Wanted A Hybrid-powered Honda Elevate? Well, It’ll Either Be Pure Petrol Or All-electric - Nothing In Between

• Honda Elevate won’t get a hybrid powertrain.

• Will continue with the sole 121PS, 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine.

• It will get an all-electric derivative by 2026.

• Bookings for Elevate to open in July, launch expected sometime around September.

• Price could start from around Rs 12 lakh.

The Honda Elevate is the latest product that adds to the fraternity of compact SUVs in India. And while previous reports strongly suggested that it’ll borrow both the petrol and strong hybrid powertrains from the City, the latter possibly sometime post its launch, Honda has now put all those speculations to rest.

At its debut, the Elevate was revealed with only the pure-petrol 121PS, 1.5-litre powertrain from the City and Honda has now confirmed that it will continue with that engine option only; that is, until its all-electric avatar pops up sometime around 2026. So NO hybrid powertrain for the Elevate in the future as well. The only current engine can be paired to either a 6-speed manual or 7-step CVT gearbox.

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Partial blame for no hybrid in the Elevate goes to the City Hybrid, which has been faring quite well and running the sales numbers to the extent that Honda is struggling to keep up with the demand for it. Hence, the decision of not offering the Elevate SUV with the same hybrid technology.

As for the aforementioned Elevate EV, it will be part of five new SUVs to be launched by Honda before 2030. You can know more about its future plans here. As for the Elevate SUV, its order books will open in July, which will be followed by a launch sometime around August-September. Until then, you can head over to our detailed image gallery for a 360-degree view of the new Honda SUV.

We expect Honda to retail the Elevate from around the Rs 12 lakh (ex-showroom) mark. It’ll have a horde of rivals to fend off, such as the VW Taigun, Skoda Kushaq, Toyota Hyryder, MG Astor and the soon-to-be-launched Citroen C3 Aircross.