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      New Vespa 300cc Scooter Spied Testing In India – Launch In 2023

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      This 300cc engine is said to be similar to 300cc scooters offered by Keeway – It makes 18.4 bhp of power and 22 Nm of torqueImage for illustration. Credit – ScooteriaThe Indian scooter market was not mature enough to embrace unconventional products like Kinetic Blaze back in the day. Fast forward to 2023, we have sporty scooters in the form of Yamaha Aerox 155. 300cc scooters have sprung up too and if you want a grotesque, BMW even has C 400 GT that costs an absolute bomb.Vespa being a stalwart in the scooter field can’t shy away from offering a 300cc scooter in an important market like India. New Vespa GTS 300cc scooter has been spied testing in India and is likely to go on sale soon. Let’s take a look.New Vespa 300cc Scooter SpiedThere used to be multiple speculations in place since 2020 that Vespa is working on a larger 300cc engine. Followed by the economic crisis post Covid-19, this development was somewhat muted. In 2023, it seems to be undergoing testing for an imminent launch in near future.Vespa GTS line stands for Granturismo Sport and has a larger body than other Vespa scooters owing to its touring credentials. As the name suggests, Vespa GTS 300cc scooter is touring-oriented and hence offers a lot of space for both rider and pillion. The engine seems to be a much larger unit than Vespa’s current flagship Racing Sixties 150’s engine.New Vespa 300cc Scooter SpiedUpon closer inspection, this doesn’t look like the 2023 model that was showcased at 2022 EICMA. It is not yet sure if this test mule will get the same TFT colour screen as found on the GTS 300 SuperTech variant sold globally. The test mule spotted in India had a phone holder or testing equipment mounted on top of its instrument cluster.Another point to be noted is that global models get disc brakes at both front and back. The test mule that was spotted in India featured rear drum brakes. This might be a cost-cutting measure to offer 2023 Vespa GTS 300 at an attractive price point.Specs & FeaturesOther notable cost cutting is evident in the engine cooling system. While the Indian test mule is an air-cooled unit, globally, Vespa offers a liquid-cooled engine. The 300cc engine in question also does duties on recently launched Keeway Vieste 300 and Sixties 300i. On Keeway products, this engine is said to be on a different tune, while Vespa will offer its scooter with a different tune.Specifications and features including engine displacement might vary compared to international spec model. When launched, it will rival both Keeway scooters with 300cc engines and prices can fall between Rs. 3 – 3.5 lakh (ex-sh).Source More

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      2023 Ather 450x Electric Scooter Deliveries Start – First Batch

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      New Ather Battery Protect warranty scheme is applicable to all new 450X purchases and existing Ather owners can avail it at an additional costAther Electric Scooter New 2023 ModelAther Energy was among the first to launch a premium electric scooter in India. It even took performance electric scooter crown for a long time as well. The company even claims that 450X is the first ever scooter of any kind to come with a built-in touchscreen and first-ever scooter of any kind to get on board Google Maps.At Ather’s Community Day held on January 7th, there was a lot of information divulged from Ather. There was a new OTA update, a new warranty scheme, a new seat, and colours as well. There was a lot of attention given to update software, user interface and Google Maps integration as well. Now that TVC is out, let’s take a closer look.2023 Ather 450x Electric Scooter DeliveriesElectric powertrains need a lot of fine-tuning with their software so as to extract most out of its potential. These softwares are updated periodically to ensure the user gets the most optimum experience. Ola calls it Move OS and Ather calls it AtherStack. Latter is now updated and is called AtherStack 5.0.Tarun Mehta – Co-Founder & CEO, Ather Energy, said “Ather 450, was the first-ever software engine (AtherStack) on any two-wheeler in India, probably even globally. It enabled first-in-market features like a touchscreen dashboard, onboard navigation, and remote diagnostics. Some of which barely even existed in luxury cars at that time. With a fluid new UI and Google Vector Maps, AtherStack 5.0 takes our touchscreen and maps experience to a whole new level.[embedded content][embedded content]AtherStacks 5.0 also enabled Ather to leverage its hardware to unlock new experiences such as AutoHold. Importantly, it allowed the company to roll out these new experiences to most of our existing customers as well, based on their scooter generation. AtherStack will continue to form a core of the company’s product strategy, allowing Ather to constantly keep enhancing its product experience on existing hardware platform.”2023 Ather Electric Scooter SpecsAs seen in AtherStack 5.0 TVC, Ather has revamped its user interface for touchscreen dash to incorporate gestures instead of taps. Logical refinement is found throughout. Google Maps now gets Vector maps with perspective change and even live traffic updates. After working on it for 2 years, Ather finally launched AutoHold, which helps in inclined terrains.2023 Ather Electric Scooter SpecsNew Warranty, Colours, SeatOne of the most important announcements Ather did on Community day is Ather Battery Protect. This is an extended warranty program that covers Ather EVs for up to 5 years or 60,000 km. There is a guarantee of 70% performance at the end of 5 years too. Ather Battery Protect is standard on every new 450X, while Gen 2 and Gen 3 owners can opt for it at an additional cost.2023 Ather Electric Scooter SpecsAlong with Neighbourhood charging and new colours for 450X, Ather also showed a plusher seat. This seat is free for everyone that attended Ather Community Day and others can avail it at an additional cost. Ather operates in the premium electric scooter space and rivals Ola, TVS, Bajaj and upcoming Simple One. Deliveries have started. More

