[gauravdgr8]

Originally Posted by gauravdgr8

Did a test drive if the City Hybrid on Thursday. Before commenting on the car few observations about the showroom and current conditions.

It's been sometime now and the Chandigarh Honda showroom has missed 3 home test drive appointments. The Couresy Honda dealership missed the 1st appointment and the SA said he was unwell on Sunday, however the appointment was for Saturday. This too was told when I called on Monday.

The 2nd appointment was for next Sunday and that too was missed, and this time again I had to call in. I asked to speak to his manager.

Now the Sr. SA committed a Test drive for Sunday and apologized profusely and guess what, he did not call.

I called him on a Tuesday and gave him a piece of my mind. Told him that I want to speak to the GM, he said he will arrange for a callback and that too did not happen.

What a shame in the name of Honda.

Will be writing to Honda corporate and letting them know. Also trying to get hold on the MD of Courtesy Honda to let him know the pathetic customer experience at his showroom.

[gpagedar]

Originally Posted by gauravdgr8

It's been sometime now and the Chandigarh Honda showroom has missed 3 home test drive appointments.

That’s why I prefer to go to the showroom for the test drives.

And I’ve gone without appointment and have gotten a test drive the same day, with a maximum waiting of 30 minutes, everytime except once. That one time there were many people already in the queue and they couldn’t have given the TD before close of business hours. I got the TD the next morning.

I have never called for a home TD.

Also, you get a better feel of the folks you are dealing with.

[gauravdgr8]

Originally Posted by gpagedar

That’s why I prefer to go to the showroom for the test drives.
.

That's exactly what I did (mentioned in earlier posts). However the showroom mentioned that we can provide a longer Test Drive and can send the car home.

Well now after the escalation on the Honda FB page, the GM has got in touch with me and things are moving.

[gpagedar]

Originally Posted by gauravdgr8

That's exactly what I did (mentioned in earlier posts). However the showroom mentioned that we can provide a longer Test Drive and can send the car home.

Well now after the escalation on the Honda FB page, the GM has got in touch with me and things are moving.

Sorry, I seem to have missed that information.

It’s unfortunate that in spite of being serious buyers willing to put down more than 15 big ones this is the treatment meted out.

[RavenAvi]

Honda is marketing the City eHEV quite aggressively. Just take a look at some of the marketing slides sent to all dealers, including comparos:-

[SKC-auto]

What a nonsense #372, it is a 100% Petrol charged car, that also harvests energy from braking, without Petrol it cannot move even 1km.

[Greenville]

Hi friends,*
It was never easy for me to decide to buy a Hybrid. Firstly, I will fall into the category of early adopters who will enjoy some limelight but be at risk if something goes wrong. In addition, Hybrid has a steeper premium over City 5th Gen.*I was drawn to the vehicle because of its seamless integration of electric*motors with the petrol engine (and the mileage it provides)*as well as it's ADAS technology.

The MG Astor Savvy variant was my first choice before e:HEV as I was really excited about its ADAS level 2 features (especially on highways). The Chinese lockdown delayed my car's delivery for an indefinite period, while Honda announced City Hybrid. The real-time city mileage statistics provided by Astor owners were quite alarming, especially when petrol prices reached 120/L.*Therefore, I did a cost analysis between the two and e:HEV made perfect sense to me.*

Apart from my highway drives to my native place Kochi, I drive approximately 1000 km per month within Bangalore.*It is possible for e:HEV to break even in four years, even if I take the only city drives into account. (I am not factoring in the opportunity cost for the premium amount I am paying for City*Hybrid). I hope I have considered all other aspects in this evaluation.*

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Greenville

It is possible for e:HEV to break even in four years, even if I take the only city drives into account.

Without any real world stats for the City HEV, its hard to say. 20kmpl sounds optimistic. I'd drop it down to 15Kmpl and see what it does. You need to add a median price increase on fuel over the course of 4 years, based on the increase we've seen in the last 4 years.

Lets forget the kmpl numbers displayed on the dashboard. We need to know how far Honda's HEV can go on a tankful of gas.

Dependability should be the least of your worries with a Honda. HEV is new for India. Not for Honda.

The MG is a SUV. I've yet to come across any petrol suv that can deliver over 10kmpl in the city cycle. Those fuel economy numbers should come as no surprise.

