Spied! Affordable Bajaj Chetak spotted before launch

-Gets a new colour, steel wheels, less features than other Chetak variants

-No lockable glove box

-Launch expected in May

The upcoming, low cost, Bajaj Chetak has been spotted at what looks like a dealer conference. This will be the most affordable Bajaj Chetak to go on sale and in order to keep the costs in check there are quite a few changes that have been made.

Starting with the design, while the body panels are the same, the colour of the scooter that was spied is in a solid, blue colour. This doesn’t look as premium as the shiny, metallic colours that you see on the upper variants of the Chetak.

One can also spot the new steel wheels the scooter is riding on. These are much cheaper than the alloy wheels on the Chetak Premium and Urbane variants. As for the brakes, while the top-spec scooter gets a disc brake at the front, the low cost Chetak seems to have a drum brake setup at both ends.

Other cost cutting measures are seen in the absence of a lockable glove box behind the front apron. Instead you’ve got two, open storage cubbies that seem deep enough to store a phone and other small items like a wallet. One can also see a physical ignition key instead of the keyless ignition system on the premium Chetaks.

Also missing is a TFT display and instead you’ve got the same, monochrome LCD display that was on the electric scooter when it was launched a few years ago.

As for the battery and motor, it is rumoured that the low cost Chetak will not be as powerful as the other variants. That said, one cannot rule out the possibility of Bajaj plonking the Chetak Urbane variant’s battery and motor in the low cost offering. To recap, the Urbane variant has a 2.9kWh battery that has a claimed range of 113km and a top speed of 73kmph.

At present, the Bajaj Chetak Premium is the top-spec variant and costs Rs 1.47 lakh while the Urbane variant will set you back by Rs 1.23 lakh, ex-shworoom. We expect the most affordable Bajaj Chetak to be priced around Rs 1 lakh. This should give Bajaj the ability to compete in a highly competitive segment where cost of the electric scooter matters. For instance, Ola S1X is priced at Rs 70,000. The new Ather Rizta electric scooter, on the other hand, costs Rs 1.12 lakh.

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