The new upcoming Bajaj Sunny EV spotted testing has almost identical design and aesthetics of old ICE Sunny scooter sold in mid-90s
Words scooter (ICE) and Bajaj don’t often go hand in hand in a sentence in recent past. Last ever scooter from Bajaj I could remember, is Kristal. Many have no recollection of Kristal too. That said, Bajaj used to make popular scooters in the past like Chetak and Sunny. Now that Chetak is resurrected in EV guise, Sunny EV resurrection is underway too, as seen from spy shots.
Bajaj Sunny Scooter Spotted Testing – Back from the dead!
The Indian 2W and 3W manufacturer, Bajaj Auto, has a diverse portfolio both here in India and abroad. With EV scene on the rise, Bajaj seems to be carving a niche for itself new entrants and mainstream bikemakers. The company currently has Chetak e-scooter which is getting a hub motor and is homologated too.
There seems to be space for an entry-level e-scooter in Bajaj’s portfolio that may be filled by upcoming Sunny. Considering how old Bajaj Sunny is, there has to be a major design overhaul, right? Wrong. Bajaj seems to be playing nostalgia card or affordability card as upcoming Bajaj Sunny EV is almost identical to old Sunny (ICE scooter).
The round headlights, minimal body panels, rectangular tail lights, 3-spoke steel wheels, slim and long seat, thin aprons and long front fender is reminiscent of Bajaj Sunny of the yesteryears. There are some differences, though. For starters, the spare wheel placed at the footwell is now replaced with a battery pack and rear wheel is swapped for a hub motor.
This is the first time Bajaj is testing an exposed and removable battery. Seeing how exposed the battery is, it wouldn’t fly in India when it goes on sale. This is likely to be a pre-production unit and production-spec model may get a concealed battery, taking up floorboard real estate. Side exhaust is gone and rear now gets a hub motor.
Why though?
Other tiny details that are different with this new test mule include conventional ORVMs instead of round ones of mid-90s Bajaj Sunny. Turn indicators are much sleeker and probably have LEDs too. Pillion grab rail is redesigned and still features a rack as well. Looking at this motorcycle, it would be a slow-speed scooter (top speed below 25 km/h).
We hope the front suspension setup has telescopic forks and not steel springs. More performance than the 3 bhp 60cc engine on old Bajaj Sunny would not be a stretch to imagine. But it begs the question of existence. Why is it under testing? Does Bajaj intend to launch it in India or just ship it to under-developed nations?
It doesn’t make much sense as a last-mile-delivery application because of its floorboard-mounted battery setup. Speaking of last-mile-delivery applications, there is a very good chance of this being based on Yulu scooters too. Since this is the first-ever sighting of Bajaj Sunny EV, more test mules will follow in the future and reveal more details.
Source
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
