Bajaj launches electric Chetak scooter at ₹1 lakh
Bajaj Auto on Tuesday launched the much-awaited Chetak electric scooter at a starting price of ₹1 lakh (ex showroom) for the Urbane range with drum front brake and ₹1.15 lakh (ex showroom) for the Premium range which gets disc front brake.
The Chetak scooter ruled Indian roads in years gone by and now promises to provide a vital thrust to the two-wheeled electric mobility space which also has a number of other players.
Bajaj would be hoping for new Chetak to not just revive old memories but to create new ones as well. In its new form factor, the scooter gets sequential rear LED blinkers, satin chrome bazel, horse shoe LED head lights and soft electronic switches. It has a keyless operation and a full metal body.
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It has a range of 95 kilometers on a single charge and when being used in the ECO mode. It also has a Sports mode which will give the scooter a range of 85 kilometers. The scooter would be able to switch between ECO and Sports when the need for acceleration arises while the 3 KwH IP 67 rated battery has a life span of around 70,000 kilometers. It takes around five hours to fully charge the battery while a 25% charge can be achieved in one hour.
Most interestingly though, there is a reverse gear on the scooter as well.
Chetak is also a fully connected scooter and can connect to smartphones to display charge status, remaining charge, location, notify any unauthorized movement or report defect, and gets one year data subscription at no additional cost. The scooter also comes with a complimentary charger with the installation being done by trained technicians at a customer's house.
Bajaj says that a full digital sales service will ensure customers can go online for everything between arranging a test drive to booking the scooter. The company has also opened an Chetak experience center in Pune.
The Chetak gets a three-year warranty or 50,000 kilometers, requires service once every year or once every 12,000 kilometers and gets three free services. The scooter will be serviced at existing Bajaj facilities which will now have dedicated EV trained technicians.
The launch of the new Chetak is also quite significant because it marks Bajaj's re-entry into the scooter segment after almost two decades. The company had previously opted out to focus on motorcycles with the Pulsar, Discover and Platina finding favour among buyers for years.
Chetak will now compete against a number of rivals in the electric scooter space like Hero Electric, Okinawa Scooters, Ather Energy and Twenty Two Motors, and bookings open from Wednesday.
