SHVS – Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki
Maruti Suzuki has packed in some clever technology into the Ciaz diesel to make it India’s most fuel efficient car.Let’s see the tech behind Maruti’s new mild hybrid system.
Maruti Suzuki has recently pioneered mild hybrid technology for mass market cars in India, thereby giving a significant boost to its brand image which is anyway an enviable one for all its rivals. The first car to receive this new technology from Suzuki is the Ciaz mid-size sedan that was launched in India in 2014.
The Maruti Suzuki Ciaz is one of the highest selling mid-size sedan in the country. Maruti however now has an ace up its sleeve owing to its new mild hybrid technology badged as SHVS (short for Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki). Let’s take a closer look at Maruti’s new Ciaz with SHVS mild hybrid technology and what makes it stand out.
- Regenerative braking
Suzuki’s new SHVS system works on the principle of regenerative braking where kinetic energy while slowing down is converted to electricity and stored in the battery of the car. The Ciaz comes with a bigger lead acid battery in the SHVS model.
- Integrated Starter Generator
Also referred to as an ISG, this electric motor is powered by the high capacity battery of the car. It is used supplement the engine’s power while the car accelerates. As we know, an engine burns more fuel to gain momentum at higher RPMs as compared to sustaining momentum which is done at lower revolutions per minute. And since the ISG motor aids the Ciaz mild hyrid in acceleration with electricity, the engine does not have to rev as much when the car accelerates thereby saving fuel.
- Idle Start/Stop
The Maruti Ciaz mild hybrid also comes with idle start/stop technology that shuts off the engine when the car comes to a halt in order to save fuel in stop/start traffic conditions.
- India’s most fuel efficient car
The incorporation of Suzuki’s SHVS system in the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has understandably made the car more fuel efficient than the standard model. The Maruti Suzuki Ciaz SHVS is available only in the diesel engined model of the car. The standard Maruti Ciaz diesel (which has been discontinued with the introduction of the new mild hybrid model) had an ARAI rated fuel efficiency figure of 26.21 km/l. The new Ciaz diesel mild hybrid has an ARAI rated figure of 28.09 km/l. This makes the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz diesel the most fuel efficient car in India.
- Competitive price
The incorporation of the mild hybrid system in the Ciaz has allowed Maruti Suzuki to avail economic benefits from the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan. Suzuki Ciaz mild hybrid diesel continues to be more affordable than rival models despite incorporation of the new mild hybrid technology.
And in this country where fuel efficiency is right at the top of car buying consumer sentiments, the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz mild hybrid certainly has an edge over all its rivals.
