Honda Elevate turns one: Key hits and misses
- The Honda Elevate is priced between ₹11.7 lakh, ex-showroom to ₹16.4 lakh and is available across four trim levels- SV, V, VX and ZX
After much consideration, Honda launched the Elevete, its first compact SUV in the market on September 4, 2023. At the time, the compact SUV space had eight more products and the segment was led by Hyundai Creta. While everyone was anticipating a breakthrough product, the Honda Elevate turned out to be a typical Honda product, in the right way. The Honda Elevate has been the top seller for the brand since its launch.
The Honda Elevate was adequately feature loaded with amenities like a larger touchscreen auto climate control and ADAS Level 2 features. It became the most affordable product in its segment to get ADAS capabilities. Even after one year and launch of multiple new products in the segment, the Honda Elevate has a place of its own in the market. Lets take a look at its key hits and misses.
1.5L i-Vtec engine
The Honda Elevate gets powered by the 1.5L i-Vtec petrol engine producing 119 bhp of maximum power and 145 Nm of peak torque. The engine gets mated to either a six speed manual transmission or a CVT gearbox. The same engine can be seen in the current Honda City and older generations as well. Honda says that the Elevate SUV has a mileage of 15.31 kmpl in manual variants while the CVT versions will offer 16.92 kmpl of mileage.
Adequately feature loaded cabin
The cabin of the Elevate SUV is spacious yet simple. There is a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system which is compatible with wireless smartphone connectivity. There is also a 7-inch HD colour TFT driver display. One also gets other features like automatic climate control among others. It also gets a single pane electric sunroof.
Simple design
In terms of design, the Elevate SUV comes with a boxy front profile. It has a large black radiator grille, LED headlights, integrated LED DRLs, LED tail lights, black fog lamp housing and large wheel arches housing sporty 17-inch alloy wheels. The character lines at the sides, along with the black claddings, increase its visual appeal. The SUV also gets a massive 220 mm of ground clearance, which is the highest in the segment.
Lack of diesel or hybrid powertrain
Unlike its rivals, the Honda Elevate comes with only one engine option, missing out on a diesel or a hybrid powertrain. While Honda had discontinued its diesel cars in April 2023, it had the hybrid powertrain which could have been plunged into the Elevate given that many of its rivals do offer hybrid powertrain.
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Misses out on key features
While competing in a segment such as the compact SUV where there are so many options for the customers to choose from, it becomes important to be at par with the rivals. And in India where customers value features over anything, it becomes all the more important to load the vehicle with features. The Honda Elevate misses out on some key features that its rivals offer such as panoramic sunroof and ventilated seats even on the top ZX trim level.
Check out Upcoming Cars in India 2024, Best SUVs in India.
