Have been using Hybrids since 2015. My Camry regularly returned 17 to 19 kmpl and now my Hycross returns about 19 to 21 kmpl regularly. No range anxiety. No stress about charging. Smooth, quiet, efficient petrol engine that isnt expensive to maintain either. The Camry came with a 3 year warranty for the battery but the Hycross comes with a 8 year warranty which greatly boosts confidence in the product.

Next topic can be why Suzuki sells unsafe cars in India when they are the largest manufacturer in India. Don’t they feel socially responsible? Why can’t they just make stable chassis and give 6 airbags, esc, traction control, etc as standard across all their cars.. The entire Indian car market will become superior in terms of safety…Why does Maruti need Government to step in everytime and force a change

I would like to bring some points to the notice. 1) Suzuki launched hybrids in 2011 or 2012 in Japan. This is 2024 here in India and on planet earth. 2) R C Bhargava or Maruti Suzuki once said Hybrids are unaffordable to Indians. If those vehicles good average per litre, persons with heavy usage would have brought them and over the years technology could have got affordable. Why are iPhones sold in India ? 3) Now that EV's are taking over they are bringing an old technology to us. 4) I have been hearing and reading the news Maruti is going to Swift and Dzire hybrids. This has been couple of years. 5) MoRTH ministry said Inida will have double the number of vehicles in another 10-15 years, Why are keijidosha (Light Cars) with 660cc engines (hybrids as well) are not being launched here in India. Only big SUV's. Sedans are vanishing. We have to buy what the manufacturer is offering. Why the hurry now ? only five to six hybrids are available now.

Currently hybrid attract 40% gst making it highly overpriced. Untill and unless taxes doesn't come down it doesn't make sense to pay that 3/4 lakh extra for hynrid.

Series hybrid engine does not even required 3 cylinders. 2 cylinders are enough for engine balancing and efficiency point of view. It also decreases engine size and capacity.

This 35 and 40 kmpl from Hybrids is amazing. Remember just 30 years ago, the 100 cc motorbikes used to give us such mileage. It is really something if a car like a Grand Vitara can give that kind of mileage!

I'm a diesel fan for power and mileage but as I live in the NCR, I chose strong Hybrid Vitara last year. It is a good replacement for diesel in efficiency and almost at par in power (except the diesel grunt). I think Maruti is playing greatly in this transition.

Just to point out a small but a very important nuance of this podcast - the fact that Autocar India has been in the business of auto-journalism for more than two decades now shows their prowess in producing motivated but crisp content. Not to compare but MotorInc by two of my favorite auto journos, too have a podcast, although informative, I find their videos too long and a bit scattered in their ideas and thoughts. Hormazd Sorabjee and the team have done an excellent job in putting this new lineup of episodes together. I would love Autocar India to also grow out to make more long-term vehicle reviews and take genuine ownership review videos as well. Good job, already interested in watching more content on Suzuki's diesel mishandling, Nissan's future in India, Honda's weird strategy in India, Toyota and its tryst with the budget car market, and possible Mitsubishi and Ford re-enterance in India, etc

Hybrids will be better option anyday.. When compared to Normal Petrol or Diesel engines.. In terms of Mileage and the no of carbon foot print that is reduced in terms of pollution.... But for the Enthusiastic driving this will not be option though.. And the battery replacement of the Hybrid is also very cost efficient when compared to Pure EV... Hardly between 1-1.5Lakhs for the battery replacement for hybrid...

I don't know why hybrid didn't adopted by Indian industry earlier. It's much older and proven tech. Don't know why Indian government is chasing after EV tech.

Maruti should use plastic chassis instead of steel. Also they can use bicycle tyres. All this will reduce the cost more and give 40kmpl

Very nice session. I guess this was the first one. Loved every second of it. Thanks Hormazd, Sergius and ACI team. I firmly believe in hybrids. More so after knowing about the environmental impact from the Toyota 1:6:90 study.

Finally, the beginning of Podcast shows from Autocar!

Nice Podcast, When is Toyota going to launch Toyota Prius Prime in India ?