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      New TVS Metro Plus 110cc Launch Price BDT 1.25 L – 86 Kmpl Mileage

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      TVS Metro Plus 110cc is sold in India as Star City Plus – with identical looks and even graphicsTVS Metro Plus 110India’s TVS Motor, is one of the most prominent 2W and 3W manufacturers in the world. With an extensive product portfolio, TVS operates in many countries worldwide. One of those countries is Bangladesh.In Bangladesh, TVS has launched a new motorcycle today, called Metro Plus 110 with upgraded features and new additions. This is not an entirely new motorcycle and is also sold in India as well. If you scoured TVS’ entire lineup and didn’t find a Metro Plus, you will find it under the Star City Plus name. Yes, both motorcycles are almost similar. Let’s take a look.2023 TVS Metro Plus 110 LaunchedThe upgrades that Metro Plus 110 brings to the table are termed customer needs within this segment. Renewed styling and safety aspects of Metro Plus are expected to cater to a new generation of riders and satisfy growing customer demand in Bangladesh.This is said to be just a refresh of what used to already be on offer. Main highlights are LED Headlamps, USB charging port, New Dual-Tone colours, and Synchronized Braking Technology.TVS Metro Plus 110 SpecsApart from LED Headlamps, USB charging port, New Dual-Tone colours, and Synchronized Braking, there are not a lot of additions. Aluminium grab rail, chrome muffler guard and a sporty instrument cluster are some of the additions.New TVS Metro Plus 110 Specs, PricesMetro Plus 110 comes with a 110 cc single-cylinder mill that is coupled to a 4-speed gearbox. The company has sold 1.2 lakhs units of TVS Metro Plus 110 in Bangladesh since its first launch. Along with all these, an electric start feature that works in all gears and two new dual-tone colour schemes. The Blue Silver dual-tone shade with front disc brake is offered in India as well.TVS promises a best-in-class mileage of 86 kmpl. A standard two-year warranty and six free services are offered with TVS Metro Plus 110 like every other product from the company in Bangladesh. In India, Star City Plus prices start from Rs. 73,500 (ex-sh). 2023 TVS Metro Plus 110cc prices in Bangladesh start from BDT 1.25 lakh (INR 1 lakh) for the drum brake variant and BDT 1.3 lakh (INR 1.05 lakh) for the disc brake variant.TVS Motor Bangladesh said, “We are excited to launch the New TVS Metro Plus in Bangladesh which is one of our key international markets. The motorcycle will be sold across our 335 sales outlets and will be serviced at 328 service touchpoints making it the widest service network across Bangladesh.” More

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      Two Wheeler Retail Sales Dec 2022 – TVS, Bajaj, RE, Yamaha, Hero Electric

