While purists might still be cribbing about the lack of a turbo-petrol RS variant, Honda has launched the City e:HEV hybrid in India with prices starting from Rs 19.50 lakh. Available only in one trim, the top-spec ZX, the Honda City e:HEV hybrid does not have a direct rival as of yet, with its closest competitors being the likes of the Skoda Slavia, the Hyundai Verna, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and the Volkswagen Virtus.
Let’s begin with the numbers first. The Honda City hybrid is based on the top-spec ZX variant of the ICE-powered Honda City and with the hybrid being priced at Rs 19.50 lakh, that makes it nearly Rs 4.5 lakhs dearer than the top-spec petrol and diesel variants. The hybrid variant also gives the City a new trump card to play against its competitors which only offer petrol and diesel powertrains, being the most affordable hybrid on sale in India.
There’s not much to differentiate to distinguish the City hybrid on the styling front. There are new Honda emblems which are surrounded by a blue graphic and the front bumpers gets some new bits at the edges of the bumpers, but apart from that there’s nothing different to report on the styling. Only keen eyes will notice the rear disc brakes which are now present on the City hybrid, but they continue to sit behind the 16-inch alloy wheels which are unchanged from the ICE-powered City.
It’s a similar story with the cabin of the City hybrid, with not too much being changed from the regular City. The tachometer has now been replaced by a digital cluster which shows the power deployment and the drive modes and the traditional handbrake has been replaced by an electronic parking brake. There’s also a comprehensive set of safety features on offer such as road departure mitigation and lane keep assist along with ADAS and adaptive cruise control.
The big talking point is of course the hybrid powertrain and the City hybrid is powered by a 1.5-litre Atkinson cycle engine with DOHC working in tandem with two electric motors. The City hybrid’s powertrain is mated to an eCVT and the combined output of the setup is 124bhp. The hybrid setup also makes for amazing efficiency figures, with the City delivering 26.5kmpl as tested by ARAI. The City is also a smidge quicker in terms of performance, which you can read about in our first drive review.
The Honda City e:HEV hybrid marks the beginning of a new chapter of affordable hybrid cars in the country and like all the ICE-powered Citys before it, you can expect the hybrid version to set the class benchmarks in its segment. This just might be the car that gets us into cleaner and greener motoring!