Honda City Hybrid

The Honda City Hybrid is the more efficient version of the standard City, and it is the only one in its segment to feature a self-charging, strong-hybrid powertrain. While the rest of the segment goes strong on turbo-chargers, the Honda City Hybrid offers smoothness, refinement and great efficiency with its hybrid nature.

It might not be the most feature-loaded or the most fun-to-drive sedan in the segment, but the City serves people who appreciate sophistication and subtlety over loud and flashy. But how does it achieve that trait, and would it suit your persona? Let’s find out.

Unlike some of its rivals, which have seen radical changes in their design language, the design of the Honda City has evolved over the years, and that’s why I like the design of the Honda City Hybrid. It is simple, does not split opinions, looks neat, and maintains a premium factor.

The front looks a bit sporty with its pointed nose and cut-outs at the bottom corners of the bumper. It features a thick chrome strip connecting the headlights, which adds a bit of contrast to the honeycomb grill. I also find the headlights rather attractive with their 9 LED arrays and sleek LED DRLs. It also gets LED fog lights in the bumper.

It gets 16-inch alloy wheels, which are the same as the non-hybrid model. The spare is a 15-inch steel wheel. While the alloys look chic, the overall styling in profile looks super sleek with long overhangs, a sloping roofline and a shark fin antenna.

The rear features wraparound LED taillights, and while the overall design might be sober, it features a boot lip spoiler and diffuser-like elements, which add a sporty touch.

The 2025 Honda City Hybrid is available in 6 monotone shades: Obsidian Blue Pearl, Radiant Red Metallic, Platinum White Pearl, Golden Brown Metallic, Meteoroid Grey Metallic, and Lunar Silver Metallic. 

Overall, the Honda City is by far the most sophisticated-looking sedan in its segment. And despite minuscule revisions over the years, the design is ageing beautifully, which might not be the case for some of its rivals.​​​​​

The Honda City Hybrid's dashboard layout has been kept pretty simple as well and is similar to the standard City, but it looks outdated compared to other models in the segment. It gets a dual-tone black and beige theme, which looks nice. There’s also a carbon fibre pattern on the dashboard, but it feels a little out of place.

The fit and finish are premium as all touchpoints are covered in soft-touch materials, and the rotatory knobs are of a very high quality. But the dash is still made mostly of hard plastics, and could’ve had a smoother finish. 

Front Seats

Getting in and out of the Honda City does require some effort, as occupants need to duck down to get their head to fit without banging the frame. But once inside, they will have little reason to complain.

The front seats offer an ample amount of space and have soft cushioning. They also have really defined side contours, which hold you in place while cornering, but don’t feel intrusive for people with larger frames.

The steering wheel gets both tilt and telescopic adjustment, which makes it easy to find your ideal driving position. You can set the seats all the way down for a sporty driving position, too. It gets a front central armrest, which helps maintain comfort on longer journeys.

Rear Seats

In the rear of the Honda City Hybrid, you’ll find that there’s enough space to seat three people abreast in relative comfort. There are three individual headrests too, but of course, it will be the most comfortable with two passengers only. 

The headroom might be lacking for people over 5’10’’, but there is plenty of legroom and footroom, though. Just like you’d expect, there is a central armrest too, but it still rests on the bottom of the seat and could have been a little taller to match the door pad.

Practicality

The Honda City offers a practical cabin for a family of four. You get four different spaces to keep your phone under the centre console. There are two well-designed cup holders in the central console, large door pockets and some space under the front armrest.

The glovebox compartment can hold multiple 1-litre bottles, while there are two cupholders in the rear central armrest as well. There are multiple seatback pockets too, with a designated pocket for your phone.

Charging Options

Apart from the wireless phone charger, there are two USB ports up front and a 12V socket for accessories. The rear passengers don’t get any Type-C or -A charging ports, but only two 12V sockets.

Features

While the Honda City Hybrid does not miss any basic functional feature that would compromise your daily-use experience, it does leave some room for more convenience features for a car that costs more than Rs 20 lakh on-road.

At 8 inches, it has the smallest touchscreen display in the entire segment. The resolution is bright, and there is no real lag in terms of response times. It gets wireless connectivity for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, but the native user interface feels outdated. 

This main screen also relays the blind spot feed of the Lane Watch Camera. But it is only available for the left side, and the feed itself takes up the entire display and overlaps your navigation. The execution for this should’ve been better.

In contrast, the 7-inch digital driver’s display has superb execution. It sits alongside the analogue dial for the speedometer and clearly relays a lot of information. The graphics are crisp, and you can select the brightness of the display via a physical button present just alongside the instrument cluster.

For entertainment, there’s an 8-speaker sound system which has acceptable audio quality for regular usage, but nothing too fancy. Rivals with branded audio systems offer a more premium experience.

