Bajaj Qute To Be Launched In Maharashtra — Launch Date Officially Revealed

oi-Stephen Neil

By Stephen Gershom

Updated: Tuesday, April 16, 2019, 19:15 [IST]

The Bajaj Qute will be launched in the state of Maharashtra on 18 April, 2019. After years of waiting for the launch of the Bajaj Qute, Bajaj is slowly launching the quadricycle in various states across the country in a phased manner.

The Bajaj Qute has for a long time been embroiled in controversy as Bajaj was trying to launch it in the Indian market, but stiff opposition from competition and archaic laws and regulations prevented that from happening. Now though, all hurdles have been cleared and the Bajaj Qute has been launched in a few states including Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Kerala. Maharashtra will be the latest state to be added to the list.

The Bajaj Qute is first ever vehicle in India to fall under the newly created Quadricycle category. Which was the main problem with it in the first place. It was first revealed in 2015, but the process of getting onto the roads took much longer than expected.

The Bajaj Qute has been on sale in a few international markets like Turkey and Indonesia. But it couldn't be launched in the very country that produced it, only because there was no vehicular category it could be launched under.

Bajaj was firm on its stand that the Qute was not a small car but was a quadricycle designed to be a safer and more comfortable replacement for three-wheelers. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways finally included quadricycle as a vehicle type in June 2018.

It has been made available for both private and commercial use. Privately registered vehicles can be used as a cheap means of transport in crowded areas while commercially registered ones can serve as a brilliant upgrade option for auto-rickshaw drivers.

The Bajaj Qute is powered by a liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, 216cc DTS-i engine. The petrol variant produces a maximum power output of 13.1bhp and a peak torque output of 18.9Nm. The output on the CNG variant considerably drops to 10.9bhp and 16.1Nm.

However, the CNG variant is more efficient and the Qute can be driven 43 kilometres on just one kilogram of compressed natural gas. The petrol variant has a claimed mileage figure of 35km/l. The engine is mounted at the rear and the rear wheels are driven via a 5-speed sequential gearbox that is controlled through the dashboard-mounted gear lever.

The top speed for the quadricycle has been limited to 70km/h which according to Bajaj is a safe limit. The company further suggests that its customers should avoid usage of the Bajaj Qute on expressways due to its low top speed.

The interiors are very basic and reasonably roomy. It comes with a basic music player and analogue instrumentation. The doors are made of fibre to help keep the weight low. At just 452kgs, Bajaj has been successful in keeping the weight low.

Thoughts On Bajaj Qute To Be Launched In Maharashtra On 18 April, 2019

Though the Indian government has included quadricycles as a new vehicular category, state governments are taking their own sweet time to do the same. Bajaj is working around the problem and getting the state governments to create this new category and modify the regulations to allow for the launch of the Qute. As each state does this, the Bajaj Qute will be launched there.