Bajaj Pulsar NS160 Ethanol-Powered Bike Showcased

The bike looks identical to the regular petrol powered Bajaj Pulsar NS160

• An ethanol/Flex-fuel powered Bajaj Pulsar NS160 was showcased at India Bio-Energy & Tech (IBET) Expo 2024
• The bike was showcased alongside the Freedom 125 CNG bike
• It runs on E100 fuel, which is a 93.5 percent ethanol mix

Bajaj Auto showcased an ethanol-powered Pulsar NS160, called the Bajaj Pulsar NS160 Flex Fuel at the India Bio-Energy & Tech (IBET) Expo 2024, held in New Delhi. This NS160 showcased runs on E100 fuel, which is a 93.5 percent ethanol mix. The bike was showcased along with the Bajaj Freedom 125 CNG bike.

The Pulsar NS160 Flex Fuel is an upcoming offering from the brand that is based on alternative fuel technology. Earlier the brand had launched the Freedom 125 CNG bike which currently is the only CNG-powered bike in India.

The petrol-powered Pulsar NS160 is powered by a 160.3cc air/oil-cooled engine which outputs 17.2PS and 14.6Nm. The flex fuel bike could output a similar power figure but will end up being less fuel-efficient. But ethanol is much cheaper than petrol so the bike will be able to make up for this inefficiency.

The government has been pushing 2-wheeler manufacturers to introduce alternative-fuel vehicles for sometime now and earlier, we got to see a flex-fuel powered TVS Raider 125 showcased and also a flex-fuel powered Royal Enfield Classic 350 at Bharat Mobility Expo 2024, held in March. It won’t be long before ethanol powered bikes are introduced to the market. 

Earlier, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director of Bajaj Auto stated  that the brand could launch the ethanol-powered Pulsar by March 2025. Bajaj also has a strong presence in Brazil and Latin American countries where E80/E100 fuel consumption is high. This makes sense for Bajaj to make this leap into flex-fuel bikes.

The major advantage ethanol-powered vehicles have over other  alternative fuel vehicles is that they don’t need dedicated fueling stations or other infrastructure. Once introduced in the country, it will most likely be available at regular petrol pumps.

Currently, the Bajaj Pulsar NS160 is priced at Rs 1,47,206 (ex-showroom, Delhi) and it goes up against other 160cc bikes in the segment such as the TVS Apache RTR 160 4V and the Hero Xtreme 160R 4V. We expect the powered Pulsar NS160 Flex Fuel to be priced between Rs 1.4 lakh and1.55 lakh, ex-showroom.