The world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano, may also turn out to be world’s cheapest hybrid version as well. Tata Motors intends to offer micro-hybrid version of Tata Nano with micro-hybrid technology that allows the vehicle to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by up to 10 percent.
The report on CNBC-TV18 said that Bosch, a leading German engineering firm, will supply the micro-hybrid, also known as a stop-start system, which automatically turns off the car’s engine while the vehicle is not moving. Bosch already supplies fuel and braking systems to the Nano.
CNBC-TV18’s Sumantra Barooah said that the micro-hybrid technology would add 4,000 to 6,000 rupees to the Nano’s cost—meaning an additional couple of hundred dollars. Barooah said, “It becomes a challenge to how much the engineers can control the cost of this technology.” With the micro-hybrid Nano, Tata will attempt to use the auto industry’s least expensive hybrid technology in the world’s least expensive car.
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