Honda recently commenced the deliveries of the hybrid version of the City sedan in India. To mark the occasion, the keys of the first batch of Honda City e:HEV sedans were handed over to the respective owners by the company’s top-level management.
The hybrid version of the Honda City is priced from Rs 19.49 lakh (Ex-showroom, India). Apart from that, the Honda City e:HEV is currently the most affordable hybrid vehicle in the country.
In terms of the design, the Honda City e:HEV features a hefty dose of chrome at the front and the Honda logo now features a blue accent to distinguish the hybrid model from the regular model.
Apart from that, the new Honda City e:HEV sports a slightly revised front bumper and a new front grille design with a honeycomb finish instead of the horizontal slats. At the rear, the redesigned rear bumper now sports a diffuser-like design element and also comes with a new lip spoiler on the boot.
In terms of features, the Honda City e:HEV sedan comes loaded with features such as an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a surround sound speaker system, full LED headlamps,
automatic climate control, 7-inch full-colour TFT instrument display, Walk Away Auto Lock, Connected Car tech using Honda’s Smart Connect App, Google Assistant, ambient lighting and a lot more.
As for the safety features, the hybrid version of Honda City comes with a lot more safety systems. This includes advanced safety systems such as the Honda Sensing technology that comes with a whole list of active safety features such as auto high beam assist, emergency braking, Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), agile handling assist, tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist and front collision warning system.
In addition to all these advanced safety features, the new hybrid version of the Honda City comes equipped with 6 airbags, auto brake hold, ABS, EBD, electronic parking brake, lane watch camera, multi angle rear view camera and much more.
Unlike the standard version, the Honda City e:HEV is powered by a hybrid powertrain. This new hybrid powertrain consists of a 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol engine, two electric motors and a new battery pack.
This 1.5-litre Atkinson cycle engine produces 97bhp of peak power at 5,600 to 6,400rpm and 127Nm of peak torque at 4,500 to 5,000rpm. However, both of these figures are lower than the standard model.
Together with the 108bhp electric motor and the internal combustion engine, the new Honda City e:HEV produces a total of 125bhp and 253Nm of torque.
Unlike the plug-in hybrid electric vehicles which require a power source, the Honda City e:HEV will charge on its own using the brake energy regeneration. In addition to that, users of the Honda City e:HEV can tweak the intensity of brake energy regeneration using the paddles behind the steering wheel.
Also, the hybrid version of the Honda City can be driven in pure electric mode at speeds up to 40km/h.
Thoughts About Honda City e:HEV
The launch of the hybrid version of the Honda City e:HEV will not only boost the image of the Japanese automaker in the country but it will also likely to boost the overall sales figures for Honda in India.