Tata Motors ruled out any hybrid powertrain for its EV ready concept carCurvv. The concept can host an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and an electric powertrain. The company is yet to decide whether the ICE will be a petrol engine or diesel .

Shailesh Chandra, who heads the company's passenger vehicle and electric mobility units, said: “SUV as a category is rapidly growing and fragmenting into sub segments as per size and use cases.”

He said SUV customers have an enhanced appetite for design differentiation with functionality.

The Curvv concept has a design vision of a coupe bodystyle with SUV characteristics.

“This is becoming more popular and mainstream in international markets. Concept Curvv showcases the evolution of modern SUV typology in an Electric Vehicle (EV) form, ” he said.

Curvv is positioned as a mid-size SUV that should attract customers from high end SUVs, Chandra said.

Explaining the design of the concept car, Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd said: “SUV as a category is rapidly growing and fragmenting into sub segments as per size and use cases. SUV customers have an enhanced appetite for design differentiation with functionality.”

Curvv is positioned as a mid-size SUV that should attract customers from high end SUVs, Chandra said.

“The company has adopted a three-step progressive approach to introduce advance EV products for customers. We have the Generation 1 products on Ziptron architecture that leverage our ICE platforms to offer safe, reliable, accessible EV solutions.

“Range performance of these ccars is 250km. Curvv Concept is the Generation 2 architecture that provides enhancements. It is an advance and flexible architecture capable of offering flexi powertrains. It offers 400-500km range. Generation 2 architecture EVs can be connected to telematics, and offer vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to load charging.”

The Generation 3 architecture will be pure EVs, he added.

The Generation 2 architecture is modifying ICE architecture into more electric ready architecture, said Martin Uhlarik, head of design, Tata Motors.

“ It houses more battery capacity and has flexible architecture which can take additional body types, said Anand Kulkarni, vice president, product line and operations, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd.

“It can house multiple motors to have 4x4 capabilities. The battery is high energy density with lithium ion cells with high power absorption to add to useable range. It also adds regen to car and the company has taken feedback from customers and upgraded the battery pack,” said Kulkarni.

There are multiple levels of regen blended with foundation brakes and offers a seamless and comfortable drive. One can also switch off regen, if needed.

Explaining the thought behind the nomenclature of the concept car, Vivek Srivatsa, head, marketing, sales and service strategy, said: “The Curvv refers to the sloping roofline of the coupe style SUV. Besides, the name was chosen because we would like to stay ahead of the curve.”