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      in Motor News

      Lucid Air Will Offer a $6000 Black Appearance Package in 2023

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      Lucid is adding a new option to the Air, an appearance package called the Stealth Look.It will cost $6000 extra and includes dark exterior trim and either 20- or 21-inch black wheels.Lucid says it will be available starting in the first quarter of 2023.The Lucid Air is hardly a cheap proposition to start with, but $6000 still strikes us as a lot for its new appearance package. Called the Stealth Look, this new option is effectively the same as the blacked-out trim packages offered on so many vehicles these days.

      The option essentially swaps out all of the standard car’s platinum-colored exterior trim for darker trim pieces. That means the roof, C-pillar, mirror caps, headlight surrounds, lower-door trim, are all finished in either gloss black or satin graphite. The wheels are also black and feature a different design, with either 20-inch or 21-inch sizes available. Lucid doesn’t mention any design changes for the interior.

      Lucid

      The Stealth Look will be offered with any of the Air’s five exterior color options, which include Stellar White, Infinite Black, Cosmos Silver, Quantum Grey, and Zenith Red.The Stealth Look will be offered on all models except for the base Air Pure, meaning you can spec it for the 1050-hp Grand Touring Performance, the 819-hp Grand Touring, or the 620-hp Touring. But Lucid says that vehicles equipped with the Stealth Look won’t be available until the first quarter of 2023.
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      in Bike

      Royal Enfield Electric Motorcycle Launch Timeline Revealed By Sid Lal

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      Royal Enfield is currently the most popular Neo-Retro and Retro cruiser motorcycle manufacturer in IndiaRoyal Enfield Electric Motorcycle. File photo.Royal Enfield is on fire right now. Not literally, but yeah. Staying true to ‘four motorcycles a year’ strategy, the Chennai-based manufacturer has launched Scram 411, a new Classic 350 and the recently launched Hunter 350. We are yet to see another launch by Royal Enfield by the end of this year.But due to climate change and rising fuel costs, EVs are gaining a lot of traction even here in India too. Europe reckons that it can become carbon neutral by 2035. Looking at the old continent’s ambitious roadmap, other markets are also striving toward electrification including Indian EV market. Both car and motorcycle manufacturers alike are pledging towards an EV future.Royal Enfield Electric MotorcycleBut what about Royal Enfield? What is this legacy brand doing to meet the EV future? Which is inevitably going to happen, sooner or later. Eicher Motors CEO Siddhartha Lal has given subtle hints at the Hunter 350 launch event as to what kind of EVs may come out of Royal Enfield stables in the coming years.At Hunter 350 launch, there were discussions about Royal Enfield EVs. And Sid Lal mentioned that the very first Royal Enfield electric vehicle will be revealed in three to four years. I mean, it is not an exact timeline. But it is now evident that Royal Enfield is working on an EV or at least has a plan on its mind.Royal Enfield Electric – Private ModificationBut four years of development and waiting is a lot. And you might be wondering how hard it could be to import batteries from China and slap it on an existing Royal Enfield platform replacing its engine and calling it a day. Right? When speed is prioritized over quality, EV fire hazards happen as we have witnessed.Royal Enfield doesn’t make products this way. The British brand prioritizes reliability, good engineering and consistency. If we take a look at the recently launched Hunter 350, its development started way back in 2016, six years ago. Okay, we had Covid-19-related delays. But still, we can say that Hunter 350 took around four years to launch.What To Expect?Sid Lal mentioned that Royal Enfield is currently working on a few different projects, but nothing is final yet. Developing an EV to match the performance of their 350cc or 650cc platforms will be very expensive. Because batteries pack enough energy to make 20 to 30 bhp will be a lot. So, battery tech needs to improve significantly. Along with that, India should start manufacturing batteries here locally to reduce battery costs.Royal Enfield is in no hurry and will take their own sweet sweet time to roll out an EV that will be good, and also meet all expectations too. Be it looks, be it performance, be it range. We can expect Royal Enfield upcoming EVs to have around 100 to 150 km range from a single charge, and performance enough to match their 350cc portfolio. But sadly, we have to wait for years to get our hands on one.Source More

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      in Bike

      New Hero Xpulse 300, Xtreme 300S Spied – Himalayan, Pulsar Rival ?

