Tata Harrier EV Off-Road Review- AWD Makes The Difference?

The off-road assist aka off-road cruise control is a useful feature when the going gets tough and works at very low low speeds which you can set.

The Harrier EV seems to have good enough ground clearance as our test car cleared various challenges testing the approach and departure angles.

Source : Somnath Chatterjee

Tata used to have 4x4s some years back but there was a gap in the product range for something more hardcore in terms of off-road ability. However, now it has gone back to AWD with the dual motor Harrier EV. While the ICE version does not have this feature, the dual motor Harrier EV comes with a whopping 313 bhp and over 500 nm of torque while the claimed range is above 600km. 

That said, today was about taking the Harrier EV across some obstacles and seeing its off-road performance rather than driving it fast which would be for another day. We are yet to drive it on the road properly but the off-road drive was eye opening. The off-road assist aka off-road cruise control is a useful feature when the going gets tough and works at very low low speeds which you can set. The feature worked well and tackled the obstacles.

Then we encountered a steep incline and decline angle where the view out was scary but the Harrier EV did this easily along with trying the Hill descent control. The other off-road areas were to check out the various off-road modes including Sand, Rock crawl, Mud and ruts plus Snow. 

Here, we managed to check out the electronics which do the job for you and it's much easier. Gone are the days when off-road cars require you to control various functions manually as electronics take over. The other off-road obstacles focussed on the ground clearance which we were keen to test. The Harrier EV seems to have good enough ground clearance as our test car cleared various challenges testing the approach and departure angles.

The underside did not make any contact and it seems the battery pack is well protected for any abuse. To put it into numbers, it has a 25.3° approach angle, 26.4° departure angle and 16.6° breakover angle. The other crucial bit is the 600mm water wading capability which is similar to other EVs and here you won't have an issue with the monsoons flooding the roads although again one needs to be careful.

Overall, the key takeaways include the robust suspension and the raft of electronics which makes the Harrier EV a more off-road focussed machine over the Harrier ICE which does not have AWD. There is a lot of technology including the transparent bonnet function which helps showing the underside when navigating tricky off-road areas and the various modes enable you to do some fairly tough off-roading which a ladder frame SUV would do. 

We are yet to drive it properly but for now, the AWD aspect adds an extra layer of capability to the Harrier EV although at what price is something we will know soon as AWD prices are not out yet.