So the worldwide pandemic has crippled regular life and all of us are sitting at home. The PluginIndia team too is in lockdown!
Bajaj are totally affected as local production is halted, along with supply from their vendors. We have got news that the Chetak electric scooter won’t be delivered anytime soon.
And this news has really disappointed many of you.
Bajaj are totally affected as local production is halted, along with supply from their vendors. We have got news that the Chetak electric scooter won’t be delivered anytime soon.
And this news has really disappointed many of you.
Background
With the world in lockdown, so is the PluginIndia team Atulji and myself in our homes in Pune, Farah and Raphae are in Santracruz,Mumbai, while Amit is in his home in Thane and Abhishek is with his grandma in coastal Mangaluru.
But we will look at ways to keep creating content for you guys just to keep the creative juices flowing or atleast for our sanity’s sake!
Hope you guys are taking care of yourselves and are only using your electric vehicles for basic necessities.
Vehicles are banned on the roads, but i need to use my 7+ year old e2o and charge the batteries everyday. So I drive in and around my society for sometime to get it to around 90% SOC and charge up every night to take care of cells.
Surely EV manufacturers are also feeling the pinch in these times. Some companies have said their vendors are not affected but the local production is affected.
But other companies like Bajaj are totally affected as local production is halted, along with supply from their vendors.
We have got news that the Chetak won’t be delivered anytime soon.
And this news has really disappointed many of you.
With the world in lockdown, so is the PluginIndia team Atulji and myself in our homes in Pune, Farah and Raphae are in Santracruz,Mumbai, while Amit is in his home in Thane and Abhishek is with his grandma in coastal Mangaluru.
But we will look at ways to keep creating content for you guys just to keep the creative juices flowing or atleast for our sanity’s sake!
Hope you guys are taking care of yourselves and are only using your electric vehicles for basic necessities.
Vehicles are banned on the roads, but i need to use my 7+ year old e2o and charge the batteries everyday. So I drive in and around my society for sometime to get it to around 90% SOC and charge up every night to take care of cells.
Surely EV manufacturers are also feeling the pinch in these times. Some companies have said their vendors are not affected but the local production is affected.
But other companies like Bajaj are totally affected as local production is halted, along with supply from their vendors.
We have got news that the Chetak won’t be delivered anytime soon.
And this news has really disappointed many of you.
Bajaj's Communication on Delivery Delays
As you guys know that the Battery pack and motor in the Chetak are made by Bosch and are imported from Germany, which also is in a lockdown.
So it was not surprising to get this mail from the Bajaj team to people who have booked the Chetak.
As you guys know that the Battery pack and motor in the Chetak are made by Bosch and are imported from Germany, which also is in a lockdown.
So it was not surprising to get this mail from the Bajaj team to people who have booked the Chetak.
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Now, right out of the bat, the name goof up is totally unacceptable. Mr Alhad who drives an e2o Plus electric car was very disappointed when Bajaj addressed him as one Manohar Sajjan.
Bajaj - what are you guys doing?!
First of all people have so much emotional attachment to the brand and then you deliver disappointing news of delayed delivery and then you use a wrong name.
I agree mistakes happen, but this kind of thing pisses people off and you lose an enthusiast who would recommend the Chetak to others. Now Mr Allhad won’t recommend Chetak to anyone he knows because of one small mistake.
People can accept delays, but such communication issues can hurt.
Bajaj - what are you guys doing?!
First of all people have so much emotional attachment to the brand and then you deliver disappointing news of delayed delivery and then you use a wrong name.
I agree mistakes happen, but this kind of thing pisses people off and you lose an enthusiast who would recommend the Chetak to others. Now Mr Allhad won’t recommend Chetak to anyone he knows because of one small mistake.
People can accept delays, but such communication issues can hurt.
Delays were expected?
Anyway, back in January, Bajaj said that delivery of the Chetak would happen by the end of February. So to make that kind or promise, they should have had a batch of finished product inventory by mid February at least and start deliveries soon.
Unfortunately that did not happen. At the same time, my sources told me that Bajaj and Revolt got disqualified for FAME 2 subsidy, as they were importing battery packs.
I guessed that they were scrambling around to find a local Bosch source and thus I did anticipate delays in February itself. I knew that it could be pushed to March or maybe April as they had to find a battery source in India and that takes time.
