It now seems following the competition from the latest entrant Mahindra & Mahindra with its electric three-wheeler, the Treo, which was launched in November 2018, and Piaggio with its battery swappable tech in partnership with Sun Mobility in December 2019, Bajaj Auto is finally ready to gear up the competition with the electric RE. At present, the electric three-wheeler market sales in the country is estimated to be over 600,000 units, and has garnered interest with new players like SmartE, Greaves Cotton, Keto, and Exide Industries.
In an earlier interaction with Autocar Professional, Rakesh Sharma, executive director, Bajaj Auto had mentioned that the Pune-based auto major would be "present electric vehicles in all segments that the company operates in."
A document accessed by this publication reveals that Bajaj Auto's ARAI-certified electric three wheeler has got the nod from the Delhi Transport ministry for registration of the vehicle. The electric three-wheeler, which has a GVW of 732kg, will produce 4.3Kw of maximum power and have a top speed of 42kph. The battery, traction motor, power controller and charger have been source from a leading German supplier. The electric Bajaj three-wheeler has a wheelbase of 2010mm, is 1350mm wide, 2714mm long and 1772mm tall.
The eco-friendly three-wheeler, which is expected to come with regenerative braking to enhance travel range, will be powered by 48V lithium-ion swappable batteries, and have an onboard charging time of 6 hours. Furthermore, it is also expected come with battery swapping tech which will enable a quick swap for full battery in under 6 minutes. An important highlight is a digital instrument cluster, which will be a new feature for three-wheelers in India.
