Greener City cleaner City

Honda has just launched the City in hybrid guise making the City e:HEV its second attempt at offering a hybrid in India after the Civic hybrid many years back. What does it offer and does a hybrid powertrain make sense? We find out

- Rahul Ghosh

Manufacturers across the world have been trying hard to make the humble internal combustion engine as green and as efficient as possible. However, there have been limitations as far as new technologies are concerned. Sure the ICE will get even greener with time. The next step though is to go hybrid where an electric motor and a battery pack works in conjunction with the ICE to reduce emissions. This is the next step for sure and Honda tried it many years back with the launch of the Civic Hybrid. But to be honest, the Civic came way ahead of its time. Now though, Honda is trying its hand at going hybrid one more time with the City e:HEV.

The changes to the City e:HEV are more serious under the skin. Yet there are subtle changes on the outside that differentiate it from the regular Honda City. The Honda logo on the grille and the boot now comes surrounded by a blue halo which signifies it is a 'greener' City. Then there are new fog lamp housings upfront and a boot spoiler at the back. The City continues to offer an LED headlamp set and LED taillights as well. New 16-in alloys adorn the City e:HEV and they sure look smart. Last but not the least, there is an e:HEV badge on the boot lid too.

The Honda City e:HEV comes with the same soothing colours inside as seen on the standard version. The infotainment system is an 8 in unit and now offers more connectivity features. The City e:HEV also gets a blind spot camera which beams the feed to the infotainment system and sure comes in handy. The instrument panel is a mix of analogue and digital displays and comes with a plethora of options and information. The steering wheel also comes with a whole bunch of buttons to operate the usual functions along with the autonomous features.