The Maharana Pratap International Airport in Udaipur is some distance away from the city centre. To get to it from where we were staying, one needed to go eastwards right across the city and then go some distance along the Udaipur-Chittorgarh highway before taking an exit and turning off to the right. This is where we were driving the just launched Tata Curvv.ev at the invitation of the Tata Motors.

As they are wont to be, old cities tend to be congested with narrow streets and lanes that were never conceived to handle motor vehicles to begin with, or their size and number today. On that count, Udaipur isn’t too bad unless you land up in the area within a couple of miles radius of the City Palace. A communication gap with Google Maps landed us smack in the middle of it. But we’ll come to that in a bit.

The Tata Curvv.ev is the first of its kind in India, an electric vehicle sporting the SUV coupe body style in the premium SUV segment. In terms of its price range of Rs17.49 lakh to Rs 21.99 lakh, it takes on the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Honda Elevate, etc. And Tata has sent it out loaded with features so as to not fall short in its battle. So, here goes our first impressions from our initial drive...

ON THE OUTSIDE

That the Curvv.ev is derived from the Tata Nexon.ev platform is obvious. Look at it head on and you see it clearly. There is the addition of the charging point in the nose and animated LEDs that signal turns and charging and so on. But otherwise it is pretty much the same. The Nexon itself is rather good looking and new enough too. So there is no problem there.

Tata has tried its best to hide the volume of the rear end using cuts and different colours, but it is still fairly obvious

One needs to move to the side to see what the Curvv.ev is all about. The roofline slopes dramatically to the tail end and creates a shaped-by-the-winds kind of look. Meanwhile, the aero-inspired wheel design of the the 18-inch alloys perks up the side view along with black squircle wheel claddings. Also quite interesting are the flush door handles — to reduce drag — that need to be popped out to get into the vehicle.

At the back are very angular bits and pieces, full-width tail lights and a hatchback design similar to the Nexon’s except that it is topped off by a very rakish windshield that slopes up to the roof. And right where it meets is a split spoiler. This makes the SUV coupe stand out in pack of vehicles with square ends. We did not put it next to any of the vehicles it is trying to grab the market from in terms of price, but it could look a little smaller because of its shape, although functionally is is unlikely to be any less than those vehicles.

Tata Curvv.ev is the first electric vehicle in the country to sport a SUV coupe body style. And while it's difficult to put a finger on it, the wheels look distinctly electric car somehow

ON THE INSIDE

The similarities with the Nexon continue inside as well. One will immediately recognise the dash with its shiny plastic bits and and steering wheel straight off the bat. Of course, some colours and materials are different. Other bits and pieces look familiar as well. The derivation is pretty obvious. This one, however, has been loaded up with features. There is ambient lighting inside that can be made to glow in whole palette of colours to suit your mood. The seats are ventilated and power adjustable. There is a panoramic sunroof on offer.

To access the boot, one can wave ones foot under the rear bumper and the boot will open on its own. The same motion will automatically close the boot lid as well. Under the bonnet, apart from the electricals, there is a frunk too, although at about 11 litres, it will not take much.

We have seen that interior design earlier in the Nexon.ev. The Curvv.ev also has a panoramic sunroof, giving an airy feel to the cabin

For passengers at the rear there is enough space and the seat squabs are big. There could have been some more under-thigh support though.

There are storage spaces all around, open and closed and the now almost de rigeur USB ports, 12V socket and wireless charger as well. There wasn’t much that we could really find fault with. Many of the bits we had seen in the Nexon earlier have now been improved as well. A welcome addition is the air purifier that was doing a pretty good job.

The infotainment screen has been loaded up with loads of things one can do, even down to watching movies, although we didn’t have time to try all of them. The JBL sound system, however, was pretty good and played true even when the volume was turned up.

ON THE ROAD

On the way out towards the airport we could finally give the Curvv.ev a free run. There is nice heft to the vehicle that gives it a very stable feel, particularly at some speed. Handling is really very predictable and confidence-inspiring and we were enjoying the drive. So much so that we ignored the airport turn and carried on for some more distance towards Chittor. There are some long, sweeping turns around here and the Curvv.ev was handling them very confidently.

Back in Udaipur city we became aware that the Curvv.ev was soaking up the undulations in the road quite nicely and then came the Old City and a sloping lane too narrow for two cars to pass at the same time. And there were bikes parked all over the place that would be easy to knock over. That is where the surround cameras and Auto Hold came to their own, helping us reverse and stand within a couple of inches of parked vehicles to allow the oncoming traffic to go through. Also, by changing the regen levels, one can take even some of the braking stress out of urban driving.

Living with the Curvv.ev should be easy, especially if there is a dedicated charging point available.

THE CALL

Like most EVs, the Curvv.ev, too, is very stress-free to drive. And it is punchy when one needs the power and is equally happy pottering around slowly in city traffic. To be fair, there is nothing quite like the Curvv.ev in the market at the moment with its nearest rival actually being the Nexon.ev. But the Curvv.ev is better equipped.

As for the ICE alternatives, it’s not exactly oranges to oranges. In regular city traffic the Curvv.ev would be less stressful. With its effective range between 400-450km, it would be okay on an intercity trip provided there is a charger at the destination. If there isn’t or one isn’t willing to spend a few hours a week charging the vehicle, then one needs to look elsewhere. Otherwise, the Curvv.ev is a pretty convincing package.