Maruti Suzuki has added a new feature to the popular Grand Vitara SUV. The new safety feature is Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS). AVAS will be offered with the strong hybrid variants of the Grand Vitara. Due to this, there will be a modest price hike of INR 4,000 on select variants.
The AVAS system emits a low volume sound that can be heard upto five feet away. This will alert the pedestrians and other users near the vehicle about the approaching car. This safety feature is inline with the automotive industry standard AIS 173. It mostly pertains to Quiet Road Transport Vehicles or QRTV for short. When driving an electric or hybrid car (in EV mode), there is no traditional engine sound. This reduced noise emission from the car could catch pedestrians and others unaware of the car.
As per the draft rules, QRTVs include cars that have atleast one electric motor or an electric motor generator unit. This includes hybrid electrics, fuel cell vehicles and fuel cell hybrid cars. Maruti is just being proactive to this and hence decided to add the AVAS system to the hybrid variants. Other manufacturers are expected to add this as well to their cars in the near future.
The Grand Vitara arrived in the Indian market back in September 2022. The SUV is currently available with two engine options. First is a 1.5-litre mild-hybrid that makes 102 BHP and 137 Nm. Second is a 1.5-litre, 3-cylinder petrol strong-hybrid powertrain. An all-wheel drive option is also offered with the non-hybrid powertrain with manual transmission.
Maruti also added a CNG variant of the car earlier this year. The Grand Vitara S-CNG uses a 1.5-litre engine paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. It makes 87 BHP and 121.5 Nm when running on CNG.
Also Read – Maruti Suzuki recalls Grand Vitara SUV for seatbelt issue.