Vlektra Retro (72V 1.5kW LFP electric bike)

The Vlektra Retro is the cheapest way into Pakistan's only all-lithium-iron-phosphate e-bike range: a 1,500W, 72V city commuter with a 1.73 kWh LFP pack, a claimed 80 km range and a 70 km/h claimed top speed. It costs Rs 279,000 as of 2 August 2026 - the manufacturer's own current price, reduced from Rs 299,000, and matched the same day by Gari.pk, OLX Pakistan's price blog and Volnivo.

There is a second, lower price that is real and official: the government's PAVE portal lists this model - under Vlektra's corporate name, Vitality Electric Vehicles - at Rs 225,000 for balloted applicants. Rs 279,000 is what a walk-in buyer pays; Rs 225,000 is the scheme price, and the section below explains which is available to whom.

One number on the internet disagrees, and it matters: PakWheels lists the Retro at Rs 379,000. We could find no listing anywhere at that price. PakWheels' own December 2023 owner review recorded a purchase at Rs 400,000, which suggests its figure is a stale price that stepped down once and stopped moving. We publish Rs 279,000 and name the outlier rather than averaging the two.

Specifications

The torque note. 1,500W delivered at 70 km/h through an 18-inch wheel is about 22 Nm of continuous torque at the rim. Vlektra's 100 Nm can therefore only be a stall or momentary peak figure; PakWheels' 11 Nm is below what the bike plainly does from a standing start. Neither number is useful for comparison shopping - ride it.

Honest assessment

Pros. At Rs 279,000 this is a lithium iron phosphate bike priced level with lead-acid and "graphene" lead-carbon rivals - Metro's T9 Pro is Rs 279,000, Yadea's G5 is Rs 280,000 and Jolta's JE-100D is Rs 275,000 on PakWheels the same day. That is the entire argument for the Retro and it is a strong one, because a lead-acid pack in Pakistani commuting duty is a 12-to-18-month consumable while LFP tolerates heat and deep cycling far better. The advertised 3-year battery and 2-year motor replacement warranty is the longest battery term of any brand covered on this site, and at 105 kg dry with reverse assist it is a manageable city bike.

Cons. The front brake is a drum, on a Rs 279,000 bike that claims 70 km/h - the specification we would change first, and worth knowing that the 2023 version appears to have had a front disc. The claimed range is optimistic; plan on about 60 km, not 80. The published specification is inconsistent across the two places buyers actually look, and Vlektra's own site cannot agree with itself on battery life (10 years here, 15 years on the homepage). Support is the deep risk: one service centre named on the whole Visit Us page, in Karachi, with 17 of the 28 listed entries being third-party traders. And the booking policy takes a Rs 50,000 advance while refusing to name a delivery date until it has full payment.

Who should buy. A city commuter doing under 30 km each way who wants LFP instead of a lead-acid pack that will need replacing before the third summer, living near Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad or Multan. Someone who rides highway sections, carries a pillion daily or needs strong braking should look at the Bolt - twice the power, discs at both ends, twice the price. Someone whose priority is the lowest purchase price should be looking at Jolta's Rs 144,900 Sparrow and accepting the battery-replacement economics that come with it.

Pakistan reality check

Range, planned properly. Vlektra claims 80 km; PakWheels claims 100 km; the pack is 1.73 kWh either way. Our range methodology applies a 75% real-yield discount for heat above 40C, stop-start traffic, flyovers and pillion loads, which puts this bike near 60 km. A 25 km each-way commute is comfortable; 40 km each way is not, unless you can charge at the far end. Note that this site's own range guide currently lists the Retro as a 72V 32Ah (2.3 kWh) bike claiming 120 km - the manufacturer says 72V 24Ah and 80 km, and that guide needs correcting.

What a charge costs. About 1.9 units to fill 1.73 kWh allowing for charger losses: roughly Rs 114 on a Rs 60/kWh residential slab, or Rs 45 at the Rs 23.57/unit off-peak rate. Over a realistic 60 km that is about Rs 1.90 per kilometre on the slab and Rs 0.75 off-peak, against about Rs 7.47/km for a Honda CD 70 at 45 km/l with petrol at Rs 336.03/litre (effective 1 August 2026). The Retro's Rs 119,100 premium over a new CD 70 pays back in roughly 21,000 km on the slab rate - around twenty months at 35 km a day - and faster off-peak or from your own solar.

PAVE: this bike has two prices, and the government publishes the second one. The official approved-vehicle list at pave.gov.pk/vehicles carries, on 2 August 2026, VITALITY ELECTRIC VEHICLES - RETRO at PKR 225,000, alongside a VELOCITY at PKR 249,000 and nothing else from this maker. Vitality Electric Vehicles is Vlektra under its corporate name: the portal's partner-companies register lists it at Emerald Tower, Clifton, Karachi with the contacts info@v-lektra.com and 0319-8535872 - Vlektra's own published email and WhatsApp number - and Vlektra's PAVE page tells applicants to write the pay order to Vitality Electric Vehicles. So this bike is Rs 279,000 walking into a showroom and Rs 225,000 if you are balloted, and the Rs 249,000 pay order on Vlektra's page belongs to the Velocity, not to the Retro.

What the Rs 180,000 headline is worth. pkrevenue's article - "cut from Rs 225,000 to Rs 180,000 with a Rs 45,000 subsidy" - starts from the portal's real scheme price and then loses the thread. pave.gov.pk states Rs 80,000 per bike returned to the buyer's account under Self Finance, and a Rs 50,000 upfront subsidy under Bank Lease; neither is Rs 45,000, and Rs 225,000 less Rs 80,000 is Rs 145,000, not Rs 180,000. Take Rs 225,000 as verified and read any net figure off the portal yourself. The routes differ in a way that matters: under Self Finance you send a pay order to the OEM, take delivery within 60 days and the state refunds Rs 80,000 to your account after verification - which is exactly what Vlektra's page describes - whereas under Bank Lease the bank pays the OEM directly, the mechanism ProPakistani reported after the 5 May 2026 Phase-2 approval. Get the route named in writing before any money moves.

Heat, and the one counter that honours the warranty. LFP is the right chemistry for a Multan summer, and a 3-year replacement term is a real promise - but Vlektra publishes no warranty terms document, no exclusions list and no claim procedure, and lists exactly one service centre, in Karachi. If you are buying through a dealership in Bahawalpur, Sargodha or Sukkur, get in writing which workshop performs a battery replacement and who pays the freight; the booking policy already establishes that out-of-Karachi delivery freight is the buyer's cost.

Check the bike you are actually buying. The Retro changed between the 2023 press coverage and the 2026 specification: a front disc and a 17-inch rim in the December 2023 owner review, a drum front and an 18-inch front today. Confirm the brake type, wheel size and pack capacity on the unit in the showroom, and get the frame and motor numbers onto the invoice - without them a three-year warranty has nothing to attach to.

Price context vs rivals (August 2026)

Same source, same day - PakWheels brand price lists, 2 August 2026:

Read that as a chemistry comparison, not a price comparison. Within Rs 5,000 of the Retro you can buy a Jolta JE-100D, a Metro T9 Pro or a Yadea G5 - and none of the three gives you a lithium iron phosphate pack with a 3-year replacement warranty. Yadea's own lithium tier does not start until the Rs 290,000 T5L, and its graphene models carry an 18-month battery term. That is what the Retro's price buys: not more power, not more range, but a pack that should still be there in year four.

If you need more speed or braking, the Bolt is Rs 549,000; for more range the Velocity 180 is Rs 339,000. The brand hub carries the full lineup and the sourcing behind each price.