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      Hero was one of the OG companies to introduce India to ADVs, semi-faired and fully-faired bikesNew Hero Motorcycles Spied – Xpulse 300 and Xtreme 300S ?Hero MotoCorp is the largest motorcycle company in the world in terms of sales volume. But most of its sales come from entry level budget commuters that often don’t appeal to enthusiasts. So, the company had introduced its 200cc platform and had based XPulse 200 off-roader, XPulse 200T tourer and a fully-faired sporty Xtreme 200 S too.While XPulse 200 off-roader soon became an instant hit, the other two were not received that well. But Hero had promised the launch of their 300cc platform a couple of years ago which has not materialized until now. But it looks like they have interesting launches planned for 2023.Two new motorcycles have been spied testing in Leh Ladakh region by Gowtham Naidu. One is an adventure motorcycle and the other is a fully faired motorcycle. There is no confirmation as of now what these motorcycles are, but as per our best guess, these are likely to be upcoming Hero MotoCorp motorcycles.New Hero XPulse 300The main highlight of this development will be Hero XPulse 300 as Indian automotive enthusiasts had been waiting for a no-nonsense off-roader at an affordable price. Only Hero can pull something like this as we have seen with incredible value for money XPulse 200 that recently got a Rally Edition.New Hero Xpulse 300 Spied In Leh Ladakh?Back in 2020, Hero had showcased a 300cc engine mated to a trellis frame. Right now, Hero doesn’t have any trellis-frame product, except for the Hero 450RR Dakar Rally motorcycle (which isn’t road-legal). The showcased frame also had a red finish on its frame as the race-only 450RR.Hero Xpulse 300 Concept vs Production SpiedIn the video, Gowtham Naidu mentions that it is a Himalayan 450 test mule. But upon closer inspection, we could easily spot the same clutch cover, red trellis frame, front spoked wheels with petal disc, same swingarm and the chrome finished side stand from the concept shown in February 2020. The test mule also has the RJ 14 registration plate, which is Jaipur, where Hero R&D is located.New Hero XPulse 300 gets spoked wheels at the front and back. It is likely to retain the 21” at front and 18” at the rear as XPulse 200. But owing to larger size, it is likely to get fatter rubber. Beak at the front is also present, but is visually stubbier than on XPulse 200. The upcoming off-roader will compete with Royal Enfield Himalayan, KTM 390 Adventure, Yezdi Adventure and BMW G 310 GS that recently got colour upgrades.Hero Xpulse 300 Concept vs Production SpiedNew Hero Xtreme 300SComing to Hero’s fully-faired 300cc test mule, it does look like a sizeable product and not lean and sharp like KTM RC 390. Going with previous fully-faired Hero bikes like Karizma ZMR, we can expect Xtreme 300S to be a decently large product. Xtreme 300S gets neatly designed fairing, alloy wheels, sporty clip-on handlebars and a lot more.Xtreme 300S is likely to get the same 300 cc engine as the XPulse 300 but in a different state of tune to suit the character of the bike. It will get road-spec tyres unlike AT tyres on XPulse 300. If Hero pulls off the design well, we might witness popularity of Hero’s fully-faired products going up significantly. In effect, 300S would be a fitting alternative to current faired machines like RC 390, BMW G 310 RR, and Apache RR 310.Hero Xtreme 300S Fully Faired Motorcycle?Specs & LaunchWe can expect the engine to displace a little over 300cc and make almost 27-30 bhp and around 25 Nm of torque. Both XPulse 300 and Xtreme 300S will get the same engines. Hero is also likely to introduce an XPulse 300T, a touring version of this platform at a later date.If everything goes according to Hero’s roadmap, we can expect both XPulse 300 and Xtreme 300S to launch in early 2023. In typical Hero MotoCorp fashion, upcoming XPulse 300 and Xtreme 300S will be extremely value for money. They will undercut competition by a significant margin too.Source More

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      in Motor News

      Toyota Offers to Buy Back bZ4X EVs with Wheels That Might Fall Off

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      Toyota announced a recall for the bZ4X electric vehicle in June, acknowledging that wheels might detach from the car because of malfunctioning hub bolts and asking customers to stop driving the vehicle.The automaker had been offering free loaners to affected bZ4X owners, but the deal has now been increased with more sweeteners as well as a new offer: Toyota will buy back the bZ4X outright.Only 258 bZ4X EVs were sold before the recall was announced, but the vehicle has an outsize role to play in Toyota’s slow embrace of all-electric vehicles.When Toyota first announced a recall for its new, electric bZ4X SUV, it said that the hub bolts used on the wheels might loosen “to the point where the wheel can detach from the vehicle.” That was a noticeable black eye for one of the world’s largest automakers launching a crucial new model.The bZ4X is Toyota’s first all-electric vehicle since the company worked with Tesla on the RAV4 EV around a decade ago. The RAV4 EV was discontinued in 2014, and Toyota has been on the outside looking in when it comes to EV sales ever since. The bZ4X is expected to change things.The recall was announced after Toyota sold 258 units. Toyota’s first offer for buyers was to have local dealers give them a loaner vehicle free of charge until a remedy could be found for keeping the hub bolts connected. “The cause of the issue and the driving patterns under which this issue could occur are still under investigation,” Toyota said in June. After a few months of research, Toyota has now sent a letter to bZ4X owners (and then posted it to Reddit) expanding the benefits it is offering, including a complete buyback. For starters, bZ4X owners can continue to drive a loaner vehicle while the dealer stores their EV at no cost to the driver. Toyota will pay for the fuel used in these loaner vehicles and will also offer buyers $5000 toward their lease payments or as a check if the EV was purchased outright. Toyota is also extending the time frame for bZ4X drivers to get complimentary charging at EVgo stations and is extending the warranty period.If all of that’s not enough for you, then Toyota will buy back your bZ4X, although the details might vary depending on the situation. Toyota has not said how it will handle any dealer markups originally applied to the purchase price, for example, but the fact that it’s offering to completely take back a brand-new EV over something as seemingly routine as hub bolts is notable. Toyota has also issued a recall for the 2022 Tundra because of a problem with the nuts on the rear axle assembly that can loosen over time.The bZ4X recall also includes 403 units of the 2023 Subaru Solterra, which shares the Toyota’s platform, although documents filled with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) state that none of those have gone out to dealers or customers yet.Problems with selling new units of the bZ4X could hit Toyota extra hard because any EVs purchased from the automaker after September 30 are not eligible for the full federal tax credits under current law. While the rules are likely to change under the Inflation Reduction Act, as it stands now, Toyota is running out of time to offer its buyers a $7500 credit if they can’t buy a new bZ4X any time soon.In the meantime, owners of this EV who want to keep abreast of the situation can check the NHTSA recalls website for updates.

