Over the past 3 years hybrid cars are becoming very popular in Bangladesh. People who can affoard a car are now moving towads a hybrid car. There are some good reason why:
- Hybrid cars have slightly less tax in Bangladesh so price is a bit cheaper compare to the same car , non hybrid.
- Mileage of hybrid cars are very good, a same engine non hybrid car if gives 8-10 kmpl in Dhaka then a hybrid version of the same car will give 12-15 kmpl.
- For hybrid cars you don’t need to run on CNG so you are not killing the engine slowly.
Some of the most popular hybrid cars in Bangladesh
Toyota – Aqua, Axio Corolla, Prius
Honda – Fit, Grace, Vezel
Mazda – Axela
Nissan – X Trail
Mitshubishi – Outlander PHEV
Suzuki – Ciaz,.
So what are the major problems you might face after buying a Hybrid car?
Lack of Power
To increase fuel efficiency, hybrids have much less powerful engines, resulting in cars with a considerable drop in power. Both acceleration and pulling power are affected by this.
Cost of Repairs
Engines in hybrid cars are a newer technology that many mechanics are not yet familiar with. This and their more complicated design leads to much higher repair costs.
Battery Life
The average hybrid car battery lasts around 125,000 – 150,000 km before needing replaced. As most While that seems like quite a long shelf life, keep in mind that these batteries cost 3-5 lac. Also most hybrid cars which comes in Bangladesh comes as recondition so it will have some mileage on the car + some recondiiton car importers temper the odometer reading of the car so in that case you might need to change the batter before you know it.
Size
Because the engines produce less power than a typical car, hybrids are much smaller to help improve acceleration and gas efficiency. For this reason, some hybrids have drastically less storage space than their non-hybrid counterparts.
Weight
For more efficient operation and better performance, hybrids are typically much lighter than a normal car. These lighter materials tend to make the car more susceptible to damage.
Weather
Bangladesh has a very dusty weather which isn’t good for the hybrid battaries of your car. As battery heats up a lot and it needs to cool down quickly, if the battery runs too hot then it also affects the performance & mostly the mileage of the car.
Md Quamrul Hasan July 4, 2021 at 10:25 am
After damage of the Battery, is it possible to convert the engine in LPG power System?
Md Quamrul Hasan July 4, 2021 at 10:27 am
After damage of the Battery, is it possible to convert the engine in to LPG power System?
Wasif Anowar July 5, 2021 at 12:17 pm
I heard it is possible some people did that but not sure whether it is a good or bad option to choose. Although I know some completly shut off their hybrid systems
A Ahmed February 9, 2022 at 4:45 pm
An article completely based on 5 year old knowledge, even though it’s written in 2021. These are totally misleading and some of which are even straight up exaggerating without any scientific base. Let me update you-
Lack of Power- Most hybrids come with 1800CC engine these days, outputting around almost 122HP. 0-100km/h is at 10-11 sec range which is very much acceptable.
Cost of Repairs- Repairing for hybrids is costly, but it was true 5 years ago. Navana has made 12 repairing centers for hybrid, and many 3rd party shops are also available. Navana even arranged technicians specialized in hybrids.
Battery Life- The new battery technology is so efficient that, 6-12 months of unused hybrids doesn’t lose it’s battery power. The intelligent software is smart enough to charge the battery from engine even if the the car is not running, in case the battery gets too low. This is to protect the battery from get undercharged. And battery cost has been significantly reduced to around 1.5-2 lacs now, not 3.5 lacs anymore.
Size- Hybrid SUVs have already come in the country and those are very specious, more spacious and comfortable than regular cars actually. And like I already said, since 1800CC engines are available now, the car doesn’t need to be small to gain speed and acceleration.
Weight- I don’t think I need to explain to you that 1800CC engines are heavier than 1500CC engines seen in regular cars. Also for hybrids, you need to consider the added weight of the electric motor and battery. So, overall, a hybrid car is heavier than it’s non-hybrid counterpart.
Weather- Hybrid cars use batteries which are solid with no moving parts and ingress point. Without any ingress point, duct can never enter. On the other hand, a car engine is full of moving parts along with lots of ingress points for dust. So by your own logic, an engine is much more susceptible to dust damage than batteries. If an engine can survive the dusty weather of Bangladesh, batteries can do it much much better. As for the temperature you mentioned, Bangladesh is not the hottest country in the world. There are hybrid cars in much hotter countries like the UAE and Australia and no one there ever said that hybrid cars are getting damaged. So it’ll be fine in Bangladesh as well.
The whole point of this negative attitude towards hybrid cars is because of people’s unwillingness, ignorance and fear about new technology. Decades ago, when auto-transmission cars were becoming available in Bangladesh, people were saying similar things like auto-transmission is not good, it’s susceptible to damage, etc. Now you can hardly see people buying manual transmission cars. Same thing will happen with hybrids. After 15-20 years, everywhere you’ll see hybrid cars. And I can guarantee you that, people will still show the same negative behavior with electric cars when they start to get popular. It’s always the people’s mentality that need to be changes, not the technology itself. The more quickly you accept the new technology, the better, for both humans and the environment.