reason enough to jump on the electric bandwagon? Or are there any serious dealbreakers waiting for you? 

• What I like the most about the Tigor EV is its subtle approach to being an electric version of the standard sedan.

• It does not yell in your face that it’s an EV, instead, it comes with minor cosmetic changes which are barely noticeable.

• What separates the Tigor EV from its petrol counterpart is the tri-arrow inserts on the grille and bumper, blue accents around the grille, fog lamps, and wheels, and EV badges on the grille and bumper.

• In its lighting setup, it does get LEDs for the DRLs and tail lamps, but the headlamps use halogen bulbs, which feel a little old.

• From the sides, the Tigor EV looks sleek with straight lines running across the width, and a slim chrome insert on the window line makes it look premium. 

• However, what may look like alloys, are actually 14-inch styled steel wheels which try to mimic the design of alloys.

• Lower variants of the Tigor EV get 14-inch standard steel wheels.

• At the back, the difference between the EV and its petrol cousin is non-existent as the only change here is the addition of an EV badge.

• Tata offers the Tigor EV in three exterior shades: Magnetic Red, Signature Teal Blue, and Daytona Grey. The latter two are available in a dual-tone shade with a black roof.

Design & Quality

• The cabin layout and the colour scheme is identical to its petrol version, but the EV gets subtle blue inserts around the AC vents and instrument cluster, and tri-arrow design on the seats.

• The top-spec variant gets off-white leatherette seats which do not have the tri-arrow inserts. 

• Its overall cabin design is rather simple with a dual-tone black and off-white dashboard, and some gloss black treatment for the infotainment, climate control panel, and grab handles.

• Unlike its hatchback version, which comes with Tata’s new steering wheel, the Tigor EV still sports the older three-spoke all black steering.

• The cabin quality here is acceptable for a sub-10 lakh car, like its petrol version, but since the EV is more expensive, a better cabin quality would have done better justice to the price.

• The plastics are hard and scratchy, and there should have been leatherette padding on the door pads.

Driving Position

• With a height adjustable driver seat and tilt adjustment for the steering wheel, finding your ideal driving position is fairly easy. But telescopic steering adjustment would have made the process even more convenient.

• There is ample amount of space in the front for 6-footers and you can easily get a comfortable seating position.

• Due to the sloping bonnet, you get a good visibility of the road without anything obstructing your view.

Passenger Comfort

• Just like the front, the rear seats offer good space for 6-footers, and apart from the underthigh support, which is a little less, everything else is fine.

• However, the Tigor EV’s rear seat is no place for 3 passengers, as the middle one will struggle to find a comfortable position, and will have to fight for some shoulder room.

• Also, while there is a dedicated headrest for the middle passenger, there are no rear AC vents, which feels like a major miss.

• It would be better to use this as a four seater and enjoy the centre armrest.

Storage Options

• The 2025 Tigor EV gets bottle holders in all four doors, a decent-sized glovebox, a tray under the climate control panel, and a slot to keep the key next to the hand brake.

• Front passengers also get three cupholders in the centre console (two standard and one small), but only two can be used at a time.

• Rear passengers get cupholders in the centre armrest, and a slot behind the hand brake to keep a water bottle, but they miss out on seat back pockets.

Features

• While the petrol version of the sedan has been updated with new features, the Tigor EV still has an outdated feature list.

• The dashboard houses a 7-inch touchscreen with wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which work fine and rarely lag.

• This infotainment system is paired with an 8-speaker Harman/Kardon sound system for a clear audio quality.

• There is a rear parking camera as well, but the feed is grainy and it experiences occasional lag.

• Other features include push button start/stop, automatic climate control, electrically adjustable ORVMs, and cruise control.

• To make this feature list feel more complete, Tata could have added a bigger infotainment system, a 360-degree camera, and an auto dimming IRVM, all of which are present in the standard Tigor.

• The standard safety kit of the Tigor EV consists of dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, rear parking sensors, and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

• Higher variants get a rear parking camera with dynamic guidelines, follow me home headlamps, front fog lamps, and a rear defogger.

• The Tigor EV scored a 4-star crash test safety rating at Global NCAP in 2021.

• The 2025 Tata Tigor EV has a boot space of 316-litres, which can be extended to 376-litres if you remove the spare wheel.

• Here, fitting a large suitcase isn’t easy, and you should keep small or medium suitcases to best use this space.

