While car sales are booming, the heavy traffic in cities is kind of ruining the ownership experience
As compared to earlier times, car engines have become a lot more fuel efficient. But that won’t be of much use if one is stuck in slow moving traffic. The situation will only get worse, as more vehicles enter the city streets.
In an example of how bad the situation already is, a Hyundai Venue owner has shared his driving experience in Bengaluru. The city is infamous for its congested streets. The time and location could make things even worse. As a matter of fact, Bengaluru was rated the second most congested city in the world in 2022. Average rush hour speed was estimated at around 18 km per hour.
Venue mileage at 2.8 kmpl in Bengaluru traffic
It is likely that the Hyundai Venue owner could have gotten stuck in one of the nasty traffic jams that are quite common in Bengaluru. It usually occurs when there’s some construction, digging or road repair work going on. In such situations, the queue could be up to a kilometre or even longer.
The Venue owner has shared an image of the digital instrument console. It shows 2.9 km of travel in 52 minutes. Trip fuel efficiency is displayed at 2.8 kmpl. The owner has stated that he was driving in Eco mode all along. Venue has two other ride modes of Normal and Sport. If any of these two were activated, the trip fuel efficiency would have been even lower.
Hyundai Venue has other fuel saving systems in addition to Eco mode. For example, the SUV is equipped with a push button start/stop system. This feature is available with top-spec SX and SX(O) variants. Hyundai Venue engines are also among the most fuel efficient. Users have reported around 18 kmpl with petrol variants and approximately 23 kmpl with the 1.5-litre diesel engine. But even the most advanced fuel saving measures will fail when one is stuck in heavy, slow-moving traffic.
Does switching to an EV make sense?
Cities have limited space to construct new roads or widen existing ones. There’s a metro and local train network in Bengaluru. But these too are already running close to full capacity. Things could improve to some extent if more people start using city buses.
Another option is to make the switch to electric. EVs will take the same amount of time as their ICE counterparts when stuck in traffic. But they will be consuming a lot less energy in comparison to their ICE counterparts. Research shows that electric vehicles consume less energy when idling. Moreover, EVs also benefit from regenerative braking. This can be useful in heavy traffic conditions, when one has to apply the brakes after every small movement forward.
EV revolution is just starting in India. In the coming years, several new electric cars will be seen on the streets. Most of the OEMs such as Mahindra, Tata Motors, Hyundai, MG Motor and others have plans to launch new electric cars. As more people shift to EVs, there will be fewer complaints about low mileage.
