Tata Nexon EV To Join Kerala’s Patrolling Fleet

Tata’s first-ever electric SUV, the Nexon EV, is primarily targeted at the private customers. However, 65 units of Nexon EV have been ordered by Kerala’s MVD for the patrolling fleet. Kerala’s Motor Vehicle Department has recently ordered as many as 65 units of the Tata Nexon EV to use for patrolling under the 65 Enforcement Squads of the Safe Kerela Project.

According to a recent report, the state’s MVD will lease the Nexon EV from the Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), an energy service company of the Indian Government who provides electric vehicles for the government’s use in bulk order directly from the manufacturers.

It’s going to be a dry lease agreement between Kerela’s MVD and EESL, which means the Tata Nexon EV will be supplied without chauffeurs. The validity of the leasing contract could be 8 years and the charging facility would be set up in all 65 offices of the Enforcement Squads.

It remains unknown if these charging stations might be available for public use or not. Possibly, Kerala’s MVD will employ home guards to become drivers of the Nexon EV. All the maintenance jobs will be taken care of by the EESL.

On speaking to a media channel, K.R. Jyothilal, the Principal Secretary, Transport revealed that,

The MVD is turning to be a role model in ushering in green mobility. Going for EVs instead of fossil-fuelled vehicles will give a big push to e-mobility and curb spending on vehicle use. This is in tune with the government decision to all departments to hire EVs from April 1 instead of purchasing diesel vehicles. Work orders have been placed for 65 EVs.

Once the cars are procured by the MVD, some certain changes and equipment like speed radars or hooters will be added to the vehicles. The vehicles will work on duty around the clock as they will be driven by one MVD’s driver during the day time as well as two for the night time.

Tata Nexon EV is Tata’s first electric vehicle that makes use of a 30.2 kWh high-capacity lithium-ion battery linked with a permanent magnet motor. It churns out a combined power of 129 PS and 245 Nm of peak torque. The Nexon EV achieves an ARAI-certified range of 312 km with the battery being fully charged. It takes 60 mins to charge up to 80 per cent through a DC fast charger and around 8 hours to do the same via an AC charger. Currently, the Tata Nexon EV is retailed in the price range of around Rs Rs 13.99 – 15.99 Lakh (ex-showroom).