The Civic Hybrid is Honda's way of showing the finger to those who think diesel is the silver bullet to saving the environment and fuel bills. 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. The good thing about Honda is that it walks the talk and its decision to launch the Civic Hybrid in India amply demonstrates this.
It takes courage to launch a hybrid car in India because it is far more expensive than the same model with a conventional motor. And, as everyone knows, price has an inverse and exponential effect on demand. But that's missing the point. Honda's objective is not to flood Indian streets with its new Hybrid but to show that it's doing its bit for Planet Earth.
There's also the issue of Toyota, which is clearly the frontrunner in the environmental race. The Prius is so cool and clean to own that it's become a green accessory for Hollywood celebrities. But in India, Honda wants to steal a march over its rival by being the first carmaker to hitch its fortunes to the green bandwagon. Unlike Toyota, which has the Prius purely as a hybrid, Honda offers a hybrid option within established model lines. This makes it easy for Honda to 'hybrid-ise' the well-established Civic. The bad news is that the similar looks make it hard to flaunt your green credentials, which must surely matter to most people who would pay a huge premium for such a car. Visually, there's hardly any difference between the standard Civic and the Hybrid except for the strange-look-ing wheels, a tiny boot spoiler and the hybrid badge on the rear. The Hybrid's tyres are also different and designed for better lower rolling resistance (and hence better efficiency), rather than grip and performance.
Pop open the hood and you can't 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 Civics 1799cc, 130bhp engine is replaced by a much smaller 1339cc engine which produces 94bhp. That engine alone wouldn't give die 1290kg Chic (80kg heavier than the standard car) enough go, but coupled to a 20bhp electric motor, it gives the Civic an adequate 114bhp. That's still many horses down on the regular 1.8 Civic but if your priority for buying such a car is kpl than kph, it shouldn't matter.
The interiors are identical to the existing Civic so you can expect the same cockpit-like dashboard, well-con-toured and spacious sears 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's enough for a couple of bags.
Driving a hybrid doesn't require special skills and the Civic with its CVT 'box (a manual option is also available) is in fact quite easy to punt around. But the whole experience of driving a hybrid is quite an alien one.
The Civic Hybrid comes with an auto-stop feature — common in micro-hybrids — and the way the engine shuts itself off when you're stationary, to save even more fuel, makes you think you've 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's 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 can't tell that the Civic Hybrid is being shoved along by two power plants. It's 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 doesn't have as much of a 'rubber band' effect as the City's CVT and feels better connected to the engine. However, you still get the sensation of 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. There's another gauge which tells you how much battery charge is left.
In terms of performance, the Civic Hybrid is clearly not as quick as the regular Civic but it's surprisingly sprightly in town, thanks to its high-torque electric motor and that's the environment the Civic, with its stop-start function, will thrive in.
The million dollar question — how fuel-efficient is the Civic Hybrid? We can't give you the answer to this one until we test the car on Indian roads after it is launched later this month. However, we suspect that the fuel savings alone won't justify the premium you need to pay for the Hybrid.
The eco-friendly Civic is expected to cost northwards of Rs 18 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’s more about saving the planet. It’s ultra-low on emissions and so you can sit silently, content in the knowledge that the bus in front of you that’s 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’s all about going green . And green’s no longer just the colour of envy.