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Honda takes the green route

Honda has stubbornly refused to go the diesel way and the Japanese company firmly believes that hybrids are a better environmental solution for congested cities. It takes courage to launch a hybrid car in India because it is far more expensive than the same model with a conventional motor. But Honda’s objective is not to flood Indian streets with its new Civic Hybrid but to show that it is doing its bit for Planet Earth.

Pop open the hood and you cannot miss the shiny IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) badge on the cam cover. As the name suggests, the philosophy of the IMA engine is to use an electric motor to supplement the standard petrol engine. This allows a smaller (and more efficient) petrol engine to be used. Hence, the standard Civic’s 1799cc, 130bhp engine is replaced by a much smaller 1339cc engine which produces 94bhp. That engine alone would not give the 1290kg Civic (80kg heavier than the standard car) enough go, but coupled to a 20bhp electric motor, it gives the Civic an adequate 114bhp. The interiors are identical to the existing Civic so you can expect the same cockpit-like dashboard, well-contoured and spacious seats but also the same low stance which requires a certain athletic ability to get in and out. The battery pack, which sits behind the rear seats, has dramatically reduced boot space from 405 to 294 litres, but that is enough for a couple of bags.

The Civic Hybrid comes with an auto-stop feature — common in micro-hybrids — and the way the engine shuts itself off when you are stationary, to save even more fuel, makes you think you have stalled the engine. The rev counter drops, the Auto Stop light blinks on and it goes quiet as a tomb. But as soon as you release the brake or touch the throttle, the engine instantly comes to life. It is not an entirely smooth transition and there is a noticeable judder when the engine fires. This stop-start function would work brilliantly in our bumper-to-bumper traffic and with no wasteful idling at traffic lights, the fuel savings during shut-off would be considerable. The other good thing is that when the engine switches itself off, the air-con still runs since Honda has managed to get the compressor to run off the electric motor as well.

On the move, you cannot tell that the Civic Hybrid is being shoved along by two power plants. It is incredibly responsive at low speeds thanks to the electric motor which gives that extra shove. Electric motors are famously torquey and deliver max torque from a standstill. The CVT in the Civic Hybrid does not have as much of a ‘rubber band’ effect as the City’s CVT and feels better connected to the engine. However, you still feel the revs piling up before the car catches up with the engine speed.

When you coast at lower speeds, you can actually feel the drag on the system as it reclaims an electric charge from the car’s momentum. In that mode, a glance at the instruments shows green bars spiking into the ‘charge’ gauge. Step on the throttle and the bars disappear into the ‘assist’ side of the gauge showing that you are using electric power to help progress. In terms of performance, the Civic Hybrid is clearly not as quick as the regular Civic but it is surprisingly sprightly in town, thanks to its high-torque electric motor and that is the environment the Civic, with its stop-start function, will thrive in.

However, we suspect that the fuel savings alone will not justify the premium you need to pay for the Hybrid. The eco-friendly Civic is to cost northwards of Rs 20 lakh, which throws the sticker price-fuel savings ratio completely out of whack. But then the Hybrid is not just about saving on fuel costs. It is more about saving the planet. It is ultra-low on emissions and so you can sit silently, content in the knowledge that the bus in front of you that is belching deadly diesel into the atmosphere has probably done more damage to the planet in one trip than the Civic will in its entire lifecycle. It is all about going green. And green is no longer just the colour of envy.

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