Suzuki Wagon R Hybrid with ENE-Charge breaks cover in Japan
Suzuki has previewed a hybrid variant of the Wagon R in Japan sporting a new mild-hybrid system named ENE-Charge and an energy-saving electric air conditioning system dubbed ECO-Cool. The Wagon R Hybrid will go on sale in the Japanese market late September, 2012.
The ENE-Charge (short for ‘energy charge’) system is a hybrid system which features a small petrol engine mated to an electric motor with a lithium-ion battery pack. Regenerative braking generates some power to help the petrol engine and runs electrical equipments of the car. Adding to that, the hybrid Wagon R is bundled with an energy-saving air conditioning system called ECO-Cool.
Suzuki expects the Wagon R hybrid with ENE-Charge and ECO-COOL to return up to 28.8 km/l as per Japan’s JC08 driving cycle (3.5l /100km). Further details are expected to be revealed soon by Suzuki.
With ever increasing fuel prices, auto manufacturers worldwide are deeply immersed in a race to find cheap and practical alternatives to replace gasoline without making a compromise on performance. The Wagon R hybrid is the next step to this technology as it employs a hybrid powertrain.
And for those of you who are interested in more details regarding the ECO-Cool and ENE-Charge technologies, here is a video below (although it is in Japanese and we couldn’t make out head or tail of any of it).