Nice topic,hybrid should be consider main stream auto power and need plug in hybrid tech,hope diesel hybrid also soon available

Hybrids will definitely prove to be better in the long term as they are addressing most of the issues that are associated with EVs whether it is the range anxiety, charging infrastructure and battery charging time issues. Hybrids provide better flexibility and it still has that *fun to drive* element that many people look for. I think focusing on EVs is a foolish step and going all hybrid is a much sustainable way forward. And once the GST rates come down and once we get more competitive and affordable options in hybrid cars, I think it will be THE END for EVs (y'all can agree to disagree)

Sir this type of system used by Indian railway in their diesel locomotive

In terms of size of Suzuki as a brand they can invest in hybrid for now to cater the EV transition and can also shift their investments towards the complete EV platform as they have Volume to serve but comparatively smaller brands can't do the same.

Amazing thoughts Hormad following you for past 25 years, Sourcing knowledge in auto industry thank you.

I second the thought mentioned in the Video, after hell lot Brain Storming (on EVs, Diesel, CNG, Petrol) I recently bought Maruti's Smart Hybrid Car ❤

If Maruti can achieve this 35 to 40km/l thing then a full tank petrol will take you from Kerala to Mumbai even in a Swift or Baleno that has 30 litres of fuel tank..It will be revolutionary..But the thing is the initial cost of ownership needs to be brought down as its high among hybrids.I think series hybrids is not as costly as parallel.Also practicality wise this will be better than EV because most evs wipl be having a range of 350 to 400km and to cover same distance you need to charge minimum 3 times and if the charging station is not available due to any technical reasons it will be even more cumbersome..

Toyota and Suzuki alliance will bring lots of New Technology in future..... Great going ❤❤

Great insights..!! Looking forward to more such podcasts!!

Hi Hormozd, Just fantastic analysis like always, still remember sipping tea and clicking pictures of the Royal Enfield, that is a legendary subject to be discussed some times while having tea.

Hybrids exist to meet the Cafe norms. neither they have zero local emissions..nor they have top end power like diesel. For frequent highway runs make sense for some use case...but for city use BEV is the way to go. One pedal driving, instant torque, zero emission, dead silent, zero vibrations, zero maintenance and running costs. Maruti is pushing hybrids to delay the transition to BEV like all sleeping Japanese giants who has been caught napping. How else will Maruti mint money from servicing? Coz there is no money in serving an Ev.

Hybrid , CNG , LNG the way to go before 2030

So, in a mild hybrid, the engine cannot charge the battery. Does that mean, after the battery gets discharged, which it will eventually, then the battery system (the mild hybrid tech) stops working, & we are just carrying it around? 🧐🤷‍♂️ Can anyone explain??

Excellent discussion.

The real game changer will be the plugin hybrids, whether series or parallel. A plugin hybrid which gives you 50+ kilometre on the battery is ideal for most Indian families. Very few trips are more than 40 kilometres in a day. A PHEV will beat all electric and all petrol cars by a very wide margin.

How about the shift from the 1.5 Diesel developed one year before but discontinued in 2019.

Why Plug-in hybrid is not promoted? It has battery which can be charged and driven purely on battery without using fuel at all. Good for city daily commute. And, it has IC engine to remove range anxity.

It will be great if any manufacturer comes with PHEV as well. Would be great for city run arounds for sure.

Plug and charge-able hybrids makes more sense. Where we can use electric mode + petrol mode with out range fear

What about plugin hybrid? No one talk about it. It's better than ev & hybrid also

Really love to see podcast from horamz

Thanks Hormazd and Sergius for this podcast. I am a proud owner of the Grand Vitara Full Hybrid (Zeta+) for almost 2 years now. I can really resonate with the thought about Toyota-Suzuki JV as a master stroke - both for the Auto giants as well as the Buyers, who are looking for options to complement their driving needs for the next 10 years horizon. I would be great if you could also throw some light on the Roadmaps for Hybrid SUVs. The next sweet spot is the hatchbacks as per your podcast (Fronx, Baleno, Swift, etc.). 1) What happens with Suzuki Grand Vitara/ Invicto, Toyota Urban Cr/ Hyryder ? Are there any plans to bring in Series technology into these models too? And 2) What are the plans for the next versions of these models?

