Tata Safari EV soon? Tata’s 7-seater SUV spotted wearing a green license plate

Tata Motors is currently the most popular EV maker in India with products such as the Tata Nexon EV and the Tata Tigor EV doing exceedingly well. The company has also planned a lineup of EV products that will add to the manufacturer’s portfolio soon. 

New Tata Safari EV in the making?

A Tata Safari with a green and white number plate was recently spied in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. This image soon struck conversations in the car world as Tata Motors currently only sells the Tata Safari in a single Diesel engine option. The car is soon expected to get a Petrol powertrain that can later be adapted to use CNG. However, a Safari EV was never anticipated to be on the cards. 

Yet, a Tata Safari in the XZA+ trim level finished in a shade of Royal Blue was found to be wearing a green registration number plate. A green number plate with the numbers printed in white is reserved for electric vehicles only. Rushlane, which reported this first, dug deeper to find out that it was indeed a Diesel-powered Safari. 

An educated guess would suggest that an independent third party might be working on an EV conversion kit for the Tata Safari. The vehicle that was spotted with the EV license plate could have been re-registered at the concerned RTO after undergoing the conversion. This vehicle can hence be understood to be a demo car for investors, banks and maybe even the government.

While conversion kits are growing in popularity, governmental reforms in the near future will call for validation, certification and homologation of such kits before making them public. Moreover, converting bigger vehicles requires higher levels of engineering prowess to be able to address all aspects of an EV that includes – batteries and battery management system, thermals, mechanical tunings, chassis compatibility, etc.