In the past many years, gasoline prices in India have been high. The recent pandemic has made the situation worse because several states have imposed additional taxes on gasoline and diesel to compensate for the losses caused by COVID-19. As many people avoid public and shared transportation for personal travel to maintain social distancing, rising fuel prices may be even more painful. Yes, we know that electric vehicles have the potential to make personal travel cheaper, but they are limited to two-wheelers, because electric vehicles in India are still quite expensive, and we also lack the necessary charging infrastructure. This is where compressed natural gas comes into play, because it is not only more economical than gasoline and diesel, but also environmentally friendly. Therefore, if you buy CNG cars in the market, then Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 S-CNG is currently the cheapest CNG car in India, starting at 433,000 rupees (in front of the Delhi showroom).
The Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 can choose the CNG powertrain in two variants, LXI and LXI (O). The Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 CNG LXI variant is equipped with body-color bumpers, body-color door handles, two-tone interior, door handles and steering wheel with silver trim, AC power with heater, power steering system and front power windows. The vehicle is also equipped with a front sun visor, a remote fuel tank cap opener and a remote rear door opener. The safety features of the Alto LXI S-CNG model include driver’s side airbag, reverse parking sensor, ABS with EBD, speed warning system, and seat belt reminders for the driver and co-driver. In addition to the regulations provided by the Alto 800 LXI CNG variant, the LXI (O) variant also gets a front passenger airbag.
The Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 S-CNG is equipped with a 796 cc engine and a 60-liter (water equivalent filling capacity) CNG cylinder. When only gasoline fuel is used, the car can output 47 horsepower and 69 Nm, but the compressed natural gas power system can output 40 horsepower and 60 Nm of peak torque. The cheapest CNG car in India is equipped with a five-speed manual transmission with a fuel efficiency of 31.59 km/kg. For reference, Alto 800 gasoline claims a fuel economy data of 22.05 km/liter.
Maruti Suzuki also claimed that the factory S-CNG kit has a leak-proof design and is equipped with two interdependent electronic control units (ECU) and a smart fuel injection system to improve performance. The car also has an automatic fuel transfer switch and a special forced compressed natural gas mode, which allows the car to start using compressed natural gas directly. This is a unique feature because most other CNG vehicles start using gasoline and then switch to CNG. However, Maruti Suzuki has pointed out that the mandatory CNG mode should only be used when there is no gasoline in the car.
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Post time: Oct-25-2021