Honda City eHEV Hybrid Deliveries Commence

Honda had earlier this month launched the hybrid version of the City sedan. The Honda City is unique in its segment as no other rival offers a proper strong hybrid option. In fact, the most affordable strong hybrid car sold in India before the arrival of the City eHEV was Toyota's Camry, which costs north of Rs 40 lakh.

The Honda City's strong hybrid powertrain consists of a 1.5-litre Atkinson cycle straight four petrol engine and two electric motors - one which aids with the propulsion while the other charges the lithium-ion battery pack.

When combined together, the Honda City eHEV's strong hybrid system outputs 126bhp and 253Nm of peak torque all of which is sent to the front wheels via a eCVT gearbox. Honda claims that the Honda City eHEV hybrid will deliver a mileage of 26.5km/l.

This is thanks to the hybrid system and the start/stop system which shuts off the engine in start stop traffic ensuring that the City eHEV uses its motor and battery combo to continue moving when traffic starts to move again.

Speaking about the hybrid system, its installation has meant that the hybrid version of the CIty is 110 kilos heavier than the standard car. The battery pack has been installed in the boot of the sedan which has meant a reduction 96 litres of storage space. The City eHEV sports a 410 litre boot compared to the regular car's 506 litres.

Drivers of the new City eHEV also have no control over which mode the car will drive in. The Honda City eHEV's onboard computers determine which of the three driving modes - EV, hybrid and engine. The engine of the City eHEV only drives the wheels in engine mode. In hybrid mode the engine is used as a generator to charge the battery pack while in pure EV mode, it is totally shut off.

The strong hybrid system is not the only feature that makes the Honda City eHEV stand out from its rivals. The new Honda City eHEV comes packed with a host of connected car and advanced driver aid systems (ADAS).

The driver aids are part of the new Honda Sensing suite and include features like autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist, collision mitigation braking system, road departure mitigation and auto high beam.

The updated 8-inch infotainment system offers Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard and can be activated with the help of the Google Assistant or Amazon's Alexa voice assistants. Owners with a compatible smartwatch can access and control quite a few features directly from their wrists.

The Honda City e:HEV is offered in 5 different colours - Platinum White Pearl, Lunar Silver Metallic, Meteoroid Grey Metallic, Golden Brown Metallic and Radiant Red Metallic.

Thoughts On The Honda City eHEV

The Honda City eHEV brings with it a host of features including the first-in-segment strong hybrid system and ADAS setup that make it stand out from its competitors. Hopefully, the new City eHEV's arrival on India's roads will see more people and brands switch over to electrified vehicles in the near future.