Honda City Hybrid - A Sensible, Economical, And Fuss-Free Car

The Honda City will soon be available with a hybrid powertrain and more safety kit, but is it better?

- Rivan RS

With the Honda City e:HEV, the Japanese brand is venturing into the unknown. While India is not a stranger to strong hybrid technology, it has remained available only in the higher segments, namely in a Toyota or Lexus or two. A midsize-sedan with this sort of hybrid technology is a niche that Honda is capitalise on, as it promises a stupendously frugal drive (the City e-HEV has a 26.5 kpl claimed fuel economy), better performance, and it even has a level 2 autonomous safety suite.

Honda has added a few cosmetic changes to the car as well, to help differentiate it from the petrol and diesel City. The front fog light clusters have racy-looking black slats, there are new (and stylish) 16inch alloys, and there’s a prominent spoiler on the boot lip, too. The only other prominent exterior changes are that the Honda badges now have a blue highlight and that there’s an e:HEV badge above the right tail-light, both of which denoting the City’s new hybrid status. If you look at the headlight, there’s an attractive new concave headlights inserts, which does give the nose a new look.

Step inside, and there’s very little that tells you this is a different Honda City. The most obvious changes are the ivory finish on the dashboard and seat covers, though a closer look at the gearbox, steering, specific parts of the dash, and the boot will tell you this version has something more. Instead of a sport setting on the gear, there’s B, which enhances the amount of resistance from the electric motor, simulating engine braking. It’s especially useful when going downhill. The boot is also about 200 litres smaller than the standard City’s due to the battery pack taking up that space.