With features like ventilated seats, a branded audio system and better infotainment screens missing from the package, the Honda City does lag behind its rivals in terms of features.

The City Hybrid is available in a single variant only, so all the safety equipment comes as standard. The list includes 6 airbags, all-wheel disc brakes, an electronic parking brake, electronic stability control, and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

It also comes with a lane watch camera (left side only) and level 2 ADAS features like adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and autonomous emergency braking. The pre-facelift Honda City received a 5-star safety rating at ASEAN NCAP, which is likely to remain the same for the facelifted version.

The City Hybrid does not get a 360-degree camera, and you will have to make do with its rear-view camera only. The good thing is that it has a good resolution with no frame drops, and also gets multiple viewing angles, which makes parking easier.

The real sore point is the process of turning off Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) or any other ADAS aid. It’s unnecessarily cumbersome; you first need to bring the car to a halt, shift into Park (P), then scroll through multiple menus using the steering-mounted buttons and toggle it off via the instrument cluster. To make matters worse, the car doesn’t remember your preference, so you have to repeat the entire process every single time you start the vehicle.

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Compared to the non-hybrid version, which gets a 506-litre boot, the hybrid version gets a lower boot capacity of 410 litres. This is due to the placement of the battery pack. 

Despite the smaller space, you can keep a full suitcase set (small, medium, and large) along with one or two small bags. There’s no 60:40 split in the rear seats, and you also don’t get a full-size spare wheel in the Hybrid variant. 

The Honda City Hybrid is powered using a 1.5-litre, naturally aspirated, strong-hybrid powertrain. It is driven via the front wheels and geared using an e-CVT transmission.

This powertrain is perfect for city commutes and has enough performance for all regular city and highway commutes. 

City Performance

The City Hybrid feels really refined to drive in the city. In low load and low speed conditions, the car drives mostly in pure EV mode, and the engine only kicks in when you want more power. The integration is seamless, and you never feel any sudden jerk, even when you floor the throttle.

In fact, the throttle feels responsive because of the electric motors, and the performance is actually peppy in the city. The e-CVT feels smooth at all times and operates jerk-free. 

It doesn't matter if you’re cruising around or driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic; you can expect a fuel efficiency of around 20 kmpl.

Highway Performance

The hybrid powertrain of the Honda City does not run out of breath on the highway. The performance feels adequate even when you want to make an overtake at triple-digit speeds. 

If you’re cruising only at speeds of 60-80kmph, the car will run in pure EV mode, but ask for more acceleration, and the electric motor and engine work in tandem to help you make that quick overtake. 

Even on the highway, the hybrid powertrain will return you impressive fuel efficiency figures of more than 20 kmpl.

Overall, the Honda City Hybrid wasn’t made for the purpose of clocking quick 0-100 kmph, and to give you the thrill of driving. Rather, it focuses on efficiency and delivers a driving experience that is relaxed, smooth, and sufficient enough in terms of its performance.

Ride Quality

When it comes to ride quality, the Honda City impresses. At low speeds, the suspension feels refined. It handles potholes well and doesn't transfer a lot of movement to the cabin. 

While the ground clearance is plenty, I found that it is best to be careful over larger bumps like speed breakers because the suspension tends to crash a little bit if you carry too much speed. But even over rough roads, if you keep your speed in check, the ride quality won’t give you a reason to complain about.

The suspension maintains comfort even at higher speeds, as any sudden undulations and cracks are handled well, and the car remains stable. 

Handling

Despite the added weight over the standard City, the City Hybrid remains a fun-to-drive and involving sedan behind the wheel. It feels agile and has the right amount of weight in the steering wheel, which makes taking corners a little fun.

And considering that the steering isn’t heavy, city manoeuvrability isn’t affected either. So everyone in the family can drive it without an issue, and you can enjoy driving it in hilly regions as well.

The Honda City Hybrid is offered in a single fully loaded variant called ZX.

Is The Honda City Hybrid right for you?

The City has always been the safe choice in its segment and if you’re looking for a compact sedan which has a focus on fuel efficiency, then the City hybrid is your only option. But it is much more than that. The City hybrid is a sophisticated sedan which offers you a good amount of space along with a decent feature list, packed in a premium package.

Yes, it is not the most feature rich car in the segment, and can feel a little outdated. But for those who want a daily use car with all the basic amenities, and a high mileage, the City hybrid makes a lot of sense.

Other Options To Consider

Hyundai Verna

Reasons To Consider

• Most feature rich in the segment

• Powerful turbo-petrol engine option

Reasons To Ignore

• Has a polarising design

• Not as fuel efficient

Skoda Slavia/ Volkswagen Virtus

Reasons To Consider

• Better driving dynamics

• Sporty look and feel

Reasons To Ignore

• Not as spacious

• No ADAS features on offer