Honda City e:HEV hybrid production starts ahead of its launch in May
India Today
Honda City hybrid launch will take place in May 2022 as production gets underway at Honda Cars India Ltd's manufacturing facility in Tapukara, Rajasthan.
Honda Cars India Limited has announced that the production of the Honda City e:HEV, which is the sedan's hybrid variant, has commenced at the company’s plant in Tapukara, Rajasthan ahead of its launch. When launched, the Honda City e:HEV would become the first C-segment sedan in India to have proper strong hybrid tech onboard.
Upon first glance, the Hybrid City is visually not very different from the standard car, but subtle differences have been made to help set it apart. The Honda Logo on the nose has a blue highlight, symbolic of the car’s hybrid powertrain. There are new claw-design fog lamp housings, an e:HEV logo on the bootlid, a trunk spoiler, a new diffuser at the rear and two-tone alloy wheels.
Speaking on the announcement, Takuya Tsumura, President and CEO, Honda Cars India Limited said, “It’s a delight to share that we are commencing the production of the City e:HEV from our Tapukara facility in the state of Rajasthan. The milestone also marks our commitment to bring advanced technologies for Indian customers and beginning of our electrification journey in India. As a company, we have always been aligned with the Government of India’s vision of Make in India as well as bringing environmentally friendly technologies.”
Inside, the cabin of the Honda City hybrid is decked in a new two-tone ivory and black theme. The 8-inch infotainment screen comes from the City petrol variant, while the digital instrument panel incorporates displayed relevant to the operation of the hybrid setup and Honda's Sensing driver assistance tech. Other features include ambient lighting, sunroof, climate control and more.
Honda has also added Honda Sensing (ADAS) to the package. The system boasts features like Mitigation Braking System, Adaptive Cruise Control, Road Departure Mitigation, Lane Keep Assist and Auto high beam. Safety features also include 6 airbags, Honda lane watch, rear view camera, TPMS, stability assist, hill start assist, ISOFIX child seat anchorage points and more.
Coming to Honda City e:HEV’s party piece, the powertrain, which uses a 1.5-litre Atkinson Cycle petrol engine with an electric drive motor that puts out 80bhp and 253Nm of torque and an electric generation motor that puts out 95bhp, totalling a system output of 126bhp. A CVT is used for the gearbox. The car can operate in full electric, hybrid or even pure combustion engine modes depending upon need. Honda claims that the car will be able to provide a fuel efficiency of 26.5kmpl, which is considerably higher than its petrol powered counterpart and also higher than the diesel variant. The City e:HEV also gets disc brakes for all four wheels, unlike the standard car.
Bookings for the car have already commenced and can be made by depositing Rs 21,000. Honda will offer a 3-year unlimited kilometers warranty as standard, which can be extended to 5 or 10 years. The Lithium-Ion battery pack gets an 8-year or 1,60,000km warranty.
