Even while stuck in traffic, my test car – a strong hybrid – is clocking 27 km/litre. The cabin is quiet, as the car is running on electric motor. Escaping the jam, I floor the accelerator; the petrol engine roars to life alongside the electric motor, and launches the car ahead. At the next red light, the petrol engine shuts down, but the electric motor keeps the AC running.

“Isn’t this a great technology,” says my co-passenger Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer of Marketing & Sales at Maruti Suzuki India , as we drive the new Victoris SUV on roads around Jaipur. “Strong hybrid is a stepping stone towards electric vehicles (EVs), and is vital until the EV infrastructure matures broadly in India.” ALSO READ GST 2.0 impact: Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki and Tata offer massive discoun

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