Honda Malaysia revealed that it has sold over 7,000 vehicles that are powered by its e:HEV hybrid technology. This is a rather interesting feat given that the hybrid powertrain that comes with a dual-motor i-MMD (intelligent Multi-Mode Drive) system was just introduced in our market less than three years ago.
The e:HEV technology made its local debut through the 2020 Honda City RS. Some might not be aware of this but Honda’s hybrid implementation is unlike a traditional hybrid system that uses an electric motor to assist the internal combustion (IC) engine.
Instead, the 1.5L i-VTEC engine within the e:HEV setup primarily acts as a generator to charge the battery and power up the electric motor inside the City RS. Outside of this hybrid driving mode, the vehicle relies solely on the electric motor during casual driving at slow speeds. Meanwhile, the IC engine will only drive the front wheels when the car is cruising at high speeds when it is at its most efficient. The electric motor on the City e:HEV produces 80kW (107hp) and 253Nm of torque.
Since its introduction in 2020, Honda Malaysia has sold more than 2,800 units of City RS to date. The company have also sold over 1,600 units of City Hatchback RS which featured the same e:HEV setup and was released into our market early last year.
The same e:HEV i-MMD then made its way to the 2022 HR-V RS. The compact SUV has also received a rather positive response from local consumers too as Honda Malaysia managed to sell over 2,600 units of the model so far.
On the Honda HR-V, the e:HEV model boasts a fuel economy of 4.1 litres per 100km (24.4km per litre), while the City Hatchback e:HEV boasts 3.7 litres per 100km (27.7km per litre).
Just a few months later in November, the company then launched the e:HEV variant of the 2022 Civic RS which was equipped with a beefier 2.0L VTEC engine and electric motor combo. With the electric motor delivering 135kW (181hp) and 315Nm of torque, the Civic RS e:HEV delivers slightly more power and delivers more torque than its ICE-based counterpart. The 1.5L VTEC turbo engine delivers 134kW (180hp) and 240Nm of torque.
The Civic RS e:HEV boasts a fuel economy of 4.0 litres per 100km (25km per litre) and it can do 0-100km/h in 7.9 seconds, which is slightly quicker than the ICE version which takes 8.5 seconds. To date, close to 600 units of Civic RS e:HEV have made their way to customers in Malaysia.
While the figures might not be much given that Honda Malaysia has sold over 80,000 vehicles in 2022 alone, it is still a sign that local consumers are beginning to warm up to greener vehicles. Despite the rapid growth of electric vehicles in our market, Honda is not budging away from hybrid technology just yet as the brand already planning to provide e:HEV option to new models in the future which is likely to include the upcoming CR-V.
This is something that has been confirmed by the President and Chief Operating Officer of Honda Malaysia, Sarly Adle Sarkum in March. During the event, he noted that while the company is continuously stepping up its efforts in electric vehicle development, Honda believes that hybrid technology is the right approach at this point in time for Malaysia before going full electric.
Meanwhile, if you are interested to have hands-on experience with any of the current Honda e:HEV hybrid models, you may want to check them out at the Honda Gen H Event tour in Johor Bharu (3-4 June), Penang (10-11 June), and Bukit Jalil (17-18 June).
[ IMAGE SOURCE 2 ]
