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JSW MG Motor India has launched the Hector Tomahawk PHEV in the country, priced from Rs 25.69 lakh, ex-showroom. There is also a Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) scheme available, which will bring the upfront costs further down. These make the Tomahawk India’s most affordable plug-in hybrid SUV. More importantly, this makes life difficult for strong hybrids like the Toyota Hycross. The Hycross and Tomahawk PHEV are both hybrids, but work in entirely different ways. They are priced closely as well. So, let’s do a quick comparison between the range-topping variants of these.

Let’s start with the dimensions. The Tomahawk PHEV is 4745mm long, 1850mm wide, and 1770 tall. It has a wheelbase of 2810mm.

The Hycross measures 4755mm in length, 1850mm in width, and 1790mm in height. Its wheelbase is 2850mm. It is longer and taller than the Tomahawk PHEV and even has a longer wheelbase. The Hycross has a ground clearance of 185mm. The Tomahawk PHEV, on the other hand, has a ground clearance of 230mm- much higher in comparison.

The Hycross is claimed to have a boot space of 300 litres with all three rows in use. Due to its smaller dimensions, the Tomahawk PHEV offers just 192 litres when all three rows of seats are in use.

The two vehicles have extremely different design approaches. The primary difference is that the Tomahawk is an SUV and looks like one, whereas the Hycross is an MPV. Since it is a PHEV, there is a petrol engine in the vehicle. So, the design has a traditional front grille with rectangular elements instead of a blanked out space.

Other key highlights if its design are an illuminated MG logo, conventional pull-type door handles, a unique front bumper design, a large Silver cladding at the front, LED headlamps, sleek LED DRLs and more. The vehicle also gets chunky side cladding on wheel arches and doors, and LED tail lamps and LED rear fog lamps. There are roof rails and a printed antenna as well. The Tomahawk rides on 18-inch wheels.

Now, the Hycross hybrid. It has been around for long and the design is very familiar. It has a conventional ‘modern MPV’ silhouette and is built on a monocoque platform. The front fascia has a large, upright hexagonal grille, LED headlamps, LED DRLs, and a prominent bumper. The rear gets full-LED tail lamps. The top-spec variant uses 18-inch wheels. Instead of a printed one, it comes with a shark-fin antenna.

The Hycross Hybrid is available in 7 colour options. The Tomahawk PHEV, on the other hand, comes in 8 colour options- six mono-tones and two dual-tones.

Both the Hycross and Tomahawk PHEVs are seven-seaters, and come well equipped. Both of them get features like panoramic sunroof, automatic climate control (2-zone system on the Hycross), air purifier, rear AC vents, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, powered driver’s seat with memory function, selectable drive modes (4 on the Tomahawk, 3 on the Hycross), ambient lighting, rear sun-blinds, 360-degree camera, ventilated seats and more.

Talking of differences, the Hycross hybrid gets a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto whereas the Tomahawk PHEV comes with a much larger 15.6-inch touchscreen with wireless Carplay and Android Auto. It has a 10-speaker Infinity audio system. The Toyota has a 9-speaker JBL audio system instead.

The Hycross has a 7-inch digital instrument cluster while the Tomahawk PHEV has an 8.8-inch unit for the same. The MG comes with a level 2 ADAS suite, while the Toyota has a significantly more basic set of driver assistance features on offer- Pre-Collision System, Auto High Beam, Blind Spot Monitor (BSM) etc.

The actual difference between these is on the powertrain front, in the way the two function. The Hycross is a strong hybrid. Its powertrain combines a 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine with a 1.7kWh battery pack and an electric motor. This setup has a combined output of 184 hp. Since there is electric assist at low speeds and in certain conditions, this system delivers a fuel efficiency of around 21-23 kpl- impressive for a vehicle of this size.

The Tomahawk PHEV is a plug-in hybrid. It has a powertrain that combines a 1.5-litre petrol engine with a 20.5kWh battery pack and a 148kW electric motor. MG hasn’t revealed the combined power and torque officially. This setup promises an electric-only range of 115+ km per charge and a combined range of over 1100 km on a full tank of fuel and a full battery.

Now, here’s the interesting part. We think the PHEV would make more sense to more families than the strong hybrid, if they are concerned about running costs. Let’s try to explain with an example. Let’s assume you have a daily commute of 20- 25 km. If you are using the Hycross, you get roughly 23 kpl, But you are still spending on petrol in this case.

However, if you have a Tomahawk PHEV instead, you can do the daily driving using its 115km of all-electric range. The weekend drives can be had in the internal combustion engine-powered mode. A home charger is critical for this plan to give best results. The running cost in this case, will likely be much less than those of strong hybrids