Toyota should bring their rav4 plug in hybrid to India

Is it in progress for Fronx to be fully hybrid instead of mild hybrid?

Government must consider gst reduction for hybrid

Superb discussion from auto journalist masters with such indepth analysis of Hybrids scope ahead after General Assembly Election 2024. What are CAFE norms along with phase - 3 coming up in 2025 affect strong hybrids to carry forward or EV, Flex fuel and hydrogen power vehicles remain relevant ahead. Make a discussion on this in next vlog of in depth.

I wish this discussion had also dwelt on a series "range extender" vehicle that combines electric with mix-petrol. While this was not stated explicitly, I think the petrol engine being referred here is pure petrol. If Suzuki is predicting 35 to 40 kpl with series involving simple petrol that has a certain cost implication, what could it be if we look at an immediate future involving petrol + ethanol with, say, a 60% - 40% ratio of petrol and ethanol? Hypothetically, if the expected price of such a mix could be 25% to 40% less per liter for a customer while Suzuki still holds on to its stated promise of 35-40 kpl in its series with regular petrol cars, that could be an even bigger incentive for customers to vote for this engine format and change the market dynamics. Something to think about.

series vs parallel vs series-parallel explanation , was pretty helpful! Thank you!

At 35kmpl, the cost per km will start equalling EVs using fast charging. So highway cruising costs might be same

Great video

Its not eco friendly. Just a gimmick, as the sole purpose of ev goes by adding engine. Its brings its low efficiency and pollution to EVs. Better to add more battery in the space of engine and add efficiency.

Team autocar at it's best 👍

There should be a podcast on new ev policy With deu respect to the interested companies And there product line ups

What is your take on Green Hydrogen as a sustainable fuel in India. If issues like storage and transport can be sorted, can this be a good alternative to a Hybrid/EV? An EV can only be seen as efficient if you are not charging on the grid, ie using Solar or some alternative. Hybrids are surely the way to go in the foreseeable future, given our traffic, charging infrastructure, etc.

What are the regular servicing costs for the different hybrid setups ? Thank you

Nicely covered. What is the future of plug-in hybrid in India. Or is it that the series will outshine others.

LOVING THE PODCASTS FROM AUTOCAR, AWESOME

Ask Maruti Suzuki to break their head about producing safe cars rather than going over hybrid customers know their chance of surviving a Crash is very narrow what I am gonna do with the money I save driving if I die driving that car ... Let's be practical and put our priorities right.

The hybrids eat up a lot of boot space. Will series hybrid have the same downside ?

Looking forward for many more Hybrid models in future from Maruti & Toyota.

ALONG WITH THIS THEY SHOULD GIVE PLUGIN HYBRIDS WHICH CAN UTILIZE BOTH THE FEATURES CHARGING IN HOUSING AND CHARGING VIA ENGINES WHEN NEEDED THAT WAY WE CAN EFFICIENTY UTILIZE THE RUNNING COST BEING LESS AND NO RANGE ANXIETY AS WELL

Will Maruti series hybrids be Plugin Hybrids or not?

Would love more and more podcasts like this from Autocar..MotorInc is being loved by plenty and i love it too..keep going

HOW MUCH KM IT RUNS CONSTANTLY AND NON-STOP ?

Hybrid cars don’t have enough headroom in the second and third row due to battery pack below.

but, but i vouch for plug in hybrids when will such come at a decent price in india with a less taxed bracket i hope soon .......👍

Wonderful infermative conversation thanks

most efficient petrol generator produce 2.5 units of electricity per liter of petrol. i don't see how can maruti gets that high of mileage with a 2.5 kwh battery with no plug in charge option. they should launch a car with at least 20 kwh battery . that can give 200 km of pure ev range. so you only use petrol when you are going for long distance . a car like that will reduce my fuel consumption by 80%.

Series parallel should also have regenerative braking that will further increase range. Can also use turbo GDI engine. Range will be huge.

Wowowow so well explained ❤❤❤❤❤❤

Whatever power terrain it may be Maruti should make a safe car...After all Indians learnt their values of life. No safe car no car in the family...whatever car it may be Hybrid, paralal, series, ups n downs whatever may be .

