Honda City e: HEV is expected to be offered in two trim levels – V and ZX. The range-topping ZX trim will also benefit from ADAS including lane departure warning, lane keep assist, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking.
Honda City hybrid price and availability
The Honda City e: HEV is likely to be dearer than its ICE powered counterpart thanks to its complex full-hybrid powertrain. The official price of the vehicle will be announced soon by the company but it may cost anywhere between Rs 18-20 lakh. The vehicle is expected to be offered in two trim levels – V and ZX. The Honda City e: HEV will be up for pre-booking from today, April 14th, onwards. The vehicle launch and sales has been scheduled for early May 2022 onwards.
Honda City e: HEV specifications
Honda Cars India Limited CEO and President, Takuya Tsumura, today unveiled the Honda City e: HEV for the Indian car market. The Honda City e: HEV brings along a variety of new-age technology to deliver, “sustainability, safety and convenience” as it becomes the first strong hybrid car in the C-segment passenger car market in the country.
Power and performance
The Honda City e: HEV gets a 1.5 litre Atkinson Cycle i-VTEC petrol engine that develops 98bhp of peak power and 127Nm of peak torque. This four-cylinder petrol engine uses a dual overhead camshaft (DOHC) setup and delivers over 40.5 percent of thermal efficiency, which is one of the best on any ICE.
This engine however acts more like a generator for most parts of the drive in the new City e: HEV along with a generator motor. Accompanying this system is a second motor that is essential for driving, the traction motor. The two motors combined deliver 109bhp of peak power and 253Nm of peak torque. The entire system stores electric power in a high voltage Li-ion battery pack. Honda hasn’t released the figures on the engine plus electric motor combined output yet.
When travelling at city speeds up to 40kmph the Honda City e: HEV resorts to a pure electric drive. At speeds upwards of 40kmph up to 80kmph, there is a balance of electric power as well as power generated by the petrol engine. During this time the petrol engine functions at its peak efficiency of about 2,000rpm. The petrol engine thus helps to achieve a combined efficiency of 95 percent while a simple ICE set-up can only manage about 40-45 percent efficiency. At speeds beyond 120kmph, the petrol engine directly powers the front wheels via a single-step clutch.
Stage-wise regenerative braking is also present that helps to rejuvenate and pushback lost energy back to the battery pack. All the systems when working in tandem end up delivering a class-leading fuel economy of 26.5kmpl.
- 1.5ltr i-VTEC DOHC petrol engine with 98bhp and 127Nm
- eCVT twin motor set up with 109bhp and 253Nm
- ADAS functionalities and 4 disc brakes
- Claimed FE: 26.5kmpl
Safety
Honda Sensing technology incorporates high-end ADAS systems to provide a safer drive. Advanced driver-assistance systems are groups of electronic technologies that assist drivers in driving and parking functions. This kind of technology has not yet been introduced in a C-segment sedan, before making the Honda City e: HEV the first in class. A front-mounted wide-angle camera along with a computer brings along a collision mitigation braking system (CMBS), road departure mitigation (RDM), lane keep assist system (LKAS), adaptive cruise control and auto high beam.
The safety net also includes – vehicle stability assist, hill start assist, emergency stop signal, deflation warning system, e-parking brake, auto-brake hold, lane watch camera, reverse camera and sensors and six airbags. Additionally, all four disc brakes are also offered given the car’s 110kg added weight and new powertrain, as compared to the outgoing ICE model.
Design and features
The design of the Honda City e: HEV stays true to the current generation model which is was launched in 2020. However, the new City e: HEV gets some subtle changes to differentiate from the ICE sibling which includes – ‘e: HEV’ badging, revised front grille, fog lamp garnish, a new rear diffuser and a boot lid spoiler.
On the inside, the dual-tone theme of the cabin is carried over and gets a one-touch electric sunroof, LED reading lamps, and ambient lighting. The instrument cluster gets a 7-inch full-colour TFT display and now shows hybrid powertrain related stats. Other features include – an 8-inch infotainment system with an 8 speaker surround sound system, Apple Carplay/Android Auto/ WebLink support, Honda Connect with Amazon Echo, Google Assistant and smartwatch integration.
Warranty and support
The Honda City e: HEV gets a 3 year/unlimited kilometres manufacturer’s warranty that can be extended up to 5 years. An eight-year warranty on the Li-ion battery pack is also provided. Furthermore, an Anytime Warranty valid up to 10 years/1,20,000km is also part of the offering as is a roadside assistance scheme.
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