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Tata Motors unveils the Megapixel concept
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At the ongoing Geneva Motor Show, Ratan Tata and his successor to the Tata empire, Cyrus Mistry, took the wraps off Tata Motors' latest concept car, the Megapixel, which showcases the company's plans to enter the European market in a big way
On the inside, things are just as interesting, with four seats cantilevered on the centre tunnel, which not only accommodate four adults comfortably, they also clear up ample room on the floor for storing luggage. In an era, every “smart” is the magic mantra for nearly every device we interact with, the Megapixel too features a large touchscreen panel in the centre of the dash which can integrate functions from a smart phone that is docked to it. And in true “smart” fashion, this touchscreen human-machine-interface (HMI) can control not just in-cabin functions such as temperature, ventilation and entertainment, but can also be used to configure the Megapixel’s performance and driving modes.
And in the same manner in which modern digital cameras jump from megapixels to more megapixels, Tata’s Megapixel makes some great technological leaps over its predecessor. Ditching the 1.2-litre 3-cylinder diesel engine from the Pixel, this new car goes for four independent 10kW electric motors in each wheel, which can produce an astounding 500Nm of torque each! These draw their juice from a cutting edge 13KwH Lithium Ion Phosphate battery which can sustain the Megapixel by itself for a range of 87km. And if you thought this gives the car rather short legs, then the onboard 325cc single cylinder petrol motor can charge the batteries on the fly and extend its legs up to almost 900km!
Borrowing some notes from the Zero Turn drive of the Pixel, the Megapixel too can pull off the same trick by having the electric motors turn the wheels in opposite directions when they’re turned at acute angles, giving it the ability to carve a turning circle the same radius as its wheelbase, i.e. 2.8 metres. And this independent nature of the electric motors means that the torque sent to each wheel can be easily electronically controlled, making the Megapixel a proper all-wheel drive car, giving it traction to handle almost any sort of road surface that can be thrown at it. But of course, rivalling the Imprezas of the world isn’t really the sort of thing the Megapixel is built for. The low rolling resistance tyres together with the series hybrid electric drive system let the car stretch that litre of petrol to almost 100km, or so Tata Motors claims, yet at the same time, coughing out a miniscule amount of CO2 – just 22gm per kilometre.
With every iteration of its concept cars, Tata Motors is making bold statements about the direction the company will be taking in the immediate future. The Megapixel is not just indicative of the Indian auto giant’s global plans, it also represents the design language that will be part of its cars not too far ahead from now. All things considered, there’s a good chance that we’ll actually see a ready-for-production version of a truly European car from Tata Motors by the next Geneva show. We can hardly wait!
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Readers' opinions ( 11 )
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taranmittal
lokking very nice i like it
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samy s
innovative,and i like zero toroidal very much .its simply amazing
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paramesh
I love this car, thanks Tata...
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Vimal Thirugnana Sambandam
Can anyone spot the wiper blades in Megapixel... if not why?
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arun jaiswal
Superb car. Thanks Tata
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