Spending time with the all-new Bajaj Chetak C25 made it clear why the Chetak badge continues to enjoy strong recall in India’s electric scooter market. This is not a scooter that tries to impress with aggressive styling or a long feature list. Instead, Bajaj has focused on fundamentals like weight reduction, ease of riding, and everyday practicality. I rode the Chetak C25 around Pune in typical city conditions, and it quickly showed where it shines and where it still leaves room for improvement.
What I Like
Familiar Design With a Smarter Foundation
At first glance, the Chetak C25 looks familiar. The metal body panels, rounded proportions, and neo-classic design remain intact, which helps it stand out in a market full of sharp and edgy scooters. The real story, however, lies underneath.
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The C25 is built on an all new steel tubular frame and weighs just 107 kg, making it around 22 kg lighter than the current Chetak models. This weight reduction is immediately noticeable. The scooter feels light, agile, and easy to manage, especially in traffic and while parking. It is small enough to squeeze through tight gaps and turn around in narrow lanes without effort.
{{/usCountry}}The C25 is built on an all new steel tubular frame and weighs just 107 kg, making it around 22 kg lighter than the current Chetak models. This weight reduction is immediately noticeable. The scooter feels light, agile, and easy to manage, especially in traffic and while parking. It is small enough to squeeze through tight gaps and turn around in narrow lanes without effort.
{{/usCountry}}The floor-mounted battery further helps by lowering the centre of gravity. As a result, the scooter feels planted at slow speeds and does not feel top-heavy at any point.
City Friendly Ride and Comfort
The Chetak C25 is clearly tuned for Indian city roads. The telescopic front forks and twin rear shock absorbers do a decent job of handling broken patches and uneven surfaces. Suspension travel stands at 85 mm at the front and 84 mm at the rear, which feels adequate for daily commuting.
Seat comfort is good, and the low seat height of 763 mm makes it accessible for riders of different heights. At 5 feet 8 inches tall, I found the riding triangle comfortable, with enough room to move my legs around. The handlebar placement is well judged and does not touch your body even at full lock, which is something many riders will appreciate in traffic.
Smooth and Predictable Performance
With a top speed of 55 kmph, the Chetak C25 does not pretend to be sporty. It is powered by a hub motor producing 2.2 kW of peak power and a healthy 114 Nm of peak torque at the wheel. On the road, performance feels smooth, linear, and stress free.
There are two ride modes, Eco and Sport, along with a reverse mode. Eco mode is perfectly suited for bumper-to-bumper traffic and delivers brisk enough acceleration without feeling dull. Sport mode sharpens the response and helps with quick overtakes, although the throttle does feel a bit too sensitive at times.
Interestingly, the scooter does not feel like it is doing 55 kmph. The ride remains calm and composed while riding in the city and tackling our bad roads. On open stretches, the scooter feels like it is just about there rather than confident. That said, this scooter is clearly not meant for highway use and works best within city limits.
Real World Range and Charging
The Chetak C25 comes with a 2.5 kWh battery and claims an IDC range of 113 km. In real-world conditions, you can expect around 95 km, which should be sufficient for daily urban commutes. Charging from 0 to 80 per cent takes about 2 hours and 25 minutes using the offboard charger, while a full charge takes roughly 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Practical Features That Matter
The colour LCD display is clear and easy to read, showing essential information without clutter. Basic connected features like call accept and reject are available. Under-seat storage is rated at 25 litres and can easily accommodate daily essentials and a helmet as well.
Ground clearance stands at 170 mm, which means speed breakers and bad roads are not a concern. Braking duties are handled by a 180 mm front disc and a rear drum, and the brakes offer decent feel and progression for city riding.
What Could Be Improved
Limited Top Speed
The biggest limitation of the Chetak C25 is its top speed of 55 kmph. While this works well in dense city traffic, the scooter feels out of place on open roads where traffic flows faster. A slightly higher top speed would have made it more versatile without compromising its easy-going nature.
Features Locked Behind a Paywall
The C25’s standard feature list is fairly minimal. Several convenience and safety additions, such as hill hold control, extra ride modes, emergency stop signal, guide-me-home lights, and music controls, are bundled under Bajaj’s optional TecPac. This add-on costs ₹3,000 as a one-time payment. While it is reassuring that this is not a subscription-based model, many buyers may find it hard to justify paying extra for features that are often offered as standard by competing scooters.
Strong Alternatives Weaken the C25’s Value Proposition
The value equation also gets more complicated when you look at alternatives within and outside the Chetak lineup. For ₹10,000 more, or ₹7,000 more if you have already opted for the TecPac, the Chetak 3001 offers a higher range. Step outside the brand, and at around ₹1.05 lakh, options like the TVS Orbiter bring stronger range figures, better practicality, and a higher top speed, making the C25 feel less compelling on pure feature-to-price comparison. At ₹1.15 lakh, Ather steps in with the Rizta, which once again has a higher range figure and top speed.