Chetak electric is currently offered in six cities with prices starting at Rs 1.43 lakh (ex-showroom)
Bajaj Auto has officially started accepting bookings for Chetak electric scooter in Pune and Bengaluru from Thursday. Interested buyers can book the battery-powered scooter through the company’s official website at a token amount of Rs 2,000.
The automaker had previously announced a temporary suspension of bookings in these two cities a few months back. Chetak prices were recently increased. Customers will have to pay the new price of the scooter at the time of delivery.
Earlier this month, the electric scooter was launched in Nagpur followed by other places such as Mangalore, Mysore and Aurangabad. Prior to this, earlier this year, Bajaj had announced the entry of Chetak in Chennai and Hyderabad, however, there hasn’t been any further announcement as of date.
Expansion of Chetak’s footprint
As of now, Chetak is on sale in six cities across two states of India although registrations are currently available for Pune and Bengaluru only. By the end of this year, Bajaj wants to add as many as 22 cities across the country to Chetak’s portfolio. The company also wants this scooter to reach as many as 40 cities by March 2022. It is clear that Bajaj is slowly expanding the footprint of availability of Chetak across India.
One of the reasons for this phased launch of the electric scooter in various cities is the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in the country. This has caused multiple lockdowns to be announced by various state governments which have adversely affected supply chain as well as production. The scooter was first launched for the public in January 2020.
Bajaj offers Chetak electric in two variants- Urban and Premium. The former is available at a sticker price of Rs 1.43 lakh while the latter is priced at Rs 1.45 lakh (both prices ex-showroom). Interestingly, Chetak doesn’t qualify for the benefits entitled under the revised FAME II policies laid down by the Central Government. This makes it significantly more expensive than immediate rivals such as Ather 450X and TVS iQube.
Chetak Electric- Specs
As for specifications, Chetak is powered by a 3.8kW motor which derives its energy from a non-removable 3kWh IP67 lithium-ion battery pack. This powertrain returns an output of 16.2 Nm of peak torque. It is offered with two riding modes- Eco and Sport. The former offers a maximum range of 95km. Using a conventional 5A home socket, the battery could be fully charged within five hours.
The battery will last up to 70,000 kms, provided the battery is maintained well. Hardware configurations comprise a suspension setup which consists of a link fork at front and a mono-shock at rear. Braking duties are handled by a disc brake at front and drum brake at rear assisted by CBS (combined braking system).
