The Best Hybrid Cars in India that money can buy!

By the year 2030, the Government makes aims to make India a 100-per cent electric vehicle nation. All the auto giants existing in the country along with some new-age startup organisations have embarked on the journey of bringing this transition to electric mobility to effect. Still, there’s a long way to go before the Indian auto industry is capable of completely adapting to battery-powered vehicles.

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This makes customers in India reluctant to bring home an EV. But at the same time, almost everyone is intrigued by the idea of electric mobility and are excited to experience it. But due to the lack of comprehensive infrastructure, they are not able to make it happen.

This is where Hybrid cars come into play to bridge this gap for the time being. Hybrid cars, as the name suggests have a combination of a combustion engine and an electric motor to propel the car forward. There are three types of Hybrid cars, Full hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and mild hybrids. These can either use the electric and combustion motors independently or can use a combination of the two for sending power to the wheels.

Hybrid cars are the best way one can experience the voltaic power while having the trusted traditional combustion engine on your side as well. Hence, we decided to list 10 hybrid cars available in India from which you can choose one as your next car.

1. Toyota Camry

   

   The Camry is a name that has been there with Toyota for close to 38 years now. Probably the most globally renowned Toyota sedan after the Corolla is the Camry.

   What the Accord is to Honda, the Camry is to Toyota and both have had a similar journey in India. Just like the Accord, the Camry also started life in India as an Executive Sedan with a big N/A petrol engine and then years later made a transition to being a hybrid car. The Camry Hybrid has been much more prominent in the Indian market than the Honda Accord Hybrid which didn’t see too many takers.

   News: 2020 Toyota Camry Hybrid is ₹93,000 Expensive than the BS4 Model

   The Current generation Toyota Camry Hybrid comes with a 2487cc, 4-cylinder, petrol engine combined to a Permanent Magnet Synchronous electric motor, churning a sum total output of 218 bhp and 221 Nm of torque.

   Price for the Toyota Camry in India is Rs.39.02 Lakh, ex-showroom Delhi. If you are out to buy an executive sedan and can compromise on having a German brand instead than the Toyota Camry Hybrid is the most reliable option you have on the Market.

2. Toyota Prius

   

   You cannot complete a list of hybrid cars without giving the most popular hybrid car in the world a mention. Ask people from around the world about a hybrid car and the Prius will probably be the first thing that’ll pop-up in their head. It is a highly-popular car with over 4 million units sold around the world, making it a top-selling hybrid car globally.

   Toyota has the Prius on sale in India for quite some time now, but unfortunately, it couldn’t replicate the similar success here. The quirky design, the ahead of its time tech (back when it was launched 2010 in India), and above all the outrageous pricing made no sense to the Indian car buyer.

   The Prius is a full hybrid car that comes with a 1.8 Litre, four-cylinder petrol engine combined with a 52 kW electric motor making for a combined output of 122 bhp.

   With a price of 45.09 Lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi, the 122 bhp Prius can probably never make sense to an Indian car buyer. Still, being such a popular car around the globe, the Prius is worth a mention.

3. Maruti Suzuki’s line-up of SHVS cars

   

   Maruti’s smart SHVS hybrid technology has been around for a while now. This is a mild hybrid setup and so far bodes well for the Maruti lineup. The system enhances fuel efficiency and driving performance. It uses the energy generated during braking and stores it in a dual battery setup which includes a lithium-ion battery as well. This stored energy is used to assist the idle start/stop and torque assist functions of the car. The energy stored is also used in enhancing the acceleration and overall performance of the car.

   Also Read: 2020 Maruti Vitara Brezza to get Smart Hybrid System

   Maruti cars like the Ciaz, S-Cross, Ertiga, Baleno, XL6 and the Vitara Brezza come equipped with the SHVS smart hybrid technology.

4. Toyota Glanza

   

   The Rebadged Maruti Suzuki Baleno also carries the mild-hybrid setup. It wise of Toyota to not drop the technology in the way since the rebadged version will also be able to benefit from the smart hybrid system.

   Toyota offers the smart hybrid system in the Glanza only in one variant i.e the ‘G’ variant. The ‘G’ variant Toyota Glanza is priced at Rs. 7.64 lakhs ex-showroom Delhi.

   Suggested: Toyota Offers Extended Warranty Upto 10 Years On Hybrid Car Batteries

5. MG Hector

   

   The MG Hector is India’s first 48V hybrid SUV. So, evidently the MG Hector is smart not just from inside the cabin rather the “smart” factor continues under the skin as well. The MG Hector’s hybrid petrol variant consists of a 1.5 Litre turbo-petrol engine making 143 bhp and 250 Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. This powertrain is accompanied by a 48V mild hybrid system.

   The Hybrid system offers 20Nm of additional torque boost and will also assist the engine start/stop feature at idle speeds. The system also includes regenerative braking.

6. Mahindra Scorpio

   

   Similarly, like the mild hybrid systems on the Maruti cars and on the MG Hector, Mahindra has their own version of a smart hybrid system. This comes equipped on the Scorpio and is christened ‘Intelli-Hybrid’. The system supports the powertrain with additional driving performance, idle start/stop feature and regenerative braking.

   Prices for the Mahindra Scorpio begin from Rs. 12.42 Lakh and upto Rs.16.02 Lakh ex-showroom.

Would you prefer a hybrid car over a traditional combustion engine car? Let us know in the comments section below.