MG Motor India commences production of its small EV from the Halol plant, squarely aimed at the Tata Tiago EV, it will go on sale by May this year.
14 Apr 2023 | 6924 Views | By Akbar Merchant, Autocar India
April 13 saw MG Motor India announce the start of production of its small electric vehicle – the Comet EV –with the first unit rolling out from its Halol plant in Gujarat.
The MG Comet EV will be the brand's smallest electric car in India and will be aimed ...
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April 13 saw MG Motor India announce the start of production of its small electric vehicle – the Comet EV –with the first unit rolling out from its Halol plant in Gujarat.
The MG Comet EV will be the brand's smallest electric car in India and will be aimed at buyers looking for a city EV with a small footprint.
The MG Comet EV will be the brand's smallest electric car in India and will be aimed at buyers looking for a city EV with a small footprint.
MG Motor India has confirmed that the Comet EV sits on the GSEV born electric platform that underpins quite a few city-specific EVs globally – over one million GSEV-based vehicles have already been sold worldwide. There will also be an EV SUV iteration of the Comet – called the Baojun Yep –based on the same platform with boxy proportions and high ground clearance. This will go on sale in India sometime in 2025.
MG Motor India also says that the platform comes with a solid steel frame with 17 hot stamping panels spread across the Comet’s body-in-white.
According to industry sources, MG Motor has set a production target of around 25,000 units a year for the Comet, which translates to around 2,000 units a month. Deliveries for the Comet are expected to start by late May 2023.
While not officially announced yet, the Comet EV is expected to be powered by a 20kWh battery, which will be locally sourced from Tata AutoComp, with a power output of around 45hp. Our sources tell us that this could give the Comet EV a driving range of up to 250km.
Small EV that's big on features
On the inside, the Comet gets dual 10.25-inch floating screens – one for the infotainment, another for the digital instrument display. The Comet also gets a two-spoke steering wheel with Apple iPod inspired controls, and physical rotary dials for the HVAC. The Comet will come with connected car features, electric parking brake, hill-start assist, keyless entry and go, drive modes, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay and voice commands, among others.
When launched in India, the Comet EV will compete with the Tata Tiago EV (Rs 869,000-11.99 lakh) and the recently launched Citroen eC3 (Rs 11.50 lakh-12.43 lakh) in the electric hatchback segment. It will be assembled in India and MG plans to give it over 60 percent localisation to make it as competitive as possible. We expect the Comet EV to be priced between Rs 10 lakh-12 lakh, ex-showroom.
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