So, I expected delays and then this pandemic happened and now it's pushed to unknown dates.
Anyway, back in January, Bajaj said that delivery of the Chetak would happen by the end of February. So to make that kind or promise, they should have had a batch of finished product inventory by mid February at least and start deliveries soon.
Unfortunately that did not happen. At the same time, my sources told me that Bajaj and Revolt got disqualified for FAME 2 subsidy, as they were importing battery packs.
I guessed that they were scrambling around to find a local Bosch source and thus I did anticipate delays in February itself. I knew that it could be pushed to March or maybe April as they had to find a battery source in India and that takes time.
So, I expected delays and then this pandemic happened and now it's pushed to unknown dates.
The first batch of Chetak was indeed delivered
But then what happened was, Bajaj did in fact create the first batch of Chetak scooters, got them production ready and delivered them. You can watch this video of this excited individual, who went to the Bajaj showroom in Bengaluru, he was very excited, got the delivery of the Chetak scooter and he made a fantastic Vlog.
You guys can watch the VLOG here.
Unfortunately all this excitement ends here with the pandemic taking over.
But then what happened was, Bajaj did in fact create the first batch of Chetak scooters, got them production ready and delivered them. You can watch this video of this excited individual, who went to the Bajaj showroom in Bengaluru, he was very excited, got the delivery of the Chetak scooter and he made a fantastic Vlog.
You guys can watch the VLOG here.
Unfortunately all this excitement ends here with the pandemic taking over.
Deliveries in Bengaluru and Pune
So we reached out to Bajaj and they said that there were two large issues
- They did not expect such a huge number of bookings.
Apparently the bookings were way beyond the anticipated numbers in Pune and Bengaluru, the enthusiasm took them off guard. - Second thing was the lockdowns at supply and production due to the pandemic which is a big reason.
What can Bajaj do better?
Anyway, Bajaj cannot control the pandemic, cannot control lockdowns, but what they can control is the quality of communication.
This includes personalized emails, not generic copy paste ones, updating the website as soon as possible etc.
If i look at the Chetak website now, i still don’t have news about delivery, if they are taking bookings or not.
The last thing you want is social media backlash due to bad communication and that is exactly what is happening.
Take a look at this.
Anyway, Bajaj cannot control the pandemic, cannot control lockdowns, but what they can control is the quality of communication.
This includes personalized emails, not generic copy paste ones, updating the website as soon as possible etc.
If i look at the Chetak website now, i still don’t have news about delivery, if they are taking bookings or not.
The last thing you want is social media backlash due to bad communication and that is exactly what is happening.
Take a look at this.
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So this is the sentiment in the community. Bajaj really needs to manage this situation. Delivery in September is disappointing for many but there are more important things going on in the world right now.
So our recommendation to EV enthusiasts and Chetak bookers is that let’s all take a chill pill and not get too emotional and let’s hope Bajaj takes this as a lesson and improves their communication and also get production ready as soon as possible.
We are already seeing cancellations, many people will move to other brands like Ather or PureEV.
So our recommendation to EV enthusiasts and Chetak bookers is that let’s all take a chill pill and not get too emotional and let’s hope Bajaj takes this as a lesson and improves their communication and also get production ready as soon as possible.
We are already seeing cancellations, many people will move to other brands like Ather or PureEV.
Final Words
So have you booked the Bajaj Chetak, what are your thoughts right now?
Do share in the comments below.
Also do consider supporting PluginIndia on Patreon or become a member by hitting the ‘Join’ button.
The sooner we reach a certain level of support, the sooner we can stop relying on projects from the EV industry. The goal is to be independent soon, so that we can continue putting out more neutral Indian EV content for you guys.
If you cannot, do like and subscribe and share our content! Every little bit helps.
Thank you all for your support!
So until next time, stay safe and take care everybody!
So have you booked the Bajaj Chetak, what are your thoughts right now?
Do share in the comments below.
Also do consider supporting PluginIndia on Patreon or become a member by hitting the ‘Join’ button.
The sooner we reach a certain level of support, the sooner we can stop relying on projects from the EV industry. The goal is to be independent soon, so that we can continue putting out more neutral Indian EV content for you guys.
If you cannot, do like and subscribe and share our content! Every little bit helps.
Thank you all for your support!
So until next time, stay safe and take care everybody!