are true. In an unveiling in India this past week, the company took the wraps off of two lithium-ion battery-powered EV prototypes based on the Ace work truck and the Indica sedan (pictured). As we heard earlier this year, the Indica EV will first be sold in the Norweigian market next year because the Scandanavian country “has the necessary infrastructure in place to run electric cars which India lacks,” as Tata Motors President Ravi Kant put it. Indians will get their own chance to buy the car in about 24 months. According to the Tata Motors has confirmed that the rumors of an all-electric Tata Ace and the all-electric Tata IndicaBusiness-Standard, the all-electric Indica has two battery packs which can charge in eight hour and go around 110-120 miles on a charge.

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I never thought I’d be typing in the words “nano factory siege” into Google, but now I have. On the drive home last night, I heard a staticky report on BBC Radio about some sort of siege, starting today, at the plant that is supposed produce the world’s smallest car. Since I didn’t catch the whole story on the radio, I thought I’d see the the Internets can tell me. In short, it’s a tricky situation, but the BBC has the details.

Apparently, because Tata Motors is one of the biggest companies in India, the opposition party in West Bengal - where the plant is located - is protesting the a move by the governing communist party. The point of contention is (I think) the thousand acres that the state seized for the factory’s expansion. Tata chief Ratan Tata is threatening to move the production facility to another state if things don’t calm down - and other states are saying they’re more than happy to welcome him. We’ll keep an eye on this, as the Nano promises to be a game-shifting vehicle wherever it is built.

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Tata Motors’ diminutive Nano is getting closer to Job 1. if all goes as planned (and when doesn’t that happen in the auto industry?) production of the Nano should kick off early this fall. As that date approaches, a number of questions arise. As an extremely fast growing economy, India faces one of the common problems of such scenarios: high inflation. With inflation running at 10 percent right now, will Tata still be able to meet its $2,500 price target? Regardless of price the Nano utlimately sells for, what comes next? Tata is reportedly working on cleaner and greener versions of the Nano to help deal with the issues of pollution and rising fuel prices. Tata has previously licensed the compressed air car technology developed by MDI and an air car based on the Nano seems like a good possibility. Battery powered and micro-hybrid (auto start-stop) are also likely.

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It was rumored that Nissan/Renault was serious about fielding a low-priced competitor to the $2,500 USD Tata Nano, and the automaker made it official today by announcing a plan to produce an equally inexpensive car called the ULC in conjunction with Indian automaker Bajaj Auto. The two companies are forming a joint-venture to produce the ULC, which will be built at an all-new facility in Chakan, India at an initial rate of 400,000 units per year. The Tata Nano has no need for concern just yet, as the ULC isn’t scheduled to go on sale until early 2011 in India and then even later in export countries. We’re doubtful that the U.S. is among those export considerations, but parts of Europe will likely see the ULC not long after the Nano arrives in their market.

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Toyota has been working on an affordable small car that will be cost-competitive in emerging markets, and Autocar is reporting that India is being considered as a destination for production. India makes sense due to its low-cost labor, and with competitors like the Tata Nano going for as little as $2,500, the world’s biggest automaker will need to cut cost everywhere it can. There is no word as to exactly what vehicle would be produced in India, but one option is Toyota’s production iQ from Geneva, which is scheduled to begin production later in 2008. Toyota is looking for initial sales of the iQ to crest 100,000 units.

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