Maruti Suzuki has added a new safety feature in Grand Vitara which is supposed to make life safer, especially for pedestrians. This new feature, called Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS), has been added to the strong hybrid variants of the SUV only.
As a result, prices of all hybrid variants of Grand Vitara now start at Rs 18.29 lakh and go up to Rs 19.79 lakh (both ex-showroom), an increment of Rs 4,000. Prices for the mild-hybrid variants remain untouched.
Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara: Function of AVAS
Hybrid cars when running on full electric power are absolutely silent like EVs which could be disconcerting for pedestrians. To address this issue, Maruti has introduced AVAS which emits low-level and low-frequency sound alerts audible up to five feet away from the car, giving pedestrians and others in proximity to the car a heads-up that a vehicle is nearby.
This new feature addition is in compliance with Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) 173 standard that recommends Quiet Road Transport Vehicles (QRTV) to come equipped with some form of pedestrian warning system. According to AIS 173 norms, ORTVs are vehicles featuring at least one electric motor, or an electric motor generator including all-electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, fuel-cell vehicles, and also fuel-cell hybrid vehicles.
Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara hybrid specs & features
Powering the hybrid variants of Grand Vitara is a 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder, Atkinson cycle petrol engine that works in tandem with an electric motor. In combination, this hybrid powertrain churns out around 114 bhp while being paired with an eCVT automatic gearbox. The electrified powertrain has an ARAI-rated fuel economy of 27.97 kmpl.
Besides AVAS, the strong hybrid version of Grand Vitara is equipped with safety features like six airbags, ESP, a 360-degree camera, a tyre pressure monitoring system, hill-descent control and ISOFIX child-seat anchors.
