The Honda Elevate gets powered by the 1.5L i-Vtec petrol engine producing 119 bhp of maximum power and 145 Nm of peak torque. The engine gets mated to either a six speed manual transmission or a CVT gearbox. The same engine can be seen in the current Honda City and older generations as well. Honda says that the Elevate SUV has a mileage of 15.31 kmpl in manual variants while the CVT versions will offer 16.92 kmpl of mileage.

The cabin of the Elevate SUV is spacious yet simple. There is a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system which is compatible with wireless smartphone connectivity. There is also a 7-inch HD colour TFT driver display. One also gets other features like automatic climate control among others. It also gets a single pane electric sunroof.

In terms of design, the Elevate SUV comes with a boxy front profile. It has a large black radiator grille, LED headlights, integrated LED DRLs, LED tail lights, black fog lamp housing and large wheel arches housing sporty 17-inch alloy wheels. The character lines at the sides, along with the black claddings, increase its visual appeal. The SUV also gets a massive 220 mm of ground clearance, which is the highest in the segment.

Unlike its rivals, the Honda Elevate comes with only one engine option, missing out on a diesel or a hybrid powertrain. While Honda had discontinued its diesel cars in April 2023, it had the hybrid powertrain which could have been plunged into the Elevate given that many of its rivals do offer hybrid powertrain. 

While competing in a segment such as the compact SUV where there are so many options for the customers to choose from, it becomes important to be at par with the rivals. And in India where customers value features over anything, it becomes all the more important to load the vehicle with features. The Honda Elevate misses out on some key features that its rivals offer such as panoramic sunroof and ventilated seats even on the top ZX trim level.