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      Two wheeler retail sales were at their lowest ever in December 2022 suffering a de-growth over sales in 2021, 2020 and 2019Yamaha R15Year 2022 was not so great for the two wheeler segment. In the earlier post, we took a look at the two wheeler wholesales (sales from company to dealers) for Dec 2022. In this post, we will take a look at the retail sales (sales from dealers to customers) in Dec 2022.Retail sales were down to 11,33,138 units in Dec 2022. This was the lowest Dec 2022 2W retail sales since 2019. Sales in Dec 2021 had stood at 12,75,894 units relating to a 11.19 percent YoY decline while sales were also lower by 29.07 percent and 20.54 percent when compared to sales of 15,97,554 units and 14,25,994 units sold in December of 2020 and 2019. What brought about this de-growth? Could it be a rise in inflation, rising cost of ownership or a clear migration to electric vehicles?However, taking sales during the calendar year of 2022 into account, sales increased to 1,53,88,062 units during the period Jan-Dec 2022 which was a 13.37 percent growth over 1,35,73,682 units sold in the same period of 2021. There was also a 10.50 percent improvement over 1,39,26,085 units sold in Dec 2020 but a decline of 15.47 percent from 1,82,04,593 units sold in Dec 2019, a pre-covid period.Two Wheeler Retail Sales Dec 2022Hero MotoCorp, the No. 1 two wheeler OEM has seen sales volumes dip by 1,13,634 units to 3,30,175 units in Dec 2022, down from 4,43,809 units sold in Dec 2021. Market share fell to 29.14 percent from 34.78 percent YoY. Honda two wheeler sales increased to 2,94,011 units from 2,84,998 units sold in Dec 2021 taking market share up to 25.95 percent from 22.34 percent YoY. Honda is set to enter the electric two wheeler segment with at least 10 electric bikes planned for launch by 2025.Two wheeler retail sales Dec 2022 – FADATVS Motor was at No. 3 with retail sales of 1,76,072 units, down from 1,90,457 units sold in Dec 2021 while Bajaj Auto also suffered a YoY de-growth to 1,25,854 units in Dec 2022 from 1,64,133 unit retail sales in Dec 2021.RE sales improved to 56,028 units in the past month from 41,675 units sold in Dec 2021 while sales of Suzuki also increased to 53,043 units in Dec 2022 from 42,643 units sold in Dec 2021. India Yamaha Motors ended the past month with 39,860 unit sales, a marginal growth of 39,357 units sold in Dec 2021.Electric 2W Retail Sales Dec 2022Outstanding sales were reported for those two wheeler OEMs with an electric lineup. Ola saw its sales zoom to 17,280 units from just 240 units sold in Dec 2021 taking up market share to 1.52 percent from 0.02 percent YoY. CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has stated on social media that he expects the Ola S1 lineup to become the best-selling scooter in India by August 2023 overtaking the Honda Activa.Hero Electric also saw its sales increase to 8,091 units from 6,061 units on a YoY basis while Ather Energy sales increased to 7,646 units in Dec 2022 from 1,813 units sold in Dec 2021. The list also included Okinawa (5,279 units), Ampere (4,408 units), Piaggio (2,711 units), Classic Legends (2,681 units) and Okaya (1,449 units). Benling India sales dipped to 966 units last month from 1,094 units sold in Dec 2021 and PurEV sales fell to 780 units from 1685 units sold in Dec 2021. Kinetic Green (749 units), Jitendra (669 units) and Bgauss Auto (592 units) concluded this list while there were others in this segment that added 4,794 units to total retail sales. More

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      Hero Vida Electric Scooter Real World Range Test – 150 Km Possible?

