Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza
The world is moving towards cleaner and intelligent mobility, and as a matter of fact, new car buyers are making smart choices with either electric or mild-hybrid cars. Maruti Suzuki, at present, has six models with its Smart Hybrid technology including Baleno, Ciaz, Ertiga, S-Cross, XL6, as well as our long term Vitara Brezza. A quick search on the web validates that a hybrid receives its energy by burning petrol, but switches between an electric motor and a combustion engine for enhanced driving performance and improved fuel efficiency. Interesting, right? Let’s see how it all works.
In our previous report, we mentioned how the petrol engine misses out on instant thrust. Well, that is compensated by a 48V Integrated Starter Generator that replaces a conventional alternator, which in turn is connected to a dual battery setup of a Li-ion and a lead acid battery. These batteries store kinetic energy produced at braking and deceleration into electrical energy, and gives an extra push in situations after crossing a speed-breaker or overtaking slow-moving cars, and works perfectly in the city. The digital screen in the instrument cluster with icons of the battery, motor and wheels show what the hybrid system is up to. The engine start/stop feature comes in handy when you come to a halt or when stuck staring at the signal to turn green. The battery helps the engine to stay off for longer, and provides a little bit of torque for the wheels. Release the brake, or shift to D and the motor starts up instantly. One shortcoming is it kills the air-conditioning, and while it didn’t bother me during the winters, it will surely turn the heat up during the summers, but momentarily.
THE ISG CONVERTS KINETIC ENERGY PRODUCED AT BRAKING AND DECELERATION INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY AND STORES IT IN THE DUAL HIGH-CAPACITY BATTERY SETUP