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2009-07-13 - A four-seater car for less than 2000 Euro? That will not meet standard safety regulations - could be an opinion. That this is not the whole truth, Tata proved with a crash test on Mira's testing facility on July 10, in Birmingham.
With a length of 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6 metres, the Tata Nano has the smallest exterior footprint of all cars in India but is 21 percent more spacious than the smallest car available today in the country. Its 625 ccm 2-cylinder gasoline engine, designed by FEV in Aachen (Germany), develops 36 horsepower, around 29 kilowatts. And despite its low price and compactness, the Nano meets all of the regulated safety legislation for the Indian market: A full frontal impact into a solid barrier at 48 kilometres per hour, the so called ECE-R 12 specification, a static door crush test and the roof crush test. That is a fact. Besides being crashworthy, all the safety items on Nano are compliant with Indian regulations which are aligned with the European rules. Examples of such items include mirrors, seat belts and anchorages, seats and their anchorages, steering wheel and effort, glass, lighting and signalling devices, brake components, fuel tank, wheel rims and tyres, external projections and all latches.
Despite all these facts, the Nano must not necessarily meet European Safety standards. Dr Clive Hickman, Head of Engineering at Tata Motors Limited, stated: "The purpose of the tests that we are undertaking at Mira today is to demonstrate that the vehicle structure is appropriate for European legislation." Concerning the design of the Nano, Hickman explained: "As part of the initial design brief, our target was to construct a modular body where structure could be added to the base vehicle to enable us to meet the regulated safety legislation for Europe: the ECE offset frontal impact with deformable barrier. This will become legislation in India in three years time." That ECR 94 norm describes a 40 percent offset crash at 56 kilometres per hour.
To be strong enough for this demanding impact, the Nano has been equipped with an additional airbag. Further Hickman´s engineers reinforced the front longitudinal structure and added a structure to the front of the vehicle behind the bumper and on the firewall. Another structure is added to the front doors. All of these enhancements are added to the Body-in-White (BIW) on the assembly line for the base vehicle and add 18 kilograms weight to the BIW. Nevertheless, even this version will not be the 2012 announced European version of the Nano. The vehicle for the European market will have 15 centimetres more in length and 5 centimetres more in width. It than will be equipped with a turbo-charged version of the engine, delivering 56 horsepower or approximately 42 kilowatts and 5 gears. It will also be designed to get a four-star rating at the Euro NCAP test.
To draw a conclusion, it is to state, that the actual Tata Nano, designed for the Indian market meets the present legislations. The improvements made for the new legislation from 2012 on, which is the actual valid legislation in Europe, need some improvements of the structure. These improvements prepare the structure of the Nano for the future. This has been demonstrated today impressively with a crash test and officially proven by Nic Fasci, engineer at the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA). VCA is the designated UK Vehicle Type Approval authority and with more than 30 years experience supports industry by providing internationally recognised testing and certification for vehicles, their systems and components. Measurements and a more detailed article will be published in ATZautotechnology 4-2009.
Crash Test Tata Nano - Affordable Yes! And Safe? - ATZ online
With a length of 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and height of 1.6 metres, the Tata Nano has the smallest exterior footprint of all cars in India but is 21 percent more spacious than the smallest car available today in the country. Its 625 ccm 2-cylinder gasoline engine, designed by FEV in Aachen (Germany), develops 36 horsepower, around 29 kilowatts. And despite its low price and compactness, the Nano meets all of the regulated safety legislation for the Indian market: A full frontal impact into a solid barrier at 48 kilometres per hour, the so called ECE-R 12 specification, a static door crush test and the roof crush test. That is a fact. Besides being crashworthy, all the safety items on Nano are compliant with Indian regulations which are aligned with the European rules. Examples of such items include mirrors, seat belts and anchorages, seats and their anchorages, steering wheel and effort, glass, lighting and signalling devices, brake components, fuel tank, wheel rims and tyres, external projections and all latches.
Despite all these facts, the Nano must not necessarily meet European Safety standards. Dr Clive Hickman, Head of Engineering at Tata Motors Limited, stated: "The purpose of the tests that we are undertaking at Mira today is to demonstrate that the vehicle structure is appropriate for European legislation." Concerning the design of the Nano, Hickman explained: "As part of the initial design brief, our target was to construct a modular body where structure could be added to the base vehicle to enable us to meet the regulated safety legislation for Europe: the ECE offset frontal impact with deformable barrier. This will become legislation in India in three years time." That ECR 94 norm describes a 40 percent offset crash at 56 kilometres per hour.
To be strong enough for this demanding impact, the Nano has been equipped with an additional airbag. Further Hickman´s engineers reinforced the front longitudinal structure and added a structure to the front of the vehicle behind the bumper and on the firewall. Another structure is added to the front doors. All of these enhancements are added to the Body-in-White (BIW) on the assembly line for the base vehicle and add 18 kilograms weight to the BIW. Nevertheless, even this version will not be the 2012 announced European version of the Nano. The vehicle for the European market will have 15 centimetres more in length and 5 centimetres more in width. It than will be equipped with a turbo-charged version of the engine, delivering 56 horsepower or approximately 42 kilowatts and 5 gears. It will also be designed to get a four-star rating at the Euro NCAP test.
To draw a conclusion, it is to state, that the actual Tata Nano, designed for the Indian market meets the present legislations. The improvements made for the new legislation from 2012 on, which is the actual valid legislation in Europe, need some improvements of the structure. These improvements prepare the structure of the Nano for the future. This has been demonstrated today impressively with a crash test and officially proven by Nic Fasci, engineer at the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA). VCA is the designated UK Vehicle Type Approval authority and with more than 30 years experience supports industry by providing internationally recognised testing and certification for vehicles, their systems and components. Measurements and a more detailed article will be published in ATZautotechnology 4-2009.
Crash Test Tata Nano - Affordable Yes! And Safe? - ATZ online
