Over the weekend, three Bajaj-built Qute quadricycles lined up near the MTNL exchange building in Charkop, waiting to navigate the narrow roads around Charkop and Gorai and generating quite a buzz.
Road tests for a completely new category of public transport vehicles – quadricycles – have begun on the streets of Mumbai, inviting curious looks from the passersby. Over the weekend, three Bajaj-built Qute quadricycles lined up near the MTNL exchange building in Charkop, waiting to navigate the narrow roads around Charkop and Gorai and generating quite a buzz.
These cars, unveiled in September last year, are being positioned as a public transport vehicle in a category between autorickshaws and taxis. The issue of fixing norms for this category is currently being heard in the Supreme Court and a launch in India is expected only after the apex court's verdict.
A state transport department official said the road tests are being conducted by the company following permission granted for it by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Pune. All the cars had MH14 plates.
"Qute has a turning radius of just 3.5 metres, which the manufacturing firm believes is ideal for tight corners, such as the ones we find near the city's railway stations. It also believes it can be run as shared vehicles as a last-mile transport mechanism, especially in places where there is a shortage of taxis. The road tests currently being conducted and the SC verdict will ultimately decide whether these cars will hit the roads at all," said a transport department official.
According to the claims made by the firm in its website, the Qute is of "monocoque" design – an automotive jargon for vehicles where the chassis is integral with the body of the vehicle. The website also claimed that Qute has a water-cooled engine, giving it a fuel efficiency of 36kmph. The manufacturers said while hybrid and electric cars were environment-friendly, they were too costly. This car, however, uses conventional fuel, such as petrol, but has the technology to bring down the carbon dioxide emissions to just 60g for every kilometre, which makes it ideal for Mumbai. A query sent to the firm from dna elicited no response.
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