• The 2025 Tata Tigor EV comes with a single 26 kWh battery pack which is paired with a single electric motor.

• Unlike a lot of EVs, which give you a surge of acceleration from standstill, the Tigor EV has a linear acceleration that doesn’t catch you off guard.

• The power delivery here is smooth and you get a relaxed drive experience.

• In the city, there is enough power to keep up with traffic and you can easily overtake others.

• But it does not offer an exciting drive experience like many other EVs.

• Even on the highways, the power delivery is smooth, acceleration is quick, and you can easily perform overtakes.

• But it starts feeling dull when it hits triple digits, and that’s where you realise that cruising here is the best option.

• There is a Sports mode which gives you a better throttle response, and an Eco mode which cuts down the power for a more efficient drive.

• You also get multi-level regenerative braking ranging from level 0 to level 3.

• You should keep this at level 1 or 2 for most of your drives, and only use level 3 when you’re running low on charge.

• Tata has claimed a 10-80 percent DC fast charging time of 59 minutes, but charging it from 10 to 100 percent can take close to 2 hours.

• With a home charger, the battery pack takes 9.4 hours to be charged from 10 to 100 percent.

• As far as real world range is concerned, if you drive in a relaxed manner, you get around 220 km on a full charger.

• But if you’re driving in an aggressive manner, real world range will drop to around 170 km.

• The Tigor EV does translate some movement inside the cabin when driven over bad roads, but it is not at all uncomfortable.

• It manages to keep all occupants comfortable in the city, and does a good job at absorbing the impacts.

• However, deeper potholes at slow speeds tend to cause significant side to side movement of the cabin, which can be a little annoying.

• At high speed, it remains stable and handles highway undulations well.

• But, due to lack of insulation, you do hear tyre noise a lot inside the cabin.

• The steering feels light in the city which leads to easy maneuvering and its small size also makes it easy to navigate city traffic.

• The 2025 Tigor EV is available in four variants: XE, XT, XZ+, and XZ+ Lux.

XE

• Base variant with steel wheels, blacked out ORVMs and door handles, and little to no chrome elements.

• The cabin gets a dual tone theme, blue inserts around the AC vents, and tri-arrow design on the black fabric seats.

• Basic features include automatic climate control, height adjustable driver seat, front power windows, and multi-level regenerative braking. 

• The safety kit has dual-front airbags, ABS with EBD, a tyre pressure monitoring system, and rear parking sensors.

XT

• The one-above-base variant gets steel wheel covers as part of exterior upgrades.

• Only change in the cabin is a day/night IRVM.

• This variant gets an infotainment package with a 7-inch touchscreen, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and a 4-speaker sound system.

• Other feature additions include all four power windows and reverse park assist.

XZ+

• Adds 14-inch styled steel wheels which look like alloys, along with chrome outside door handles, a shark fin antenna, front fog lamps, and a chrome underline on the window line.

• The cabin gets chrome inside door handles and a foldable rear armrest with cupholders.

• Feature additions include push button start/stop, cooled glovebox, auto folding ORVMs, auto headlamps, and cruise control.

• Infotainment gets 8-speakers and the safety kit packs a rearview camera with dynamic guidelines, and a rear defogger.

XZ+ Lux

• This is the top-spec variant which gets the option of a piano black roof.

• More premium cabin with leatherette seat upholstery and leatherette padding on the steering wheel.

• There are no major changes to the features or safety kit.

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• Go for the one-above-base XT variant if you’re on a budget. It gets basic features along with an infotainment package. You can keep some money aside for exterior accessories to make it look more premium.

• The most value for money variant is the XZ+, which gets all necessary features along with the design of the top-spec variant. The only miss is the less premium cabin, which is only available in the top-spec variant.

The Tata Tigor EV is still a good choice for those looking for a daily commuter. Its real world range is more than enough for your weekly runs, the feature package is decent, and the design still looks relevant. 

If only Tata had added the updates which the Tiago EV got, the Tigor EV would have become a better product for its time.

Other Options To Consider

Tata Tiago EV

Reasons To Consider

• Similar cabin space

• Better feature package

• Less expensive

Reasons To Ignore

• Less boot space

Citroen eC3

Reasons To Consider

• Looks bigger

• Better cabin space

• Better Infotainment package

Reasons To Ignore

• Less features

• Feels less premium on the inside