Bajaj Auto has officially launched the Qute quadricycle in Maharashtra at a starting price of Rs 2.48 lakhs for petrol-personal variant and Rs 2.78 lakhs for CNG-commercial variant (ex-showroom, Maharashtra). The four-seat vehicle can be registered as a private or a commercial vehicle. Back in November 2018, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) added quadricycles into the ‘non-transport’ category of vehicles.
Mechanically, the four-seat Bajaj Qute is powered by a 216cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled DTSi engine that generates 13bhp of power at 5,500rpm and 18.9Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. The CNG variant, on the other hand, produces 11bhp at 5,500rpm and 16.1Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. The quadricycle comes mated to a dashboard-mounted five-speed sequential manual transmission. The Qute is capable of hitting a top speed of 70kmph and return a fuel efficiency figure of 35kmpl in petrol and 43 kilometres per kilogram in the CNG mode.
The Bajaj Qute quadricycle weighs a mere 425kgs. The boot located in the front is capable of carrying luggage of up to 20kgs, while the roof-mounted carrier can hold up to 40kgs of luggage. The vehicle gets a compact design that measures 2,752mm in length, 1,312mm wide, 1,652mm in height and has a wheelbase of 1,925mm. The quadricycle however, misses out on features like air-conditioning and disc brakes. The Qute is now only available in six states and will soon be introduced in other states as well.