Drive these cars @ 40 paise per km!
You might not have heard of Tara International or the electric cars and mopeds it plans to launch. But once the company unleashes Tara Tiny and Tara Titu — which will cost about Rs 99,000 — and Tara Shuttle and Tara Carrier, it is quite likely to become a household name. The running cost of these cars is about 40 paise per km, while the two-wheelers’ running cost will be as low at 15 paise per km. (100 paise = 1 rupee)
Tara Titu specifications: No. of seats: 2 Net weight: 940 kg Wheel base: 1800 mm Maximum speed: 55 km/hour Maximum grade ability: 13% Motor power: 5 kw Battery voltage: 12V*4 Recharge duration: 8 hours Driving charge: 130 km Ground clearance: 110/mm Running cost: 55 p/km Battery capacity: 200/Ah The Tara Titu which will come in 2 variants: 2-seater and 4-seater, and will cost from Rs 99,000 onwards. At the first meeting, you are sure to take Tara S Ganguly for a retired army man. Once you strike a conversation with him, you understand why: the chairman and chief executive officer of Tara International has the same zeal and fervour of a general. He is a visionary who wants to give back something to the society. It is this urge in Ganguly that has goaded him to conceive pollution free, battery-driven cars. He visualises in his mind’s eye a pollution free world where green aka electric cars would replace fuel-driven cars. “With the phenomenon of global warming breathing down our necks every minute, it is high time we switched over to battery-driven vehicles,” he told rediff.com during an informal chat in Kolkata on March 15. During the meeting, he also shared some interesting details about his life, business, electric cars et al. Excerpts: Ganguly, born in 1942, went to the United States after finishing school at Darjeeling for a degree in engineering and management. He got a bachelor�s degree in industrial engineering from Pennsylvania University, Philadelphia, and a post-graduate degree in management engineering from Columbia University, New York. After spending 10 years in the US working with DuPont Corporation, Ganguly returned to India to join his family business — Bengal Enamel — as production planning engineer and works manager. He gradually became the company’s managing director. Bengal Enamel was set up in 1921 by Colonel Dwijendra Bhattacharya with nationalist leader Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy as its first chairman. The company soon became a name to reckon with for its enamelled and other ware like plates, mugs and waterbottles for households and the army. Business runs in the blood of colonel’s grandson Ganguly and he decided to carry forward his ancestor’s legacy. In the eighties, Bengal Enamel fell prey to competition from other materials and sank into the red before closing down in 1991. The company ended up before the Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction and is still paying off its dues to banks and workers.
Tara Shuttle specifications: No. of seats: 14 Net weight: 1300 kg Wheel base: 2800 mm Maximum speed: 30 km/hour Maximum grade ability: 15% Motor power: 4.5 kw Battery voltage: 6V*12 Recharge duration: 12 hours Driving charge: 70 km Ground clearance: 220/mm Running cost: 70 p/km Battery capacity: 180/Ah |
So here are some of vehicles that the company will soon be unleashing and the charming history of the company.
The Tara Shuttle, which is a 14-seater and expected to cost about Rs 500,000.
