So far, the sub-compact-SUV class hasn’t seen a more convincing entry than the Tata Punch. This applies even more strongly in EV form, where the Tata Punch.ev is in a field of its own. The facelifted version launched earlier this year, therefore, had it easy, given the strong foundations it had to build up from. A little restyling, some feature updates and the Punch.ev would have continued to find takers effortlessly. That’s not how Tata approached it, though. The updated Punch.ev is a significantly reconfigured car.

On the outside, the Punch.ev sure is striking if not handsome, and its butch appearance and concept-car-like surfaces are certainly appealing. As a part of its 2026 update, it now features a cleaner front end, a revised rear and light grey body cladding all around, which works to good effect. It wears its colours quite effortlessly, too, as you can tell from this rather vibrant hue our test car came coated in. The 16-inch alloys look smart, too.

The interiors

The cabin is even more impressive. It’s a delightfully premium space, with abundant use of light colours, and rather nice finishes and materials. The quality of the interior in the touch-and-feel department as well as visually is solid and, more importantly, feels consistent. There’s a measured heft to the stalks (borrowed from the Sierra), a chunkiness to the air-con vents and the screen integration feels neat as well. A delightful touch is the 90-degree aperture of all four doors, which makes ingress and egress a breeze.

The lower half of the dash and centre console is, unfortunately, a sea of piano black and while the controls are intuitively laid out, it quickly becomes tedious to keep clean. The steering wheel has a premium grip, although the piano-black band featuring an illuminated Tata emblem is a questionable choice, given how scuff-prone it is. Behind it are two nicely finished paddles (to activate four levels of regenerative braking) and the digital instrument screen that lies beyond has quite a modern layout.

The front row of seating, a set of plush, spacious and well-finished seats with a central armrest, is now ventilated on the top-spec car, with the three-level function being activated by a button integrated into the seat base (on the door side). The air-con, too, is a strong unit that cools the cabin rapidly, not necessitating rear AC vents.

The back seat is, in itself, well-designed. It offers good thigh support and headroom is quite good, too, but there simply isn’t enough legroom on offer, unless you’re 5’7” or shorter. While I could seat myself behind the driver’s seat (set to my driving position), my knees dug a fair bit into the seatback which, fortunately, is soft. Although manageable for a short drive, I suppose. I do, however, feel that Tata could perhaps slim the seatbacks down a fair bit to create that crucial bit of rear kneeroom. The boot is spacious for a car of this size, although there’s no spare wheel even in the form of a space-saver. In other news, there is now a sunroof with a manually retractable shade.

POWER SUPPLY

To drive, you’ve got to push a button on the dash while holding the brakes and then use a rather chintzy rotary drive selector to choose the mode. This unit, featuring a chrome diamond-pattern bezel with an integrated screen looks rather nice, but from my experience requires a bit of patience to operate at first. In a rush, say, on a busy road, you may find yourself in ‘N’ (or worse, ‘R’) instead of the intended ‘D’ mode, but I suppose it’s a matter of getting used to. Beyond a point, I gave up and simply gave the screen a quick glance just to be sure.

When you finally get going, the Punch.ev impresses even more. It now features a 30- or 40-kWh battery pack, depending on the variant, going up from the previous car’s 25/30 kWh. Charging receptiveness has also moved up to 65 kW from the previous version’s 50 kW, which greatly improves charge times. The performance benefits, too, are clear as daylight. Power delivery is clean and quite strong, and even in Economy mode (City and Sport are the higher modes), it offers great urban driveability. Sport, in fact, is almost too energetic; it’s fun for short bursts, although newer drivers will do well to stay clear of it given the torque steer it generates and its eagerness to lunge forward.

Other than the obvious EV-specific takeaway i.e. a silent drive experience, the Punch.ev does well in its overall calibration, giving quite healthy responses. This extends to the suspension, too. While ride quality is a tad firm at low speeds, it absorbs most surface irregularities decently as speeds rise. The well-insulated cabin amplifies this behaviour, giving you a heightened sense of premiumness. High-speed stability is really impressive, although under aggressive cornering, there is a noticeably strong degree of body roll that will make you back off. On the whole, though, for a car of its size and class, you definitely won’t feel like you’re driving a compromise. Far from it.

PUNCH LINE

Now for the Punch.ev’s party trick. Fully charged, the Punch.ev displayed a range of 275 km in Economy mode, 260 km in City mode and 230 km in Sport. These are only slightly optimistic indications, I’m happy to report, and driven in a measured manner, you should be able to comfortably extract 250 km without venturing into an alarmingly low state of charge. I was able to charge it from 51 per cent to 100 per cent in 57 minutes using a 60-kW charger and Tata claims you can charge it from 10-80 per cent in 30 minutes. A 3.3-kW portable charger is supplied as standard and Tata even retails a 7.2-kW wall charger for an additional sum.

If you thought Tata was done delivering punches with the Punch.ev, wait till you hear about how much more affordable it is compared to the version it has replaced. With prices ranging from ₹9.69 lakh to ₹12.59 lakh (ex-showroom), the Punch.ev is cheaper by ₹30,000 (base) to — wait for it — ₹1.85 lakh (top). Viewed in isolation, too, this is admirable pricing for what is undoubtedly a well-packaged car with the only sore point being its cramped backseat. An ideal urban sub-compact EV for your urban sub-compact family? At the moment, the Punch.ev is in a field of its own. As it always was, then.

@TheMotorGram

Published on June 6, 2026