TATA PUNCH and TIAGO already deliver 40-45kmpl with Beast perfoemance🔥 Invest your money in TATA engines TATA Petrol- Top Selling Engines in India TATA- True gem of India🇮🇳

If one can reduce the insane taxes on Hybrids, it will become a blockbuster in our country, especially considering the fact that India is heavily mileage minded while buying a car...

How would series hybrid do in hilly areas?

Nissan should have brought Plug-In Hybrid to India. Series-Parallel sounds lucrative but might cost as high as pure EV making it impractical. Honda/Toyota/Nissan/Suzuki all Japanese already have some form of Hybrid tech with them but none of them bringing it to mass market

wonderful informative show, hope to see more of you both in episodes

MSIL - Series hybrid targeting 35-40 kmpl Hybrids doing more numbers than eVs despite less models and no tax benefit Only tata and maruti meets cafe norms Tata Mahindra betting all on Ev and not gybrids Nexon selling at discounts By 2030 expecting 25-30% hybrids sale

Really good podcast 💯

Maruti should make PHEV

Why are we not looking at plug in hybrids

PLEASE make more podcasts like this

Firstly Maruti traded their body shell for efficiency and now they are trading their engine power for efficiency. Next logical step will be to trade their customers for their share holders !

Activa owners are worried about Build quality 😂

I’m waiting for Maruti vitara segment but with e80 car with series hybrid system

Why in India non of the car makers are launching Plug-in Hybrid?

Jimmy should have a mild hybrid system with more torqe

Not just hybrids plug in hybrids will rock market that's sure. Excited about octavia plug in hybrid with 83 Kmpl milage 😍

Will there ever be Jimny hybrid?

How come they never brought the Prius to India?

World over OEMs are compressing price difference between petrol and hybrid cars, after all these years.. because of competitive pressure from EVs. You can clearly that margins are lower for Hybrids compared to petrol cars. What happens if battery prices fall further?

WoW TWO genius in ONE platform

What I think is Maruti Suzuki should put 2 small CNG tanks in their CNG vehicles like tata so that the problem of Hybrid vehicles cost and boot space is not there, As 🇮🇳 Indian Government has big plans for CNG stations infra of Country. Maruti 's CNG vehicles deliver same mileage as Hybrid vehicles so I think it's a win win.

this will change the Auto Era

What about Mitsubishi and PHEV.?

Yes govt should also give concessions to hybrids

It’s going to be a mild hybrid swift. Why are people claiming 30 - 35 kmpl ? That’s not possible

Why aren't manufacturers looking at flex fuel engines ?

What is difference between Grand vitara mild hybrid vs strong hybrid in terms of technology. Is mild hybrid has parallel hybrid technology And strong hybrid based on series- paraller hybrid technology ?

Series hybrid seems interesting 😲

This serial hybrid has one major disadvantage against parallel hybrids. If the battery pack fails you cannot run the car. Whereas in a car like Toyota hycross you can continue to run the car without the battery. Looking dangerous if the battery fails at high speed. How does maruti plan to manage the battery failure? What would be the cost of battery replacement? If it is close to current ev car battery costs then this will not fly.

Somehow, the Japanese never liked the idea of pure electric cars ! But the downside with Hybrids - the more complex the hybrid system, the more cost, the more maintenance/moving parts, the more weight !

No ICE and Hybrids, more complications more troubles. Only pure ev for me,. 👍🏻

Hi people what are your opinion on diesel engines will the exist in upcoming two decades because of I believe that teachers are still very good at efficiency and high speed cruising , please do share your opinions

Hybrids are superb but the premium at the moment for strong hybrid is too much. One need to have real long kms before one gets break even. Hopefully that comes down further forward

Government must do away with the 43% tax on hybrids to make them within the reach of the majority. Also, aftermarket retrofitting of battery kits to convert the existing fossil fuel cars to hybrids should be top priority of the government to reduce emissions and help middle class save their hard earned money they spend on fuel.

Why automakers other than Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata & Toyota not investing in CNG Tech ?