Honda City Hybrid launching soon: To become India’s most fuel efficient car

Honda Car India launched the all-new tenth-generation Honda City last year. Just after the launch of the all-new City, rumours around the arrival of the hybrid version of the City became widespread. Now confirming the same to AutoCar, Rajesh Goyal, senior vice president of Honda Car India, said that Honda will launch the hybrid in the next financial year.

Honda already sells the super-efficient hybrid version of the City in international markets like Malaysia and Thailand. In both these countries, the official fuel efficiency figure is above 27.5 km/l, which is extremely good for a mid-size sedan like Honda City.

Also read: Almost-new 2020 Honda City sedans for sale

While the Japanese manufacturer is yet to test the upcoming Honda City hybrid on the Indian roads, we may get to see the same in near future with the confirmation of launch.

The same 1.5-litre petrol engine

The Honda City hybrid will come powered by a 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated engine with an electric motor. The petrol engine produces a maximum power of 98 PS between 5,600 and 6,400 rpm while the electric motor produces a maximum of 109 PS between 0 and 3,000 rpm. The petrol engine produces a maximum of 127 Nm of torque while the electric motor produces a maximum of 253 Nm of peak torque. The car comes with e-CVT transmission only. There is no manual transmission available with this hybrid variant.

The hybrid system also makes the City RS quicker than the only petrol-powered version of the car. It takes about 9.9 seconds from a standstill to reach 100 km/h. The non-hybrid version does the same in 10.2 seconds. However, the top speed is 173 km/h, which is lower than the 196 km/h speed of the regular non-hybrid version. This can be due to the increased weight of the vehicle due to the addition of the hybrid system.

Honda has programmed the car to operate at around an engine running at around 2,000 rpm. Honda says that about 95% of energy is saved as electricity in a hybrid as it is re-deployed to the wheels. The City Hybrid is about 110 kg heavier than the standard City. Honda will also not offer a spare tyre, which has been removed to accommodate the large battery pack. The boot capacity is also now lower at 410 litres from 506 litres. The City Hybrid also comes with rear disc brakes and an electronic parking brake.

How expensive?

Honda is expected to launch the all-new City Hybrid by the middle of next year. Since the technology used in the car is so much more advanced than the Ciaz, expect a much bigger price tag, which is likely to cross the top-end version of the regular, non-hybrid City. So the price of the hybrid version can be expected to be around Rs 20 lakhs and in all probability, there will be a single variant of the car available in the Indian market.

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