Former racer to drive Nano electrification

Nano, Ratan Tata’s dream project, has found a new address. The electric variant of the car would be made in Singanallur, a small town 50 km from Coimbatore, by Jayem Automotives.

The company’s Managing Director J Anand refused to speak on the Nano project owing to a non-disclosure agreement.

For the Tata Nano, the electric avatar Neo is being seen as the first step towards phasing out of the Nano. Tata Motors will supply the shells and Jayem will add the powertrain and electric motor for the Neo. Sources said the first 400 Neos were being made for Ola and would be handed over to the company shortly. “The Neo is powered by an electric drive system developed and supplied by Electra EV, a technology company that develops and produces electric drive systems. The first batch of cars will be supplied shortly,” said Anand. The 48-volt Neo will be assembled and marketed by Jayem Automotives and is designed to run 150 km with airconditioning on a single full charge. He had said in an earlier interview that the company has been focusing only on a small volume of cars, including race cars.

The low-profile Coimbatore-based component maker had caught the attention of Ratan Tata, who has invested in Jayem. The company counts global and domestic top original equipment manufacturers such as Tata, Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, Renault Nissan, Hyundai, Hero, Bharat Benz, Bosch, TAFE, MRF, Harley Davidson, TVS, Volvo as its clients.