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      With a large 3.94 kWh battery pack, will Hero Vida V1 Pro manage to clock a real-world range that is close to official claim?Hero Vida Electric Scooter Range Test Real WorldHero Vida V1 was launched recently and has been quite a mixed bag as far as appeal goes. It is a commendable effort for sure, from the country’s largest 2W manufacturer. But will it meet the success which is generally expected from a Hero MotoCorp product, well we will have to wait and see. Especially when this is among their most expensive offering, at Rs. 1.7 lakh (on road, Bangalore, without FAME II subsidies).Every single one of Hero MotoCorp’s rivals costs much less than Vida V1 Pro. That said, Vida V1 Pro offers a removable battery feature, which can very well be the deciding factor. None of the premium electric scooters from Ola, Ather, TVS and Bajaj offer a removable battery. This is a boon for people living in apartments or those who do not have access to charging facility in parking space.Hero Vida V1 Pro Range TestHero claims 165 km of range for Vida V1 Pro and 143 km of range for Vida V1 Plus. Both the IDC range and real-world range vary vastly. For example, real-world range for Ola S1 Pro crossed 200 km with some users and 300 km with some, while claimed range is 180 km only. Thanks to YouTuber Pradeep On Wheels, we now have the first real-world range for Vida V1 Pro.Pradeep ensured that both batteries on Hero Vida V1 Pro are charged to the max. He set off to test the range in Eco mode and maintained a top speed of 40 km/h. First 50 km of the ride was covered with just 38% of battery power with 62% left. At around 53% battery, Hero Vida V1 Pro covered 60 km of range.[embedded content][embedded content]At around 50% charge, Pradeep engaged cruise control and until then, manual throttle inputs were used. Cruise control was set to around 40 km/h top speed to extract maximum possible range from V1 Pro. By the time Pradeep covers 85 km, battery is at 36%. This is a strong indication that V1 Pro would cover over 100 km.At around 30% battery, the total distance covered was 94 km. By the time 100 km mark was touched, battery hovered around 24%. This means that Hero Vida V1 Pro would cover 100 km of range from a single charge with 24% of battery on reserve. At this point, the onboard computer was showing a range of 25 km left with 24% battery.At 110 km, one battery showed 13% charge and another battery showed 12% with 14 km DTE (Distance To Empty). Once battery is below 20%, V1 Pro switches to a conservative state where user can only choose between Eco and Ride modes. There is a low battery warning at 10% with both batteries.Hero Vida Electric Scooter Real World Range TestWhat Happens At 5% Charge?When Vida V1 Pro falls below 5% charge, it automatically goes into limp home mode where top speed is capped at 10 km/h. Pradeep extracted 120 km before going into this mode. From 5% to dead, Hero Vida V1 Pro covered 1.8 km. Pradeep’s effective real-world range of V1 Pro with a total of 3.94 kWh battery pack is 121.8 km. This is nowhere close to the official claim of 165 kms. Especially considering that speed was maintained below 40 km/h throughout the ride. With higher speeds, range would have dropped drastically.But that does not mean Hero electric scooter cannot do 165 kms or more on a single charge. Range depends on a lot of factors including weather, road condition, etc. In addition, with more users getting on road with the Hero Vida e-scooter, there will be more data available to Hero engineers. This will help Hero MotoCorp to optimise software and Battery Management System via future OTA software updates. That will not only increase range, but also the performance of Vida electric scooter. More

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      2023 Ather Electric Scooter Updates – New Colours, Features & More

