Deliveries of the Honda City eHEV whose production commenced today will start by May
Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) has started production of the recently unveiled Honda City eHEV at its facility in Tapukara, Rajasthan. The City eHEV is the first C-segment sedan in the country to powered by a pure hybrid powertrain.
The City eHEV features a self-charging 2-motor ‘e-CVT’ hybrid system connected to a 1.5-litre Atkinson cycle DOHC i-VTEC petrol engine via what Honda calls an ‘Intelligent Power Unit (IPU)’.
There’s a Lithium-ion battery pack and an engine-linked direct coupling clutch that engages when additional power is needed. The eHEV electric-hybrid system uses 3 driving modes – EV Drive, Hybrid Drive, and Engine Drive – and has a ‘Regeneration’ mode during deceleration.
The IPU ensures seamless and automatic switching between the above-mentioned modes based on the driver’s input. It is to be noted that these modes are not manually switchable.
The combined maximum power of the system is 126 HP with a claimed fuel efficiency of 26.5 km/l. The maximum motor torque stands at 253 Nm available from 0 to 3000 RPM.
In terms of features, the hybrid sedan comes equipped with connected car tech, smartwatch functionality along with Alexa and ‘Ok Google’ integrations and Electric Parking Brake (EPB) with auto brake hold.
Further, there is a 7-inch full-colour TFT digital cluster that shows the car’s ‘Power Flow’ meters and various other alerts and an 8-inch touchscreen at the centre with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.
The safety features include AVAS (Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System at low speed EV Mode), 6 airbags, lane watch, multi-angle rear-view camera, TPMS with deflation warning, vehicle stability assist with agile handling assist, and ISOFIX compatible rear seats with lower anchorage.
Honda also offers what it calls ‘Honda Sensing’ technology that includes safety features namely Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM), Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS), adaptive cruise control, and auto high-beam.
A 3-year, unlimited km warranty is offered as standard, while extended warranty can also be opted for up to 5 years and any-time warranty up to 10 years from the date of purchase. The lithium-ion battery warranty will be 8 years or 1.6 lakh km.
While bookings for the car are already open for a token amount of Rs. 21,000/-, customer deliveries of the hybrid C-segment sedan in India will commence from May onward.