It’s no secret that automotive giant Honda has over the years built a legacy for its cars that relies on solid engineering, enduring durability and cutting-edge technology. While its stated mission is to electrify more than 60% of all cars to be built by 2030, it also maintains that it will focus its efforts on developing battery-powered EVs, or in other words, cars that run on electric energy. Will continue to strengthen the work. fossil fuels, but installed in a hybrid system. Here in the subcontinent, the company is generating the top sales for the cars which include petrol and diesel sedans, City. It has not toyed with the idea of launching a hybrid or electric car yet.
Toyota has been retailing its Hybrid Camry in India for a few years now. Now, Honda has launched the City in an electric hybrid variant here. This means that it is powered by both a regenerative braking motor as well as a conventional fossil-fuel engine that provides alternate power to the car depending on the speed in which it is being driven. Noting that the policy is actively promoting electric cars and domestic giants like Tata Motors have launched fully electric cars like Nexon, Honda has revealed how a global giant tea leaves. is reading.
For one, it is well known that the charging infrastructure for EVs is still very limited across the country. Two, most customers are more inclined towards ICE cars, or internal combustion engine cars, as the overriding factor driving purchase decisions, which is the cost of the vehicles. The third is that the data is yet to establish whether pure EVs will hold resale value and deliver the expected fuel efficiency over the long term. New and emerging technologies often exhibit the “Apple Syndrome” in which early technology quickly gives way to new refund systems, rendering the version 1.0 model increasingly outdated. And hence, it is not yet known whether the resale value of EVs could be three or even four years after purchase.
Honda argues that its new electric-hybrid City will deliver a mileage of around 26 kms, which is better than pure ICE cars. Pure ICE cars score higher than pure EVs on the constraint of pricing and infrastructural challenges.
Hence, the launch says a lot about Honda’s strategy. Especially since Honda makes pure-play EVs around the world – there’s the Fit EV-Plus, Fit EV and Clarity Electric that’s been around for a while now. Bringing those cars and their technologies to India may be more expensive and cumbersome at the moment, but it cannot be undone. And so, for a manufacturer to choose from to explore those possibilities, it suggests looking at the demand for cars powered by alternative sources of energy in various formats. That category may include EVs (at a later date), hybrid, e-hybrid etc.
This thinking seems to be inclined towards the idea that change in consumer products will come gradually. The radical change may not be how EV sales will grow. If that projection is correct, and it takes some time for EVs to win over consumers in the market, the hybrid option will be a transitional technology. Electric hybrids then could command market share, at least for the next decade or so. The caveat is that the exact scale for an electric-hybrid engine-powered automobile will depend on whether other Asian manufacturers follow up on Honda’s launch with their own similar plans and products.