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      There was a lot to unpack from Ather Community Day 2023, which included new features, additions, design changes and new colours2023 Ather Electric Scooter Updates – New coloursAther community day was held today in Bangalore. The company embarked on how this community is special over the last one. At the last event, Ather only had around 6,000 users and today, it is around 80,000 owners. 40,000 of which were clocked in the past 6 months. Ather is optimistic that the next 40,000 users will be clocked in the next 3 months.With a cumulative 500 million kilometers covered, Ather is confident that the Billion Kilometer mark will be covered within the next three months. At this event, Ather stressed how software, or Firmware as they call it, is the most paramount on an electric vehicle. There have been multiple iterations of AtherStack software enabling multiple features along the way. On this platform, Ather announced AtherStack 5.0. There are new features enabled. Let’s take a look.2023 Ather Electric Scooter UpdatesWith AtherStack 5.0, there is a new user interface for users to navigate the system with. With better swipe recognition and touch recognition, there is a fluidic space to enhance user experience. This is a lot smarter than before. Ather is trying to push tapping functionality to gesture-based interactions which are easier to use.There is an attempt by Ather to transform the touchscreen interface to mimic that of a smartphone. Icons like Bluetooth and network lie where they would on a phone. Ather says that 450X is the first scooter in the world with Google Maps. Ather is now introducing vector maps that enable zooming, rotating, perspective change and even layering.2023 Ather Electric Scooter Updates – New UI450X and 450 Plus owners now get live traffic integrated as well. This is more in line with Google Maps on a phone. Along with these, Ather is introducing AutoHold feature which mimics mechanical brake locks on a conventional scooter. This had been under testing for 2 years. Ather intends to bring in Cruise control, Crawl control and advanced regen in the coming months.2023 Ather Electric Scooter Updates – Auto holdAther Battery Protect went live in December 2022. It is a 2-year additional warranty, extending warranty to 5 years or 60,000 km. It covers 100% coverage of any failures. Performance Guarantee is also in this package, which assures range and performance at 70% even at the end of 5 years, and even deep discharge protection. Or else, Ather will replace components free of charge. Ather Battery Protect is standard with new 450X and Gen 2 and Gen 3 owners can buy at a discounted price in January 2023.New Colours For 450XTrip Planner saw enhancements as well and now includes return journeys with multiple stops. Ather has installed up to 900 fast-charging grid points and by March 2023, there will be 1300 pan India. Ather has now developed a 3.3 kW universal AC charger that can charge cars, 2W and has a scan and pay system as well. This is a scalable install and can be of any number at your approved building.2023 Ather Electric Scooter Updates – New SeatAther has also revealed a new seat for 450x. It is plusher and is more comfortable than before. Everyone that attended Community day, will get a free seat upgrade. Further, Ather demonstrated new merchandise including t-shirts and more. Lastly, Ather announced new colours for 450X. There are 4 new colours, Lunar Grey with Red accents, Cosmic Black with Aqua Blue accents, True Red with White accents and Salt Green with Orange accents. Salt Green replaces Mint Green which is offered today. More

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      New Honda 300cc Scrambler Debuts – Royal Enfield Hunter Rival

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      Honda CL300 will be fun to ride on the streets and also seems ready for some mild off-roadsNew Honda 300cc Scrambler – CL300After showcasing CL500 scrambler at 2022 EICMA, Honda has now unveiled its smaller sibling CL300. For now, CL300 is a China exclusive motorcycle, where it has made its global debut. New Honda 300cc scrambler will be launched in China first, later this year. It will be manufactured by Sundiro Honda.In the near future, CL300 could also be introduced in other international markets, including India. When launched in India, it could take on the likes of Royal Enfield Hunter 350, Yezdi Scrambler, etc. Honda has already trademarked CL300 in other countries such as Thailand, New Zealand and Australia. European markets could also get this bike at a later date.Honda CL300 stylingHonda CL300 has a bare bones design, with round headlamps and rear-view mirrors. Other key highlights include all-LED setup, fork gaiters, a circular fully digital instrument pod, sculpted fuel tank with grip pads and flat seat in quilted pattern. Most distinguishable feature is the high-mounted exhaust with perforated heat shield cover in metallic finish.Riding stance is fairly comfortable with centrally placed footpegs and pulled-back handlebar. The bike’s design supports riding standing-up, which comes handy in no-road environments. Even shorter riders shouldn’t have any issues with this bike, as it has a low seat height of 790 mm. Tackling mild off-roads would be fun with ample ground clearance of 165 mm. Another advantageous factor is a lightweight 172 kg body, which is around 19 kg less than Honda Rebel 300.New Honda 300cc Scrambler – CL300CL300 is being offered in two variants, a Standard and a Premium version. The latter gets some additional goodies, which will appeal to folks who want their rides to carry a lot more flair and attitude. Honda CL300 Premium variant gets features such as compact body-coloured windscreen, raised front beak, body-coloured knuckle guards, side mounted tracker number plate and tan leather seat.Colour options for Honda CL300 include black, white and light grey. In case of the Standard variant, differentiation is pretty basic with the respective shade applied only on the fuel tank. Rest of the bike has a largely blacked-out profile. Visible metallic finish is seen on the headlamp casing, front suspension and exhaust heat shield.Honda CL300 engine, specsHonda CL300 borrows the 286cc, single cylinder motor from Rebel 300. This unit is also in use with Honda CB300R. However, on-board CL300, power output is at 25.7 hp. That’s 5 hp less, as compared to CB300R. The engine is mated to a 6-speed gearbox.New Honda 300cc Scrambler – CL300CL300’s main chassis is the same as Rebel, but it gets a different rear subframe that is taller. This change was necessitated to accommodate CL300’s flat single-piece seat. Suspension duties onboard Honda CL300 are performed by telescopic forks at front and a monoshock unit at rear.The bike has single disc brakes at both ends, integrated with dual-channel ABS. As compared to Rebel that has 16-inch wheels, Honda CL300 has 19-inch front and 17-inch rear wheels. These are shod with dual-purpose tyres, with a fatter unit at rear for enhanced traction. More

