Bajaj Qute - more details emerge

The Bajaj RE60 was recently unveiled as the Qute. The quadricycle project has been working its way through government regulations ever since it was revealed around three year ago. The company has announced its plans to export the vehicle to 16 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Further details on the Qute have emerged through an official presentation.

The Qute is being projected as the "anti-car" - essentially a more efficient and cost effective alternative to full sized cars, that occupy a lot of space on the road and consume more fuel. The Qute is a 400 kg vehicle that can carry 4 passengers (+luggage) up a 27% gradient. It is powered by a 217 cc, 4-valve, liquid cooled, closed loop fuel injected, four-stroke engine that makes just over 13 BHP @ 5,500 rpm and 19.6 Nm of torque @ 4,000 rpm. The vehicle gets a 5-speed manual gearbox and the Qute's top speed is "limited" to 70 km/h.

Bajaj claims the Qute meets Euro3 emission regulations. However, in Europe, quadricycles form a relatively small category due to their exorbitant price (in the ball park of €10,000 or INR 7.4L approx). The Qute has been awarded a WVTA (Whole Vehicle Type Approval) certificate by RDW Netherlands, after testing by the test agency TuV Rhineland. It meets all the performance, emission & safety requirements necessary for sale in the EU. The Qute also meets the proposed Indian Quadri emission norms, with a claimed fuel efficiency of 36 km/l.

Safety is understandably not going to be a strong suit, but Bajaj has tried to make a case for the Qute nonetheless. Bajaj states that the crash energy of the Qute is 85% lower than that of popular small cars, for collisions taking place at 50% of their respective top speeds. The vehicle gets seat belts & meets side door intrusion norms. It is designed to meet full frontal crash regulations at an impact speed of 40 km/h as against 48 km/h for M1 cars. The Qute has a steel body with impact resistant plastic closures. The vehicle measures 2,752 mm in length, 1,312 mm in width and 1,650 mm in height.

Production of the Qute has already begun and domestic sales will begin once the vehicle gets the approval from the Government of India.