Riding the Chetak Premium is quite effortless in the city; the power on tap in Eco mode is more than sufficient for most purposes. It is not slow off the mark from a standstill by any means and has enough acceleration for typical city use.
Riding the Bajaj Chetak Premium electric scooter
The Premium variant of the Bajaj Chetak electric scooter uses the same battery pack that was on offer in the outgoing Chetak electric scooter. However, there is a bump in capacity from 2.9 kWh to 3.2 kWh through a denser packing of cells. The number of cells remains the same.
Given the bump in power, the range of the Chetak Premium is an estimated 126 km. You can expect a realistic 110 km range on full charge. The 110 km number seems realistic and achievable as through the course of our test ride through bumper-to-bumper traffic and free highways at varying speeds, the scooter held about ~50% charge after 50 km.
The Chetak Premium gets two riding modes – Eco and Sport. The Sport mode is available with the TecPac. You can move between the two modes by pressing the D button once. You can engage the Drive or Reverse mode by pressing the brake lever (front or rear) + long press of D or R respectively.
As the names suggest, both modes get a difference in the torque band. While the Eco mode is no slouch itself, the Sport mode provides much sharper throttle response and aggressive acceleration.
The top speed is rated at 63 km/h in the Eco mode, and 73 km/h in the Sport mode. It is here that the Chetak continues to lag behind similar spec’d peers.
Riding the Chetak Premium is quite effortless in the city; the power on tap in Eco mode is more than sufficient for most purposes. It is not slow off the mark from a standstill by any means and has enough acceleration for typical city use. Put in Sport mode and it gets very aggressive with the power delivery and you find yourself leaping forward.
The motor has a subtle whine when in motion. If you give to much throttle, you’ll hear a beep.
Battery Capacity, Range & Charging
The Chetak Premium gets a 3.2 kWh battery that has the same number of cells as the current model but has a higher density, which has allowed the battery capacity to be bumped up from 2.9 kWh to 3.2 kWh.
The Chetak Premium (or even the Urbane) comes with only one battery option. We feel this is a missed opportunity, as offering a variety of battery packs could have allowed Bajaj to cater to a wider range of customers, both from a range and price perspective.
What’s new on the Chetak Premium is that it gets an 800W onboard charger, with a very convenient charging cable that you can plug in at any 15A plug:
For reference, the Chetak Urbane gets a 650W offboard charger, but that can be used at any 10A plug:
It takes up majority of the under-the-seat storage space:
In this sense, the onboard charger and charging cable offered with the Premium make charging the scooter extremely effortless and hassle-free.
A full charge for the Chetak Premium will take 4 hours and 30 minutes. It does not support fast charging. However, you can get a 15.6 km range within 30 minutes for those emergencies.
Suspension and Handling
The ride quality of the 2024 Bajaj Chetak Premium is quite compliant, although the suspension is on the firmer side. So, while the scooter can tackle average city roads at ease, you won’t enjoy riding on rumbler strips, or those huge speed-breakers (with a vertical profile on either end) that have become so common on our roads.
What is immensely annoying is, the amount of feedback through the handle from the front wheel. You can literally feel every undulation on the road, the unevenness on the road when you’re riding on paver blocks, or roughly finished cement roads. What makes this worse is that the accelerator has some play. So when you’re going through a rough patch, not only the handle, but the accelerator too vibrates!
That said, the scooter handles very well. It doesn’t make its weight felt and is easy to manoeuvre inside the city and fit into tight parking spots.
Braking & Regeneration
The Chetak Premium gets a disc brake at the front, and a drum brake at the rear. Braking is very effective and competent, although the rear brake feels slightly spongy.
Regeneration on the scooter takes place when you’re coasting (without any accelerator input) or when you brake. The intensity of regeneration is the same in Eco and Sport modes and kicks in at speeds above 10 km/h.
Hill Hold Assist: This feature is available with the TecPac. When triggered, the feature causes the brakes to be engaged for about three seconds. Activation of Hill Hold Assist depends on various factors that may appear a bit inconsistent in real-world usage.
Through the course of our test ride, we found the Hill Hold Assist to get triggered when you come to a stop by braking after being in motion and then let go of the brakes. If the vehicle is put in motion either manually (pushing/pulling) or rolling back, the function gets activated and the brake is engaged. However, the behaviour isn’t replicated every time you do this.
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