In Delhi-NCR region, the government has introduced odd-even scheme in order to control air pollution caused by vehicular traffic but has a lot of exemptions.
The list of exemptions extends to CNG, hybrid and electric vehicles, among other criteria such as emergency response vehicles, woman-only vehicle, VIP-owned cars and those belonging to top politicians. That means, most of the new car buyers will have to shift to CNG-powered or hybrid cars, such as the Prius, which are not affordable to the masses.
Now AutoCarIndia report says Maruti’s SHVS-equipped cars, the Ertiga and Ciaz, fall under the hybrid category and are thus exempt from the rule as well. Apart from being exempt from the odd-even scheme, the Ciaz SHVS and Ertiga SHVS also benefit from the FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) scheme by the government and are entitled to a subsidy of Rs. 13,000/- (after purchase).
While Ciaz/Ertiga SHVS owners will obviously rejoice at this news, we can expect a significant increase in sales of these two models across metro cities, as Bangalore too is toying with the idea of odd-even number rotation for cars.
What is SHVS? The SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki) technology made its Indian debut on the Ciaz, and was introduced on the Ertiga with the facelifted model. It consists of an idling start/stop system, a larger battery and an Integrated Starter Generator (ISG). While the vehicle is braking, the ISG converts the kinetic energy of the rolling wheels into electricity and stores in the battery, this system combines it with the power from the engine to help the vehicle during acceleration.
When the car comes to halt due to traffic signal/jam, is in neutral gear, the engine will shut down automatically after few seconds. To restart, the driver must press the clutch pedal, the engine starts immediately for continuing the journey, however, the driver’s seatbelt has to be locked, driver door and bonnet of the car should be closed. The SHVS system can be manually switched-off by pressing a button below the center console.
To read more on SHVS technology, Click here
Also see: Registration of diesel cars with engines over 2000cc banned
Source: AutoCarIndia
