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Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) is offering retrofit CNG kits with their new Amaze sedan and Elevate SUV. Both these vehicles only come with Petrol engine options and without any factory-fitted CNG options. To fill in the blanks and boost sales, HCIL has just introduced ‘Government Approved’ retrofitment kits. Let’s take a closer look.
Honda Elevate and Amaze Get CNG Option
With more and more cars ditching Diesel engines in India, an alternative to this frugal fuel is a necessity. That’s where CNG comes into action, offering lower running costs and cheaper fuel prices. Some OEMs offer factory-fitted CNG kits, while some offer retrofitted kits. Honda is taking the second route.
OEMs like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hyundai offer factory-fitted CNG kits in India. That said, developing costs for CNG powertrain proves costly for OEMs and they resort to retrofitment kits installed at the dealer level. Renault does the same thing and Nissan is considering taking a similar route.
Now, Honda is taking the same route and is advertising Government Approved CNG Retrofitment Kits with 3rd Gen Amaze sub 4m sedan and Elevate compact SUV. It has to be noted that HCIL has not listed these retrofitment CNG kits on their official websites and pricing for these kits is not known as of now.
Dealer Level Installation
These CNG kits will be installed at the dealer level. Honda is likely to be offering CNG kits with select dealerships only with trained service personnel to do this job. So, CNG implementation will not be as seamless as one might find in a factory-fitted setup. Some documentation might be provided by CNG kit provider for warranty purposes.
Also, the registration process of these vehicles will be slightly more tedious as they need to be registered as Petrol vehicles first and then as Petrol CNG vehicles. The company is only offering retrofitment CNG kits for Amaze and Elevate while omitting City sedan.
Because these are retrofitment kits, there is no clarity if City is eligible for this conversion. It is unsure whether this conversion kit is only for new Honda Elevate and Amaze buyers or whether existing owners can also benefit from this bi-fuel compatibility. Fuel efficiency figures have not been revealed as well.
Rushlane
Honda Elevate and Amaze Get CNG Option
With more and more cars ditching Diesel engines in India, an alternative to this frugal fuel is a necessity. That’s where CNG comes into action, offering lower running costs and cheaper fuel prices. Some OEMs offer factory-fitted CNG kits, while some offer retrofitted kits. Honda is taking the second route.
OEMs like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hyundai offer factory-fitted CNG kits in India. That said, developing costs for CNG powertrain proves costly for OEMs and they resort to retrofitment kits installed at the dealer level. Renault does the same thing and Nissan is considering taking a similar route.
Now, Honda is taking the same route and is advertising Government Approved CNG Retrofitment Kits with 3rd Gen Amaze sub 4m sedan and Elevate compact SUV. It has to be noted that HCIL has not listed these retrofitment CNG kits on their official websites and pricing for these kits is not known as of now.
Dealer Level Installation
These CNG kits will be installed at the dealer level. Honda is likely to be offering CNG kits with select dealerships only with trained service personnel to do this job. So, CNG implementation will not be as seamless as one might find in a factory-fitted setup. Some documentation might be provided by CNG kit provider for warranty purposes.
Also, the registration process of these vehicles will be slightly more tedious as they need to be registered as Petrol vehicles first and then as Petrol CNG vehicles. The company is only offering retrofitment CNG kits for Amaze and Elevate while omitting City sedan.
Because these are retrofitment kits, there is no clarity if City is eligible for this conversion. It is unsure whether this conversion kit is only for new Honda Elevate and Amaze buyers or whether existing owners can also benefit from this bi-fuel compatibility. Fuel efficiency figures have not been revealed as well.
Rushlane