Honda City Hybrid

Vivek Venugopal is one of India's top automotive writers with over a decade's experience inroad-testing and reviewing cars. He is currently the Editor of Quarter Mile magazine and a columnist in several leading magazines and newspapers. He is also a highly sought after consulting engineer and market analyst for many automobile manufacturers.

- Vivek Venugopal

Honda has always been the technology leader here, offering a bit more than their rivals at all times. They were the first to give us Variable valve timing in the City, Hybrid technology with the Civic, Cylinder deactivation in the Accord V6, etc. to name a few. Recently, their enthusiasm had died down a little and there hasn't been anything interesting to write home about for the last few years. Now though, there is the new City e:HEV which brings hybrid technology and autonomous driving features to this segment. We drive one to see if it's worth the asking price.

From the outside, there is very little to tell the Hybrid apart but keen-eyed enthusiasts would spot the different mesh-style grille, front fog lamp surrounds, the black and polished face alloys as well as the rear spoiler, new diffuser, and the blue logos. We wish Honda gave it a different set of wheels as they did with the first two generations of the City VTEC.

Step inside and it's all familiar comprehensive too. The gauge cluster is much more with the 7-inch display showing all the driving data. The steering has a lot more buttons, the seats are more of an ivory colour than the beige in the standard car. The centre console gets an electronic parking brake and auto hold buttons. The seats are great with good support, lots of space, and are comfortable for long distances. The addition of the battery pack has severely reduced the boot space from 506 litres to 306 litres which reduces a lot of its practicality.