Bajaj Freedom 125: CNG Filling Experience

There has been a lot of hype around the Bajaj Freedom 125, the world's first CNG motorcycle. But the main questions on many interested customers' minds are CNG availability and the experience of refilling the motorcycle at a CNG station. We recently refilled CNG in the bike and here is what our experience was like. 

Being someone who has never spent time with a CNG-powered car, this was an entirely different experience with the Bajaj Freedom 125. After our bike ran out of CNG, we checked for the closest CNG station and navigated our way there. The usual sight at a CNG station in Pune is a long queue of cabs and rickshaws. Combined, there were over 30 vehicles in line to get their CNG tanks filled up. 

We got to skip the line and get ahead because of people's interest in the product. Then we were informed that the station had run out of CNG, so everyone could do nothing but wait. Luckily, the truck arrived soon, and within 10 to 15 minutes, CNG was ready to be filled again. Now while Bajaj claims that the tank can fit up to 2kg of CNG, the amount that gets filled majorly depends on the pressure of the CNG pump. So we were able to fill only 1.63kg instead of the claimed 2kg volume, and this cost us around Rs 145.

Overall, the entire process was insightful but it did teach us that we only went through it hassle-free because this is a new motorcycle and everyone was interested in looking at it and interacting with us. Cabs and rickshaws aren’t going to welcome CNG bikers breaking queues in the near future so something really does need to be done about the CNG infrastructure. In fact, the attendants at the pump also commented that soon they’ll have to start separate lines for bikes to fill CNG, in addition to the existing lines for auto-rickshaws and cars.

Also, it is worth noting that just after the launch of the motorcycle, prices for CNG have increased by Rs 1.50 per litre. Considering this price hike, we hope to see the CNG infrastructure drastically improved as it is going to be a very stressful and time-consuming process not just for bikers, but for the cabs and auto-rickshaws that have their jobs dependent on quickly getting CNG refilled.