Car which Runs for 100kmpl - TATA Megapixel

After Nano, Tata eyes 100 kmpl with Megapixel

At a time when fuel conservation is becoming imperative across the world, India's Tata Motors is aiming to make a car, Tata Megapixel that can deliver up to 100 kilometre from a litre of fuel by using a unique combination of technology.

The company, which surprised the world with 'Rs 1 lakh car' Nano, today unveiled the concept vehicle which is a four-seater global range extended electric vehicle (REEV) meant for city driving.

The new innovation from the house of Tatas is likely to be commercially launched in around three years from now.

"Realistically such products take at least 3 years to develop. There are lots of electric technology to be developed, besides many other things," Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata said after unveiling the vehicle here at the Geneva Motor Show.

The vehicle combines a lithium ion phosphate battery and an on-board petrol engine generator for recharging on the move. According to the company, Tata Megapixel offers a range of up to 900 km (with a single tank of fuel) and fuel economy of 100 km/litre (under battery only power).

It also said the car will have CO2 emission of "just 22 gm/km".

Last year at the 81st Geneva Motor Show, Tata Motors had unveiled Tata Pixel, a city car concept for Europe. Pixel is yet to be commercially launched.

Speaking during the unveiling of Megapixel, Tata Motors Managing Director - India Operations Prakash M Telang said: "The Tata Megapixel, developed by our design centres in India, the UK and Italy, is our idea of a city car for discerning motorists in any megacity of the world.


Tata Motors’ big splash at Geneva was the 2012 MegaPixel hybrid concept hatchback, a car that comes packed with technological innovations. Tata Motors’ European design studio has put together this hatchback car concept and the biggest buzz surrounding the MegaPixel concept is the 100 Kmpl claimed fuel economy figure that is bringing all the oohs and aahs in a country obsessed with stretching every liter of dinosaur remains to the farthest possible distance.

So, India will want to know how exactly the MegaPixel manages to achieve that coveted 100 Kmpl mark which even motorcycles have failed to do so(remember the Bajaj Byk?), and well deconstruct this one for you. The Tata MegaPixel concept car is a hybrid, which means that it has both an internal combustion engine as well as electric motors. Unlike conventional hybrid cars, which use the internal combustion engine and the electric motors independently, the MegaPixel does things, well, unconventionally.

Instead of charging its battery stack that powers the 4 wheel hub mounted brushless electric motors through a traditional wall socket, like the way conventional plug-in hybrid cars do, the Tata MegaPixel uses a 305cc, single cylinder petrol engine as a generator to charge the battery stack. So, the Tata MegaPixel operates on electric power for propulsion, with the petrol engine used as a generator to charge batteries whenever the need arises.

Due to this, the Tata MegaPixel Hybrid concept car uses only one liter of petrol to travel 100 kilometers, giving it a fuel economy of a whopping 100 Kmpl. Now, this technology is not new as it has already been used on the Chevrolet Volt Hybrid. However, thsi technology is the most suited to countries like India, where access to an electric charging point remains a big concern, with electric charging infrastructure for pure electric vehicles still in a nascent stage.

Thus, the Tata MegaPixel Hybrid concept’s technology means that electric cars can now even be used in remote villages of India, as petrol is the only fuel required for the MegaPixel concept car to run. Also, expect this technology to be widely used in the coming years as many Indian car makers like Tata Motors and Mahindra are developing hybrid cars for sale in the Indian car market.