Bajaj Chetak 2020

by admin | August 26, 2020

Are Electric vehicles the future? We definitely don’t know yet. But what we do know is that manufacturers are trying hard to make their mark in the world of EV’s. Not just in the world of 4 wheelers but in the world of 2 wheelers as well!

Bajaj has re-launched the popular Chetak scooter after many years and in an all new electric avatar. Priced competitively at Rs 1 lakh (ex-showroom), Bajaj has introduced the Chetak electric in two variants -- Urbane and Premium. The Premium model costs Rs 15,000 more and it will be sold alongside KTM. Customers are also offered the convenience of booking the Chetak on their official website as well. Deliveries for the Premium variant may begin from the end of April 2020 while the Urbane variant will commence by May 2020. The catch here though is that as of now, the Chetak is available in Pune and Bengaluru only.

While there are other players in the electric scooter market, the Chetak stands apart in terms of build since it uses metal bodywork instead of fibre. It gets all things modern like LED lighting and a digital instrument console that displays many important things like vehicle speed, range and battery level and an IP67 rating. Also, the Chetak gets keyless ignition!

Speaking of performance, the Chetak is powered by a 4kW 16 Nm electric motor with 2 riding modes: Eco and Sport. It is a smart system as the Chetak’s Integrated charging unit senses throttle position continuously. As a result, twisting the throttle more than 85% will result in the mode switching automatically from Eco to Sport. Bajaj claims the Chetak will offer a real-world range of 95km in Eco mode and 85km in Sport mode. You might be surprised to know that the Chetak also gets a reverse mode. It is also claimed that the electric scooter can do 25 kms after one hour of charge while a 3.5 hour charge will charge the batteries all the way to 80%. 100% charge from no charge could be achieved in 5 hours.

But, Bajaj claims the top speed of the Chetak to be limited to 60 kmph which in our books is low. Top speed has been compromised in the interest of higher range and it could be the perfect speed for tight city commutes. But, what if you happen to hit the highway or a fast main road? Things could get a bit scary.

Speaking of handling and braking- the Chetak gets front trailing link suspension and 12-inch alloy wheels fitted with MRF Zapper tyres. A disc brake in the front and drum brake at the rear should provide a lot of stopping power. Bajaj claims the regenerative braking feature can add 2.8 metre of range every time a rider goes from 60-0kmph.

There is no provision for fast charging but Bajaj does include home charging port for free which will be fixed at your place of residence by a technician. It would be interesting to see how the Chetak performs against its competition- the Ather 450, TVS iQube and 22Kymco iFlow.

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Renault Triber AMT

Three variants of the Triber AMT are on offer- RXL, RXT, and RXZ. Overall, the AMT variants are dearer by Rs. 40,000 compared to the manual transmission option. Five colour options are available on this car- Metal Mustard, Moonlight Silver, Fiery Red, Ice Cool White and Electric Blue.

The Renault Triber has been known for its value for money factor as it comes with the convenience of third row optional seats, a large boot space, front and side airbag, decent enough ground clearance at a price that is hard to resist. With so much on offer, the Triber AMT would seem

more tempting to families that want flexibility in a car in terms of space, comfort and of course- a sense of safety.

The Triber however feels inadequate in terms of power figures. You get a 3 cylinder 999cc engine that produces 72 BHP. The torque figures don’t even cross the three digit mark so it would be interesting to see if the new 5- speed AMT transmission does any good to make the Triber feel like it goes faster. Though the car’s kerb weight is only 947 kg, it won’t make much of a difference when it comes to power to weight figures. We did expect the Triber AMT to come with a turbo charged engine or a bigger naturally aspirated 1.2L engine that would do justice to its size and carrying capacity.

In terms of looks too, the Triber keeps up with the trend, not just like an elongated Kwid. It isn’t that. With attractive alloy wheels, stylish design, LED DRLs that people love and Projector headlamps. The Triber does seem like it would tick the boxes for the masses. Not only masses, in fact it could also appeal to the young, travel loving crowd who intend to have a practical car with a lot of space inside the cabin.

With many manufacturers eyeing this segment, we’re happy to be seeing such a car in the market that is smart, affordable, practical and convenient as it takes the bar for proper competition- a notch higher.

Most affordable variant of All-new Hyundai i20 will be Launched in India soon!

The new 3rd generation Hyundai i20 premium hatchback was launched recently and it is significantly better than its predecessor in almost every area. Currently it is available with 3 engine options, 4 variants and 5 transmission options. At present the Magna is considered the entry level variant and is priced at Rs.6.79L (Ex-showroom) and hence it is not the most affordable car in its segment. However, Hyundai will soon launch a new base level, Era variant of the new i20.

The upcoming base-spec Era model will get only 2 engine options, namely the 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine which produces 83 PS

of power through a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 1.5l CRDi turbo diesel engine which produces 100PS of power through a 6 speed manual gearbox.

The new Era variant will weigh around 80 kilograms lighter than the Magna 1.2-litre petrol variant.

It will also miss out on several features:

Rear AC vents

Rear Power windows

Electric ORVMs

Audio system

Steering mounted audio controls

Remote locking

Wheel covers

Fog lamps

The features likely to available on the new entry-level Era variant include:

Manual Central locking

15” Steel wheels

Reverse sensors

Front Power windows

Manual AC

MID instrument cluster

Tilt/Telescopic steering

Dual airbags

ABS with EBD

Pretensioner seatbelts

With only essential features available, the new base-spec Era variant of the i20 is expected to be priced at Rs.5.99L (Ex-showroom), which is around ?80,000 cheaper than the Magna variant. Stay tuned for further updates on this new base Variant.

BS 6 Ford Ecosport: Has anything changed?

Prices for the BS6 petrol variants start at ? 8.04 lakh and go all the way up to ? 11.43 lakh. Prices for the Ecosport BS6 diesel variants start at ? 8.54 lakh and top at ? 11.58 lakh for (all prices ex-showroom, India). Ford has also extended the 100,000 km or 10-year service package to the BS6 model at an additional cost of ? 4,700.

The Petrol variants continue to have the 1.5L Ti-VCT three cylinder engine that produces 118 bhp and 149 NM of torque. The Diesel option too is Ford’s popular a 1.5L engine that produces 99 bhp

and 215 NM of torque. Both engines are synced to a 5 speed manual gearbox.

Unlike the 2020 BS6 Ford Figo, the Foed Ecosport carries forward many of its features over to the BS models. SYNC 2 Infotainment System with 9 inch Touch screen, rain sensing wiper, push button star/ stop, Projector headlamps with DRLs, etc are present in the BS6 version as well. Top end variants also offer 6 airbags while ABS and EBD are present in all variants.

Strong build, a peppy ride quality and good road presence, value for money and safety is what the Ecosport is known for. Thankfully, nothing much has been changed in the Ford Ecosport and it will continue to offer the same as both petrol and diesel engines have been made BS6 compliant by Ford unlike many other manufacturers that have had to discontinue their older engines.