Come 2008, and the Tatas will be ready with their Rs 1-lakh car. It is learnt that this will not be the only affordable technology that Tata Motors will introduce next year.
The Tatas are said to be mulling over bringing out cars fired by compressed air, the cheapest auto fuel in the world, said a report. Tata Motors will begin production of cars running on air fuel in 2008.
Expected to sport a price tag similar to that of the current Indica range, which is around Rs 3.5 lakh, the compressed air car is likely to look like the European variant called MiniCAT.
It is said that this car has the potential to deliver the lowest running cost across all passenger car segments, and could be much lower than CNG. The cost of a fuel refill would be about Rs 90, and each refill is expected to deliver a distance in the range of 150-200 km.
These pollution-free vehicles are expected to deliver a maximum speed of up to 220 km/hour and their debut may coincide with the launch of the Rs 1-lakh car, next year. Though the company has not confirmed the launch of the compressed air cars, it is believed that the engine and the technology is being further refined, and will require a couple of years more. Auto experts opine that Tata Motors is experimenting with the technology on its different models and mass production of the compressed air car could commence in 2008, for the domestic market.
It may be noted that Tata Motors had signed an agreement, earlier in 2007, with Moteur Development International (MDI) of France to source technology to develop engines powered by compressed air.
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