They want to know and they want to decide for you because they think that they know best. But you want something funky, cool, and attractive, whereas they would like you to get something conventional, boring and traditional. Well, Bajaj seems to have found a compromise with the Chetak C2501. It is the Chetak in its cute, compact, chic and cost effective avatar. And that is something you will appreciate. But your parents will appreciate that this has the core essentials of the traditional Chetak, which has been quite a hit. So is bringing home the Chetak C2501 a wise decision for you as well as your parents?

Chetak Family Grows

The Chetak C2501, is not a new variant of the traditional Chetak family. In fact, this is a new sub family within the Chetak umbrella. The e-scooter is designed for the younger buyer who wants something light, stylish, and compact. And to its credit, Bajaj has done a rather fantastic job of keeping those traditional Chetak design elements intact, while offering it in a new youthful flavour. I particularly like this new side profile as well as the front apron which is missing all of the lighting elements. It looks rather clean and chic. The paint quality and colour options are fantastic. I'm not a big fan of the graphics on the side panels. Maybe the younger audiences might just appreciate that. But having said that, the core principle of offering a metal body for the essential parts at least still remains on the C2501.

Compact Yet Spacious

From the traditional Chetak, the C2501 has shaved off 100mm from the wheelbase (1225mm). It's got an all new frame under the metal body. You would expect that the space on offer would be compromised, but that's not quite the case. It still feels quite familiar, and easy to hop onto because the seat height is low (763mm saddle height). The floor space, even though it's lesser than the regular Chetaks, still feels rather adequate for my size-10 feet. There is still quite some space to move around on the floor. And overall, this is a rather nice posture for urban hustling. The killer part about the C2501 is that it weighs just 107kg, which makes it very effortless for any rider to move around in the parking lot.

Since the C2501 is a lot more compact, the underseat storage space has taken a little bit of a hit. So, it's not 35 litres, but just 25 litres. The underseat storage floor, though, is rather deep. It should easily accommodate a full-face ISI-rated helmet. Not quite an international-spec one, though. The storage space on offer should be enough for you to take home a week's worth of groceries or some fancy items that you take on your college runs, provided you leave the charger at home. Furthermore, the seat has a nice spring-loaded mechanism which gives it a rather premium touch and Bajaj will give you two cubby holes at the front which are capable enough to store a large phone. But I wouldn't risk keeping my phone there for the fear of falling out.

The low and spacious seat as well as the chunky sturdy grab handle will mean pillion riders will not find it to be cumbersome or taxing to be seated during urban hustling. And those flush fitting footpegs are quite cleverly integrated.

Humble Performance

One look at the spec sheet and you will realise that the performance capabilities of the C2501 are not going to be that outstanding and for spirited riding, yes, it wouldn't be that case. This is a rather calm, effortless, and easy riding electric scooter. It doesn't have quite the top speed of say some of its rivals like the TVS Orbiter, which has a slightly higher ceiling. But having said that, riding it in Eco mode, it doesn't feel lethargic. It doesn't feel - say slow or sluggish. Yes, it does take a linear or a relaxed way to get up to speed.

It's only when you opt for the Tec Pac do you unlock Sport mode and you get that little extra boost at the top. Throttle response is slightly altered. It does become a little more direct and you get a slightly higher top speed. It displays 60kmph on the speedometer, which according to Bajaj's internal VBox testing is actually 55kmph. To be honest, I had first thought the performance would be a little lacking and potentially hazardous for densely packed Indian roads. But I was so wrong. It was because my previous experiences with scooters with such low top speed ratings gave rise to this notion, especially when something like a speeding electric bus is coming up your behind. This does have enough pull to go through ahead of slow moving trucks or road obstacles, making it feel pretty effortless to ride it in both Eco as well as Sport mode.

Psychologically Inadequate

Even though the IDC (Indian Driving Conditions) range figure for the C2501 is 113 km, Bajaj says realistically you should expect 95km in Eco mode and 90 km in Sport mode. During the test, the scooter was given to us at 63% state-of-charge (SOC) and ridden till the battery was depleted to 1%. We rode the scooter hard, keeping the speeds between 55-60kmph in Sports mode for 35km. For a more thorough real-world range test, we shall try to do it once we get it for a longer duration.

The 2.5kWh battery on offer doesn't feel inadequate for the intention. If it had a slightly larger battery pack, 2.8kWh unit and it had a round real-world range figure of 100km, it would ease the minds of a lot of buyers. Hence, the actual range currently on offer will not be less but psychologically it might not feel enough.

Even charging down time isn't going to be that long. 2.5 hours for a 0-80% charge. And another hour and a half more for a complete charge. So technically you're looking at 4 hours of charging for which you will realistically get 85-90km.

Nimble City Hustler

Because it's such a light scooter, it is rather easy to change directions in a jiffy. The skinny tyres and the shorter wheelbase are not giving the e-scooter inherent twitchy characteristics. In fact, even when you take long sweeping turns, it feels very stable. No nervy moments as such as the performance on hand is not daunting.

Going over rumble strips or even slightly larger speed breakers, you get a sense that the Chetak C2501 is set up slightly on the firmer side. It is jarring, stiff or bone crushing, but it just doesn't feel rather well polished, or sophisticated. It makes you feel the road, which becomes a little annoying for sure, but nothing of a deal breaker.

We have to commend Bajaj to offer a front disc brake on even a low-cost e-scooter. The braking performance is competent for the category. Feel might be a little lacking but considering the performance on hand the bite is adequate. CBS also works rather well.

Bare Basics

The negative-LCD colour-segmented dash is rather easy to read in any light situations, harsh daylight, low light or whatsoever. It does a rather neat job because there is not much data to relay back to the rider. It is well spaced out and whatever you need to know is easy to locate.

I strongly urge you to get the TecPac which is easily justifiable considering you have to spend just Rs 3000 more. You can purchase it a few months after bringing home the scooter but it will require you to head to your service centre in order to get the goodies.

No Nonsense Riding

Bringing home the Bajaj Chetak C2501 should be a very easy decision for both the teenager as well as the parents, provided you are looking at a no nonsense, no frills, easy to ride city commuter. You want something that is very easy to use in the daily riding scenarios. It doesn't feel that energetic or thrilling and you have to live with that. The bright aspects of the C2501 is that the seating space is very comfortable, the riding posture is very effortless and you have more than adequate storage space. Range and charging times are also very reasonable. Ride quality could have been a little better. It feels a tad bit on the firmer side, but no complaints whatsoever. So, if you are looking for a performance electric scooter, this is not quite it.

But for everything else, this should serve you well as your first electric scooter. And to sweeten the deal, Bajage has priced the Chetak C2501 rather attractively, which for the first 10,000 customers is at a discounted Rs 87,100 (ex-showroom). In case if you are a teenager who is looking to get their first electric scooter or if you are the parent who's looking to get one for their award then this should be a rather neat choice.