Bajaj Auto has reentered the scooter segment with the launch of the all-electric Chetak. The brand had made India's biggest two-wheeler company. The e-Chetak is modeled around original Chetak, the popular geared scooter of the 1960s and 70s. Here are the key features of the electric scooter. (Image: News18)
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The e-Chetak sports a rigid frame clad with sheet metal body panels and a tubular single suspension. The powertrain uses a single-sided cast Aluminium swing arm which houses the traction motor that drives the wheel through a automated gear box (Image: Bajaj Auto)
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E-Chetak will be on sale from January 2020. Its manufacturing plant is at the Chakan plant near Pune. The plant also manufactures Bajaj's KTM, Pulsar and Avenger range of bikes. Pilot production of the e-Chetak began in September. (Image: Bajaj Auto)
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E-Chetak will be first available in Pune and Bengaluru before its sale spreads to other cities. According t0 Bajaj Auto the two cities will act as ‘testing grounds’ for the scooter to gauze consumer acceptance and convenience of charging. (Image: Bajaj Auto)
Chetak features a horseshoe-shaped LED headlight with daytime running lights and feather touch activated electronic switches and sequential scrolling LED blinkers. (Image: Moneycontrol)
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Chetak has been embedded with mobility solutions like data communication, security and user authentication. A mobile app will provide a comprehensive overview of ride history. (Image: Moneycontrol)
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Bajaj Auto has gone for a steel body for the Chetak rather than a plastic body used by many of its competitors. This has made the vehicle heavier but the metal body makes in sturdy. (Image: Moneycontrol)
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Chetak will compete against e-scooters from Ather, Okinawa, Hero Electric and e-scooters from host of other start-up companies. Some of those electric scooters that have better range and shorter charging time than the Chetak (Image: Moneycontrol)
Bajaj Auto invested more than two years to develop Chetak. The company declined to specify the investments. Bajaj has around 1,000 people working in its research and development wing and a majority of them have worked on the Chetak (Image: Moneycontrol)
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As per in-house, real world testing done by Bajaj Auto, the Chetak can run for 95 kms on the Eco mode and 85 kms in the Sports mode. ARAI test range is expected to be closer to 150 kms (Image: Moneycontrol)
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Chetak's battery will take 5-6 hours to get fully charged. There is no option of a fast charge. The batteries are not swappable and are fixed to the vehicle. The Chetak will make use of a standard 5 amp electric socket for power which is the same used by a cell phone (Image: Moneycontrol)
