Bajaj, one of India's iconic two-wheeler brands, launched an electric variant of the popular Chetak scooter in January of 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and less than impressive growth in the auto segment, the response to this launch was far from what the company expected.
However, what is surprising now is that Bajaj is increasing the price of its electric scooter at a time when the demand for such bikes appears to be growing and newer entrants are making their way in the hope of cornering a share of this segment.
Bookings for Bajaj Chetak EV was halted some time ago with prices varying between Rs.1 lakh for the base variant and Rs.1.15 lakh for the top-end. Now, according to reports, these prices may go up to Rs 1.5 lakh. The report suggests that Bajaj Auto was making a loss with every unit sale, and thus resorted to this hike.
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In fact, a year ago when Bajaj Auto launched its Chetak EV, it became the first legacy automaker to enter the electric segment. We believe that the latest decision could be a result of getting the price points wrong or seeking a larger margin based on what they see as a growing demand for electric two-wheelers.
The Chetak EV comes in two variants - Urbane and Premium, the key differences being color options and the inclusion of disc brakes on the latter as against the regular drums in the basic variant.
The rest of the specifications are identical, which include a 4kW motor that is capable of producing 16 Nm of torque. A 3kWh lithium-ion battery powers the scooter, and has an estimated range of 95+ km in the eco mode, and 85+ km on the faster sport mode. The top speed is around 80-kph.
The battery is also IP67 water-resistant and comes with a 3-year or 50,000-km warranty (whichever is earlier). There are no fast charging solutions, and users will have to resort to using a standard household socket, which will take about five hours to go from 0 to full charge.
The Chetak electric were made available through biking showrooms in Bangalore and Pune in the first phase.