I assume a top of line Honda City costs around 5lac less than the HEV variant. Lets assume you spend Rs. 10,000 a month on gas, you end up spending Rs. 120,000/year. 4 years = Rs. 480,000. Is that breaking if you buy an HEV City? Sure. Want to save more? Buy an EV.

[attinder]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Lets assume you spend Rs. 10,000 a month on gas, you end up spending Rs. 120,000/year. 4 years = Rs. 480,000. Is that breaking if you buy an HEV City? Sure. Want to save more? Buy an EV.

HEV will also need fuel, assuming 50% less it will take 8 years to break even. After 8-9 years battery will need to be replaced, add another year or two to the break even period.

Right now unless someone's mileage is super high even EV don't make much sense. They are neither cheap or green.

[Mumbaiker]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

I assume a top of line Honda City costs around 5lac less than the HEV variant. Lets assume you spend Rs. 10,000 a month on gas, you end up spending Rs. 120,000/year. 4 years = Rs. 480,000. Is that breaking if you buy an HEV City? Sure. Want to save more? Buy an EV.

If the comparison is between the Petrol City and the eHev, then its a no brainer that one needs to go for the petrol city.
But having driven both the petrol and the eHev back to back, I can safely say that the performance on the eHev is absolutely different compared to the petrol. It feels much more powerful as well as the other gizmos do add to the experience.

I have been in the same boat looking for a sedan and after the launch of the VAGs, I got even more confused.
Below is my calculation of cost breakeven considering a 15kmpl on the eHev and 10kmpl on the other cars.

While breakeven with the City Petrol would take around 125k kms, the breakeven with the other cars would be around 30k kms.



P.S: This considers only the petrol cost and no maintenance cost is assumed.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by attinder

Right now unless someone's mileage is super high even EV don't make much sense. They are neither cheap or green.

Any which way you look at it, an EV is green-er than any gas combustion car. Mining and processing lithium being about the only non-green aspect about an EV vehicle. You have zero tail pipe emissions, no oil changes to be ever bothered about, mechanical components are far less in an EV vehicle. There are no drive belts, fuel pumps, etc. It costs a fraction to charge up an EV vehicle versus filling gas in the tank. Your savings start as soon as you take that car out of the showroom, versus a gas combustion vehicle of similar cost.

Originally Posted by Mumbaiker

If the comparison is between the Petrol City and the eHev, then its a no brainer that one needs to go for the petrol city.

The focus is usually fuel economy with such vehicles. As you've said, there is a lot more to experience, especially around refinement. Once you experience the near silent operation of an HEV or EV, you may even forget about the savings on fuel.

[attinder]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Any which way you look at it, an EV is green-er than any gas combustion car. Mining and processing lithium being about the only non-green.....

EV is only as green as the power source. Power generation is still massively dependent on fossil fuels. An EV vehicle may be contributing just as much co2 as a regular car.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by attinder

EV is only as green as the power source. Power generation is still massively dependent on fossil fuels. An EV vehicle may be contributing just as much co2 as a regular car.

Yes, the cleaner the power source, the more cleaner EVs are, but even if you run on a grid which is heavily dependent on coal EVs are still cleaner than ICE cars.

When talking about coal dependent grids, you are forgetting that the oil refineries also need massive power to refine the crude oil. Instead of using so much power for refining oil, just use to recharge an EV .

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by attinder

EV is only as green as the power source. Power generation is still massively dependent on fossil fuels. An EV vehicle may be contributing just as much co2 as a regular car.

I hate it when someone calls EVs as "green technology" it is slightly less polluting than their ICE counterparts. This is like saying pizza is healthy because it has more veggies than burger (calling it healthier than burger might makes sense). My point is that EV looks green only when you bring the petrol cars into equation, when compared with alternatives like public transport there is nothing green here.

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

I hate it when someone calls EVs as "green technology" it is slightly less polluting than their ICE counterparts. This is like saying pizza is healthy because it has more veggies than burger (calling it healthier than burger might makes sense). My point is that EV looks green only when you bring the petrol cars into equation, when compared with alternatives like public transport there is nothing green here.

We are discussing about cars which have a sales of 70-80million per year, and many million in the world fleet, these owners need a car and do not use public transport for all their travel needs. Electrification of cars is the easiest thing we can do with many benefits, this is not to say EVs are better than walking, cycling or using public transport(specifically electric buses and trains).

When comparing public transport let's compare Diesel buses to electric buses, Diesel locomotives to electric locomotives, and much harder problems with aviation and shipping.