[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The first image reads as "BEAT 1 WITH THE FUTURE"!

I can't seem to make sense of that tagline though.

I believe its 'Be at one with the future' so as to say that adopting a Chetak is to embrace future. One replaced with 1 to hint the countdown ending tomorrow.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I can't seem to make sense of that tagline though.

I believe its 'Be at one with the future' so as to say that adopting a Chetak is to embrace future. One replaced with 1 to hint the countdown ending tomorrow.

You are right with the first part, they want us to be at one / part with the future. It would have made perfect sense if the event was at 1 PM.

But hemanth.anand mentioned that the countdown ends at 12 PM instead. So it looks like the advertising firm and Bajaj's product team overthought this and in the end everyone is confused. Just Bajaj doing Bajaj things.

[girishv]

The prices of Chetak revealed. It will be starting at 1lakh after all discounts. Combining this with 70k warranty makes Chetak a real attractive proposition.

[TusharK]

Bajaj Chetak electric scooter launched at Rs. 1 lakh

Bajaj has launched the Chetak electric scooter. It is available in two variants - Urbane and Premium priced at Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 1.15 lakh (ex-showroom) respectively.



Initially, the scooter will be sold in Pune and Bangalore. Bookings will open tomorrow on the company's website. The booking amount is set at Rs. 2,000.

The Urbane variant comes in solid colours and has a drum brake at the front. The Premium version gets metallic colour options, dark or light tan seat, metallic colour wheels and a front disc brake.

The Chetak e-scooter is powered by a 4.1 kW electric motor paired with an automated transmission. The motor is powered by a lithium-ion battery that has a claimed range of 95 km on a single charge in Eco Mode. In Sport mode, the range drops to 85 km. Bajaj claims that the battery can be recharged to 100% of its capacity in 5 hours. In 1 hour, the battery can be charged to 25% of its capacity.

Bajaj is offering a 3 years / 50,000 km warranty on the battery pack.

Link to Team-BHP News

[abhishek46]

Few points from my side:

1. This appears to be the first well built & well designed Electric 2 wheeler by a mainstream 2 wheeler Manufacturer in India.
Ather, is not really mainstream, it's still a start-up (though they are exceedingly good at it).
Hero Electric's offering appear to be contraptions, lifted from China.

2. The price of Rs 1 lakh is actually not that bad, considering the decent range & it's competitors.

[hemanth.anand]

I made a comparison between Bajaj Chetak and it's only real competitor - The Ather 450. The Ex-showroom price announced is including the FAME subsidy. I'd say both the scooters are closely matched. 450 has higher top speed and Lower range, Chetak has higher range and lower top speed...both by a small margin. 450 looks futuristic, Chetak looks retro. Will be interesting to see what Ather will bring to the table with the 450x later this month.


Click to open in actual resolution


Edit: Ather has posted a nice welcome message to Chetak on Instagram

[Researcher]

Certainly very well priced compared to Ather, waiting to see how the market reacts to this. Given Bajaj's massive and wide network, this has the chance to reach almost all their showrooms in entire India in no time compared to Ather. But isn't the warranty on 2 wheeler batteries a bit less compared to what we get on 4 wheeler EVs? Can someone confirm if any specific reason behind this decision?
Slightly off topic and on a lighter note, they could have added a kick starter to manually charge the battery. Would have attracted the older folk to the showrooms for that complete retro feel and nostalgia of 'tilt and kick' when the fuel was low in older Chetaks.

[styx71]

Do electric scooters (or cars) really cost more than their petrol counterparts to manufacture or is it a case of manufacturers charging a premium based on the novelty factor

[tarik.arora]

Considering that BS-VI Activa is priced between INR70-75K, an electric scooter at 100,000 sounds good. I think a 30-35% premium is completely justified, given the low running costs with EVs. This is a perfect machine for people who use such scooters for errands.

I now feel that BS-VI related price hike, combined with subsidies for EVs could be a very good stepping stone for mass market EVs.

[pogo0120]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

I made a comparison between Bajaj Chetak and it's only real competitor - The Ather 450. The Ex-showroom price announced is including the FAME subsidy. I'd say both the scooters are closely matched. 450 has higher top speed and Lower range, Chetak has higher range and lower top speed...both by a small margin. 450 looks futuristic, Chetak looks retro. Will be interesting to see what Ather will bring to the table with the 450x later this month.

Two things!

1. Are you sure there is no regenerative braking in e Chethak? Only Combi Brakes!!! If regen is missing, I will definitely not consider this scooter! Who makes a non regen electric vehicle in 2020? Are you sure on this?

2. Weight is just 100 kgs, inspite of all metal body? Is this figure right?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

I made a comparison between Bajaj Chetak and it's only real competitor - The Ather 450.

Ather sends in a comparison themselves

[sajaijayan]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

I made a comparison between Bajaj Chetak and it's only real competitor - The Ather 450. The Ex-showroom price announced is including the FAME subsidy. I'd say both the scooters are closely matched. 450 has higher top speed and Lower range, Chetak has higher range and lower top speed...both by a small margin. 450 looks futuristic, Chetak looks retro. Will be interesting to see what Ather will bring to the table with the 450x later this month.

Thanks for the comparison. The EV community needs more such comparisons. Maybe its time to add more scooters in the comparison and also the Revolt!!

Great job by Bajaj. Hope they are genuinely serious about selling and its not just a sort of compliance vehicle where they are just staying in touch with the technology trends with no intention of selling in volume. Like some car manufacturers in the west.

[dinu2506]

I love the response of Ather. Really professional and warm. Thats what you call a healthy competition

[aniketi]

Can anyone throw some light on the below -

1. What is the average life of batteries for such scooters? Is it 7-8 years or less?
2. What will be approximate cost for replacement of batteries?
3. What maintenance is required? Just once a year?

After battery life is over, if one don't change batteries, makes bike useless. One has to save some amount every month which is saved in petrol for changing batteries.

If someone is riding bike for more than 500 KM per month, it's worth buying IMO.

All the best Bajaj, looks promising bike.

[DarthVeda]

given that manufacturers are giving 3 years minimum warranty on bikes, and 8 years on car, I would guess that it is good for those duration. For Ather, it should have the same performance for 7 years at least, and cost of replacement at the current price is around 30k. This was informed in their forum. However, do keep in mind, it largely depends on how you charge it and the price is of current price, and given the drops in battery price, it might be lower as well.

I have been using my friend's ather for over a month now, and travelling to ecospace on ORR is less hectic than before and no fuel cost, have saved over 3k already.