Bajaj Auto, which is the market leader in the three-wheeler segment in India and Bengal, is now foraying into electric vehicles with two products — the Bajaj RE E-Tec 9.0 passenger EV and Maxima XL Cargo E-Tec 12.0.

The company launched these two products in Calcutta on Friday in the presence of state transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty.

The electric three-wheeler segment already has products from Piaggio and Mahindra but Bajaj claims it has a better product with a longer range.

The Bajaj RE E-Tec 9.0 passenger-carrying e-three-wheeler, which is powered by an 8.9 kWh battery, has a range of 178km on a single charge. It takes 4.5 hours for a full charge. It is priced at Rs 3.25 lakh (ex-showroom) after the FAME II subsidy.

The cargo-transporting Bajaj Maxima XL Cargo E-Tec 12.0 develops 5.5 kW power and 36 Nm torque. It has a bigger lithium-ion (LFP) battery — 11.8 kWh — which gives it a higher range of 183km per charge. It has a 40kph top speed and takes 5 hours 40 minutes for a full charge, and four hours for 80 per cent charge. It is priced at Rs 3,97,833 (ex-showroom) after FAME II subsidy.

The electric three-wheelers were designed and developed in-house at Bajaj’s R&D Centre and is manufactured at the company’s plant in Waluj.

Talking to The Telegraph on the sidelines of the launch, Girish Pati, regional manager, Northeast and Bengal, Bajaj Auto, said: “We sell around 400 units of ICE vehicles per month in the region, including petrol, diesel, CNG and LPG. We can potentially do 1,000 units per month if the permit system is stopped.”

However, the transport minister in his speech emphasised the need to control the number of three-wheelers plying on the roads through the permit system. “We need to regulate the number of autos on the roads,” he said.

With EVs, Pati said, Bajaj hopes to do 150 monthly units, which will scale up to 250 units as adoption increases. The company, which has launched the two e-vehicles in other markets since May this year, has sold a total of 3,314 units of its e-vehicles till end-November 2023 according to retail data sourced from Vahan.

Asked about charging the vehicle, Rajib Mudi, the area sales manager, said: “It can be charged at any 16-amp, 220 V electric outlet.”