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      Honda Activa Hybrid Launch On 23rd Jan ? New Launch Teaser Out

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      There is a very high possibility that Honda 2W showcasing smart hybrid tech branded as H-Smart on January 23rdImage for illustration purpose.Honda 2W is currently the No 1 scooter manufacturer of India. Sales easily hover around 1.5 lakh units per month and peak at up to 2.5 lakh units per month during festive seasons. Honda markets Activa brand unlike anything else. We recently saw a glimpse of it in a billboard war between a few delivery apps.Honda 2W just dropped a new teaser on social media. According to this, Honda is planning to introduce a new tech on January 23rd, 2023. With words like H-Smart stealing the spotlight in the teaser, there is a lot to look forward to.Honda Activa Smart Hybrid Scooter?For years, Honda 2W used to come slapped with HET stickers on their scooters and motorcycles. It is abbreviated to Honda Eco Technology. This sticker used to be on almost every 2W that came out of the Honda factory in the BS4 era. Now, it is eSP. Honda says that eSP is a globally acclaimed technology to reduce friction and improve combustion.This eSP sticker is slapped on almost every Honda 2W post-BS6 transition. Based on Honda’s new teaser on social media, it seems like there is a new tech that the company is working on. This teaser clearly indicates a curated harmony between man and machine. In this case, a machine is not a literal machine. Instead, it is AI.New Honda Smart Hybrid Launch TeaserWe can also see a new term on top. It is H-Smart. The name indicates that Honda is developing a new kind of hybrid system that is aimed at improving efficiency and lowering the carbon footprint and running costs for owners. On the surface, it can be speculated that Honda is developing a new smart-hybrid system that has a separate battery and is recharged with regenerative tech like found on an EV.The hand of a machine and AI words indicate that Honda is using self-learning AI algorithms to observe and record user riding patterns and deploy best possible methods to recharge batteries via regeneration. Stop/start feature can also be a part of upcoming H-Smart tech. Considering Activa is their best-selling scooter, it could be the launch of Honda Activa Hybrid on 23rd Jan 2023.What To Expect?Something similar is found on Yamaha Fascino and Ray ZR. Yamaha claims 60 km/l fuel efficiency on these and few users swear by it as well. All Honda motorcycles with this new tech will get H-Smart branding on them to signify it.There is a possibility of Honda showcasing a high-voltage strong hybrid architecture as well. With around 0.5 kWh of battery and a starter motor/generator, Honda can offer around 10 to 15 km of pure electric range at around 40 km/h speed. For longer commutes, ICE is always at the user’s disposal. This would be a halo tech that won’t probably make it to budget vehicles.Whatever it is, is likely to be offered with budget commuters and scooter lineups to increase fuel efficiency figures. There would be a price hike accompanied with this new tech as well. Before introducing EVs, Honda seems to be keen on bringing hybrid tech to their 2W lineup. More