Electric Tata Indica Vista is no Nissan Leaf

Though regularly overshadowed by vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt, specs for the battery-powered Tata Indica Vista EV seem to indicate that it's a worthy competitor.

Let's look at those numbers: Tata says the vehicle will offer performance on par with other electric autos: a 0 to 60 miles per hour time of under ten seconds, the ability to go 125 or so miles on a full charge and a top speed of 71 mph. The Indica Vista EV is expected to have a MSRP that falls between £25,000 to £30,000 ($40,648 to $48,777 U.S. at the current exchange rate) and Tata says that it will build at least 1,500 of the electrified four-seaters.

Those numbers look good, but sometimes numbers mean next to nothing. Recently, Plugin Cars spent some time with Tata's electric hatch and walked away less than impressed. The reviewer called its looks "cheap and dated" and referred to the vehicle as a "no-thrill back-to-basic transportation tool." Okay, that's fine as long as the Indica Vista performs, right? Well, according to Plugin Cars, the electric Indica Vista lacks power, especially at takeoff, isn't entertaining to drive and offers little in the way of road feel through its steering wheel.

Luckily, the Indica Vista's saving grace may be its Leaf-beating stated range, delivered from a 31-kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack. However, Plugin Cars says that the Nissan Leaf is vastly superior to the Indica Vista and that choosing the electric Tata over Nissan's battery-powered hatch only makes sense if it were, oh, let's say 30 percent cheaper.



Source: AutoBlog Green