Bajaj Auto made a slow start in the electric two-wheeler space when the Chetak electric scooter was first launched in early 2020. Sales didn’t pick up for a long time due to the Covid-19 pandemic which lasted for almost two years.
Sales started to pick up after markets started to open up post pandemic and the government at both central and state level started promoting EVs by offering incentives. This year, the Chakan-based bikemaker sold 148,557 units of Chetak electric scooters between January and October, a jump of 199 percent YoY over the corresponding period last year.
New-gen Bajaj Chetak: Changes expected
It has now come to light, Bajaj is gearing up to launch a new generation model of Chetak later this month. According to Autocar India, the Chetak will be given its biggest update till date in order to improve the scooter’s practicality. The main intention behind this update is to increase the boot space of Chetak, since its rivals like Ola, Ather, and TVS better underseat storages in their respective offerings.
For this, Bajaj has reportedly designed a new chassis in which the battery will be placed under the floorboard thus liberating more space underneath the saddle. This would also mean a new battery pack design and Bajaj may take this opportunity to increase its capacity which could result in increase of the range on a single charge. However, the bump in range isn’t expected to be too significant.
Currently, Bajaj offers a claimed IDC range of between 123 and 137km of range in the existing Chetak depending on the variants on offer. The report further mentions that Bajaj is unlikely to make any changes to the design of the scooter which has been widely accepted across all age groups. However, we might see some new colour schemes added to the palette.
The current-gen Chetak is priced between Rs 96,000 and Rs 1.29 lakh (ex-showroom). The new Chetak is expected to make its debut in the next couple of weeks. Deliveries should ideally commence sometime early 2025.
Source: Autocar India