How The Tata Harrier.EV Climbed Elephant Rock: Man Who Drove Electric SUV Explains [Video]

Tata launched the Harrier.ev in the Indian market recently, and one thing that everyone is talking about is the ad. It is currently the only electric SUV in its segment to come with AWD or a dual-motor setup. Tata has showcased the capabilities of the Harrier.ev in the promotional video where the SUV was driven on an extremely dangerous stretch. After the video went viral, people have actually been asking a lot about the stunt and its authenticity. Here we have a video where the man who drove the car in the stunt is seen explaining the experience.

The video has been shared by All Things Auto on his YouTube channel. In this video, the presenter talks to Dr. Mohammed Fahed, who is a professional off-roader and RFC champion. He explains the whole event, how the TVC was shot, and also the challenges they faced. He also talks about the performance of the vehicle in the video.

He starts by clarifying that the stunt seen in the video was done at a real location and there is no CGI involved. However, he mentions that the camera team recorded the first two obstacles from such an angle that they looked more dangerous than they actually were. The first two stages were not too difficult, and the camera only made them look tricky.

However, the third and final stage was truly tricky, and there was no margin for error. If the car had lost control at this point, it would have directly fallen off the slope and injured the driver. The last stretch had a 34-degree slope and it was not an even surface.

The undulations made things especially difficult while performing the stunt. He mentions that the instant torque from the EV was something he really liked, and the boost mode in the car helped him drive up the hill effortlessly.

He mentions that he drove the car up and down the hill for almost a week as part of the trials, and they shot the car both on-road and off it. Tata had insured the driver as well as his team members who were guiding him during the climb.

He was really surprised by features like the 540-degree camera, the traction control, AWD, and also the power and torque. It even had different drive modes, and for this particular stunt, he used Rock Crawl mode, after which the SUV’s behaviour completely changed. The SUV was effortlessly climbing up the slope without any drama.

He mentions that after the teaser video came out, many of his relatives and friends asked him not to do the stunt, not realizing that the video had already been shot. The only thing he felt could have been better in the Harrier.ev was the ground clearance. He mentions that he had scraped the underbody of the SUV on a couple of occasions, and only after several trials was he able to figure out a line to the top without rubbing the bottom of the car against rocks.

He mentions that the Harrier.ev felt like a solid car and was extremely confidence-inspiring while driving uphill. For safety reasons, they had deactivated the ADAS features of the vehicle as part of the stunt. Apart from this, everything else in the car was stock.