Honda Debuts The ‘Cleaner’ City e:HEV Hybrid In India

• Will be the first mass-market ‘strong’ hybrid offering from Honda for our country

• Pairs a 109PS electric powertrain with a 98PS 1.5-litre petrol engine to make a combined 126PS.

• Will get sporty cosmetics, additional features, as well as the Honda Sensing ADAS safety suite of driver assists.

• Honda claims the City e:HEV can return 26.5kmpl of fuel efficiency.

• Will be offered in a fully loaded ZX trim.

• Expect it to be priced between Rs 18 lakh and Rs 18.5 lakh. 

India is finally getting a proper ‘strong’ hybrid model for the mass market, as Honda Cars India has taken the covers off the City e:HEV hybrid sedan. It’s the first mass market hybrid from Honda for India, and acts as a cleaner alternative to the standard sedan. featuring twin electric motors, engine and a small battery pack. It’ll be a made-in-India sedan, with pre-bookings now open, and will go on sale in early May. 

The biggest differentiator between the City e:HEV and the standard model is obviously under the hood. Like the Thai-spec model, its hybrid powertrain setup combines a 98PS 1.5-litre petrol engine with an 109PS/253Nm electric motor (which drives the wheels) that makes a combined 126PS. But it's the electric setup that’ll do the heavy duty, with the ICE counterpart simply acting as a generator majority of the time. Drive is sent to the front wheels via a CVT gearbox. 

As per Honda’s claims, it’ll be one of the most fuel efficient vehicles in the country, returning 26.5kmpl, or around 7kmpl more than the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz mild-hybrid AT. Honda will offer a variety of warranty packs, which include a 3-year unlimited km plan with an extension to five years, an 8-year warranty for the lithium-ion battery pack, as well as a 10-year/ 1.2 lakh km warranty plan. 

Honda’s also giving a sportier look via bolder bumpers, a honeycomb front grille and a boot lid spoiler like the Thai-spec RS trim. The big party trick though is the first-in-segment Honda Sensing ADAS suite of safety assists. This includes adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, automatic high beam assist, road departure mitigation system, and collision mitigation braking system. Honda has also added on all-wheel disc brakes, and an electronic parking brake with auto-hold to the hybrid sedan.

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Expect the Honda City e:HEV hybrid sedan’s price tag to be between Rs 18 lakh to Rs 18.5 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). While it is the only sedan in its segment, its price also puts it in contention with 1.5-litre TSI variants of the Skoda Slavia and the upcoming Volkswagen Virtus.