The Honda City e: HEV Hybrid sedan was released earlier this month at a starting price ₹19.50 lakhs (former exhibition hall). Honda recently stated that lower taxes on hybrid electric vehicles could lead to faster adoption of electric vehicles in the country.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had a chance to get acquainted with the new one Honda City e: HEV Hybrid sedan recently when he met officials from Honda Cars India. Honda has shared images of Godcar standing next to the City Hybrid sedan, which was released earlier this month. The meeting comes at a time when the Japanese carmaker has raised the issue of lowering taxes on hybrid electric vehicles such as clean electric cars to further boost the proliferation of cleaner fuel vehicles. Nitin Gadkari advocates the use of hybrid vehicles with flexible fuels to reduce the burden of expensive fuel imports and carbon emissions.
Honda shared images of Gadkari standing next to City Hybrid along with brand officials on social media, saying: “It was a moment of honor for us at Honda Cars India Ltd when Mr Nitin Gadkari, Honorable Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, set aside time in its busy schedule to meet with our officials and get acquainted with the new Honda City e: HEV ”.
Kunal Bell, vice president (marketing and sales) of Honda Cars India, recently quoted PTI that lower taxes on hybrid electric vehicles could lead to faster adoption of electric vehicles in the country. He noted that currently hybrid technology is best suited for Indian conditions as it is independent of external charging infrastructure.
Currently, the total tax on hybrid cars in the country is 43 percent including the tax on goods and services, while the tax on battery electric vehicles is about 5 percent. Bell noted that there is a big gap in taxes on the two types of vehicles. “Yes, yes, it would be a good move if the government could support us (by reducing the tax on hybrid vehicles too). We ask the government to consider this,” he said.
“We really respect the government’s understanding that they want to reduce emissions … they want to reduce fuel consumption, so both of these goals are met by hybrid vehicles,” Bell added.
The City Hybrid sedan was released at a starting price ₹19.50 lakhs (former exhibition hall). It uses a hybrid e-CVT system with two engines, which is connected to the 1.5-liter Atkinson-Cycle DOHC i-VTEC petrol engine. There is also an intelligent power supply (IPU) with an advanced lithium-ion battery and a direct clutch connected to the motor. While the hybrid sedan only starts in electric mode, it automatically switches to hybrid mode as speed increases. Only the petrol engine works at high-speed cruises. The Honda City e: HEV sedan offers a combined power of 126 PS, a torque of 253 Nm and at the same time claims that it can drive about 26.5 km per liter of fuel.
Date of first publication: 15:54, 11 May 2022 IST
https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/cars/nitin-gadkari-checks-out-new-honda-city-hybrid-amid-talks-to-reduce-tax-41652263744762.html
