Maruti Fronx, Swift And Baleno Hybrids Coming Soon: Series Hybrid Tech Explained
Along with electric vehicles, India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki, is planning to introduce new hybrid vehicles in the Indian market. They had hinted some time ago about their plans to introduce hybrid technology in smaller cars. It looks like Maruti is working on its own strong hybrid tech, and the same is expected to come to their models soon. According to reports, the first model with Maruti Suzuki’s strong hybrid technology will debut next year.
Autocar, in one of their recent articles, mentioned that Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) will be hitting the Indian market soon. We have already written about this hybrid technology in our previous articles. It is called Series Hybrid Technology. This technology is different from the strong hybrid technology that we have seen in the Grand Vitara and Invicto.
Maruti has, in fact, confirmed that they’ll continue to use the Hybrid System supplied by Toyota in the bigger models, while the smaller cars will get the new Series Hybrid and Suzuki’s mild hybrid tech. Maruti will have three types of hybrid systems in their models by 2025.
The Series Hybrid tech will be offered with the new Z12E series engine. This system will first be seen in the upcoming Fronx facelift, which is expected to be launched sometime later next year.
What is Series Hybrid Tech?
Before talking about the Series Hybrid, let’s talk about the existing hybrid setups in Maruti cars. The mild hybrid system is, in fact, an assist system that helps the engine pull at lower RPMs. This way, it reduces the stress put on the engine directly and helps improve overall efficiency.
In the strong hybrid system, there is an electric motor that works along with an engine. Using this technology, the car can be used only in EV mode, petrol mode, or a combination of both. This results in better fuel efficiency.
We now come to the Series Hybrid Tech. In this technology, the car does have an electric motor, battery pack, and an engine. The setup may seem similar to the strong hybrid system, but there is a lot going into this system that differentiates it from the strong hybrid system. This system is called HEV or Hybrid Electric Vehicle for a reason.
The sole purpose of the petrol engine in this system will be to charge the battery pack, which in turn powers the electric motor. In the regular hybrid system, the vehicle can be used as both ICE and EV, or a combination of both. However, in this Series Hybrid version, it eliminates the direct mechanical connection between the engine and wheels.
This reduces complexity and improves efficiency. It is also a cost-effective technology, which is why Maruti is offering this technology in smaller models. The petrol engine in the car would run at such a low RPM that it’s not even evident to the driver. The engine would be working in such a manner that it only generates electricity to recharge the batteries.
Maruti to Democratize Series Hybrid Tech
Maruti Suzuki has confirmed that this Series Hybrid technology will first be seen in the Fronx next year. However, being Maruti Suzuki, they will be offering this feature in many other models as well. The same technology is expected to make its way to the Baleno, Swift, and even the Dzire sedan in the future.