Tata Motors on Tuesday rolled out the new Nano emax, equipped with a CNG-sniffing propulsion system that makes it the cleanest car to be sold in the Indian market and also one of the least polluting automobiles on this planet.
Ever since the EU and other countries mandated big cuts on exhaust gas emissions from IC-engined automobiles and sustainability, the need to cut the CO2 footprint has been a race among automakers in the world.
Depending on the displacement of the engine and the overall vehicle mass, many are striving to dip below the 100g/km Holy Grail as fervently as almost all pioneer carmakers were trying to go above 100km/h a century ago!
This race to ensure CO2 emissions below 100g/km is one of the automotive industry’s biggest challenges but the Tata Nano anyway was one of the very first to be under this limit, at around 98g/km. However, the new dual-fuel version of the Nano under the firm’s emax programme now goes to virtually write new standards on this count, the Nano CNG emax being pegged at 75.6g/km, making it probably the cleanest internal combustion engine automobile in the world and also one of the most competitively priced vehicles on sale worldwide.
“At Horizonext, in June 2013, we unveiled the emax range of green vehicles, powered by fuel efficient engines. The Nano CNG emax, launched today, is the first in the emax series. The E in emax stands for eco-friendly, excellence in design and technology, efficient and economical,” said Karl Slym, managing director, Tata Motors.
The basic set-up of the Nano emax is now bolstered by the addition of a sequential gas injection system which with a revised EMS (engine management system) helps not just to calibrate the amount of gas or petrol depending on the driver’s right foot but makes major gains possible on other fronts as well. Chief among these is of course the lowest carbon footprint of any Indian automobile but also a very mouth-watering 36 km/kg of CNG. The Nano with its small liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder engine was anyway one of the most frugal of them all, being pegged as such by the ARAI but now the CNG and petrol flexi-fuel version has upped its desireability and endowed it with pocket-soothing delivery in these days of high fuel prices.
Depending on the driver’s need, the highly efficient sensors in the fuel system detect whether more power is needed or whether the vehicle is in cruise mode, and it thus delivers either petrol or CNG into the injection mixer so as to harness the power density of petrol or the driveability and efficiency of CNG. Also, unlike other cars employing CNG and petrol duel-fuel systems, the Nano emax can be fired up on CNG alone and not on petrol, another technical detail that marks it out differently from the competition.
Having a factory-installed CNG-system makes for a clean and odour-less driving experience. The Tata Motors packaging engineers have equipped the CNG cylinders under the front seats, thereby not intruding and taking away usable cabin or boot space as in other cars.
Safety has been given a fillip with the addition of leak detection as well as interlock sensors. With a price point of Rs 2.52 lakh for the Nano CX going up to Rs 2.77 lakh for the Ntop of the line Nano LX, the new Nano might be slightly pricey but then the gains from it are manifestedly huge.
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