[ashishpotdar]

Finally, some positive news from Honda India. Seems like the Slavia has woken them from their slumber. Hopefully they also bring in the New BRV (Indonesia) - A much better car now with Honda's version of ADAS, City Hatchback and the HRV. Skoda/VW have shown that a refreshed lineup can rejuvenate the fortunes of the brand in India. Fingers crossed. And if prices reasonably ( 1 to 2L premium to ZX CVT), will be booking a Red City Hybrid !!!

[fhdowntheline]

What we might see is that the erstwhile D segment will now be occupied by top end versions of the City hybrid and Slavia 1.5TSI.

[Dhillon]

Honda had already planned to launch this for the Indian Market. Also, it is very much likely that they will bring ADAS to their cars within this year.

[bordeaux]

Fantastic! A sub 100 BHP full sized sedan. Who doesn't want that?! For Honda folks, time seems to be running in reverse direction

[car_guy1998]

When I went to the Honda dealer today to check out the City CVT and when I asked the sales guy regarding the future of Honda in India, and, he replied that Honda isn't going anywhere and planning to launch the City Hybrid soon this year and have plans to launch the HRV as well, which will compete with Creta/Seltos clan.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by bordeaux

Fantastic! A sub 100 BHP full sized sedan. Who doesn't want that?! For Honda folks, time seems to be running in reverse direction

Net output is 109bhp and a diesel like 253Nm. The car is much faster than the 1.5 iVTEC with a 9.xx second time for 0-100kmph. That, and the assurance of 20kmpl+ in city traffic. This is progress and then some. The City hybrid can rejuvenate Honda’s fortunes in India overnight.

[ron178]

I really hope this gets AEB like the Brazilian one will. Clearly it's not a development problem. The Hybrid will already be expensive, if Honda wants people to shell out more I'm sure AEB could be a good differentiator. Competition from MG and Mahindra has already shown it.

https://youtu.be/pQNbixyjPUk

Not sure about lane assist, though, it can be dangerous without proper infrastructure. Perhaps just a lane departure warning and not lane keep assist would be a good place to start?

And that blue paint, it's a personal opinion but boy, does it look good!

If it's true, I really hope this isn't another Figo Automatic moment.

[techmotor]

This is good news. A proper hybrid is the need of the hour and I hope Honda launches it soon. Pricing is key here, however looking at the Slavia prices(especially 1.5L), it should not be a difficult task. With Honda's reliability and after sales service being superior to that of Skoda and not far off from Hyundai, excellent fuel economy compared to turbo petrol engines, I think Honda should have a winner here. IMHO, they should also introduce a hybrid HR-V and Honda should be back in the game.

[speedracer05]

I hope they make a flex engine or a CNG version of this. Since engine is not directly powering the car, it can run at lower power output, with cheaper fuel, at an optimal RPM. It will be multiple wins in the FE department.

[alenp07]

I believe that Hybrids make more sense in the Indian context. If Suzuki, Toyota and Honda is betting on Hybrids rather than jumping on the EV bandwagon in 2022 I strongly feel that they must have done a definitive study on India specific strategy. Interestingly both Honda and Toyota (Suzuki) is trying to introduce similar technology that is electric Motor and Atkinson Cycle combo. In cities, it will run on an electric motor and on highways we see a mix of both engine and motor as per the operating conditions. Considering the 40l fuel tank of the City on this hybrid avatar we can expect a 1000km tank range if we assume 25km/l fuel consumption. In my opinion, it is just awesome as we don't need to be worried about charging stations. The city is already a solid package but lacks individuality in the world of crossovers and SUVs. In my opinion, the hybrid strategy can create a new category of vehicles in India. I am hoping that Honda will price it right.

[qaqa]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

There is no combined output here. Honda's system is very different to the usual hybrids that we see.

The engine is manily there to charge the battery...There is no transmission and the main drive will be the electric motor...

This seems to be very similar to the Nissan E-Power concept which I understand is quite a rage in Japan.

The way I see it, these cars offer the best of all worlds - the autonomy of ICE cars, the instant torque of EVs, with loads of fuel efficiency!

I think this concept is apt for Indian conditions. In crawling start-stop traffic, the system can operate very efficiently. Given enough battery backup, the ICE may not even need to kick-in during these crawls. They can add some sort of KERS to increase efficiency even further. For most urban commutes, I would expect the FE improvement to be quite dramatic.

I am curious to know how these systems fare on the highway. The ICE motor has a power output lower than the electric motor..not sure how the ICE would be able to generate enough power to keep the electric motor running at peak output. I would think the peak output of these systems would get capped at the peak power of the ICE unit. Atleast torque should be available on-tap.

Good on Honda to bring in this system. It's certainly not a "mild hybrid" - it's an EV with a genset attached! Much better than the rudimentary "mild hybrids" from the competition - I am looking at you, Maruti!

[ashishpotdar]

Some explanation of the Honda City RS EHEV from Malaysia. Not a classic RS like a Civic RS - More of a Green EV. A very different "hybrid" approach to Electric vs ICE.

https://youtu.be/1jhXavwY83I

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by qaqa

The way I see it, these cars offer the best of all worlds - the autonomy of ICE cars, the instant torque of EVs, with loads of fuel efficiency!

I am really looking forward to the 250 Nm torque at 0 rpm. Just hope the note and feel from that IC engine doesn't make it too weird for an involving drive during acceleration etc. Though the acceleration video below doesn't make it sound too bad. Fingers crossed!

Originally Posted by qaqa

I think this concept is apt for Indian conditions. In crawling start-stop traffic, the system can operate very efficiently. Given enough battery backup, the ICE may not even need to kick-in during these crawls. They can add some sort of KERS to increase efficiency even further.

It can run on pure EV mode for up to 2KM. Interesting that you mention KERS and there is adjustable regen too with paddle control for that one pedal driving. Its cool to see Honda bringing some tech from the world of F1.

Really hope for these two things:
1) That we get the car here and this is not some eyewash to dodge the exit rumors & the twin attack from VAG.
2) Honda India doesn't dilute the car with 'localization' and we get the City RS itself with all the toys and that lovely all black interior.

Originally Posted by qaqa

I am curious to know how these systems fare on the highway.

The acceleration looks quite good. Especially since this one is a proper jekyll and hyde.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5_2EMQepX4&

[sunikkat]

Atleast we are now hearing about launches from Honda, hope they launch them soon and not take another couple of years.
With Slavia 1.5 without any competition, the city Hybrid (though 108 bhp sound less) and Verna with 1.4 Turbo (hope they get it) will create a segment for themselves.

[Guru_Shikhar]

What a good news. This will certainly help stop rumors of Honda leaving India and garnishing new customers. All moulds down to pricing. Honda has to price it well and not be greedy. But these are just expectations. All of a sudden; there are good hopes for sedan lovers.

Cheers.