The Tatra Beta was an electric van, using nickel-cadmium batteries. This electric car was originally created by à  koda ELCAR Ejpovice, and they were also initially manufactured under the à  koda brand. At that time, the production was directly connected to the production of the , derived from the à  koda Favorit.
The car was produced from 1994 to 1999. Beta has a tube-frame and in-mass-coloured fiberglass body panels. Some parts were taken from the 120 L (front turn signals and headlights) and Favorit (chassis, glass, mirrors, handles, locks and interior) and from the à  koda Pick-Up (rear combination lamps). In 1996 the petrol version with à  koda's 1.3 engines also started to be produced. The original electric drive provided an asynchronous electric motor with maximum power of developed by à  koda Elcar or by the University of Maribor. It was powered via a frequency converter from a set of 30 pieces of Ni-Cd batteries. SAFT batteries type STM after 6V had a capacity of 100 Ah. Models equipped with them reached a top speed of 110 km/h and covered per charge.
The production of the electric versions was not started. Only about 5 prototypes was made. From the beginning of the project, a version powered by the à  koda 781.135B internal petrol engine (à  koda Favorit/Felicia) was also envisaged. à  koda (Volkswagen Group) ended the partnersip with independent company à  koda Elcar and new partner had to be found. Only 100 à  koda Favorit based Beta were produced, a few of them electric. New partner was found in 1995, when acooperation with the Korean carmaker Hyundai Motors has begun. New company was found - à  koda Tatra s.r.o in Pà ÂÃÂbor. The car got a Hyundai powertrain, dashboard with instruments and also the entire interior (except door equipment), including the brakes from the Hyundai Accent. Rear axle is rigid with leaf springs and Accent brakes. In total, only about 366 Tatra BETA with Hyundai parts were produced.
Since 1997, various modifications of the Beta have been built as prototypes: flatbed (6 cars), box-van or pick-up (2 pcs). The economic results were poor and the project was terminated in 1999. Today is known only one Beta EL in the Czech republic and one in Slovakia. There are three in Sweden. By the czech MOT is registred about 100 Beta vans and a few of them are drivable.
Based on the study of the BETA Electric traction drive, it was successful to the students from the Slovenian Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Maribor to create their own university conversion into an electric car using a à  koda Felicia Pick-Up as a base.