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      in Motor News

      1971 Fiat 500F Jolly Clone Is Our Bring a Trailer Auction Pick of the Day

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      • This 1971 Fiat 500F Jolly clone on Bring a Trailer looks like an ideal vacation vehicle.• It has wicker furniture for seats, basically a big beach towel for a roof, and no doors, but also—sadly—no cupholders.• With six days left until the auction ends on Thursday, August 11, time is running out to move to a tropical locale by the time you buy it.If I had two tickets to paradise—hell, if I even had one—I’d want something cool to cruise around in. While cool might suggest something exotic like the red Ferrari 308GTS that Tom Selleck used to race around Hawaii in Magnum P.I., I’m actually thinking of something equally Italian, albeit infinitely more leisurely. Enter this 1971 Fiat 500F Jolly conversion that’s currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer—which, like Car and Driver, is part of Hearst Autos.

      If you’ve never heard of a Fiat 500 Jolly before, join the club. I’ve probably seen the quirky cruiser in some movie or another, but the first time I realized what I was looking at was today when I scrolled upon this example on the BaT website. I was instantly struck by its tan-tasseled canopy, tiny whitewall tires, and jolly orange paint that perfectly encapsulates its namesake. A quick Wikipedia read-through taught me that the original Jolly versions of the Fiat 500 were custom-built by the Ghia design house. History!

      Bring a Trailer

      The one that’s up for auction in these photos isn’t a real Jolly, though, it’s a clone based on what was once an ordinary ’71 500F. While collectors will obviously care about that, I couldn’t care less. I just want to buy it and have the seller ship it from its current home in Italy to someplace warm and tropical where I can immediately retire and spend the rest of my days putzing around paradise.Sure, this Jolly won’t get me anywhere in a hurry, not with its half-liter two-pot engine that likely has fewer horses than most farm stables, but that’s fine because I’d have nothing but time. I could also keep my left leg in shape by exercising its third pedal, but I can’t imagine going so fast that I’d ever need to reach top gear with its four-speed. Although it’d be interesting to see what would happen if it did go 120 km/h (about 75 mph), the peak indicated by its speedo. With its super light curb weight and big cloth top, could this Jolly Fiat turn into a flying Fiat? It’s probably best if no one finds out.

      Bring a Trailer

      My biggest complaint is that I don’t see any beverage holders inside the buggy. Where am I supposed to secure my piña colada (non-alcoholic, obviously)? I guess I’ll just have to hold the glass between my legs while I sit on the Jolly’s wicker furniture that replaces traditional seats. I won’t lie, they’re my favorite feature. However, I’d be fibbing if I said they look comfortable. Chalk up another reason to keep this thing at a golf-cart-safe pace. With six days left to go before the auction ends on Thursday, August 11, this jolly-looking Fiat 500F currently has a high bid of $15,000. I would love one for myself, but that love is mostly dependent on the location I get to drive it in. A wonderful vacation vehicle? Definitely. As primary transportation in southeastern Michigan? Not so much.
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      in Bike

      Royal Enfield Hunter 350 Launch Price Rs 1.5 L To Rs 1.69 L

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      Royal Enfield is upping their value quotient with Hunter 350 as it will be the least expensive offering from its stablesNew Royal Enfield Hunter 350 LaunchedRoyal Enfield has created Hunter 350 mainly aiming at the younger audience and it shows in the design. We can see the neatly laid out motorcycle with smaller proportions than what we usually associate with the Royal Enfield brand. It also gets eye-catching colour schemes and modern stylish graphics. Even though it is targeted at a younger audience, it is a modern retro through and through.Pricing starts from Rs. 1.5 lakh for Retro variant, Rs 1.64 lakh for the Metro variant Dapper Series and goes all the way till Rs. 1.69 lakh for Metro Rebel variants (prices ex-sh, Chennai). With varied feature differences between Retro and Metro, Royal Enfield has created two distinct motorcycles set to appeal to different audiences as uncovered from the launch event led by CEO Siddhartha Lal. Let’s break it down.Royal Enfield Hunter 350 RetroWhere TVS Ronin has mixed personalities, Hunter 350 is being positioned as an Urban Cruiser. As it gets blacked-out engine bay and along with fork gaiters and visor, one can easily transform Hunter 350 into a scrambler with block pattern tyres too.Hunter Retro gets spoked wheels, 300 mm disc brake at front and drum at rear, single-channel ABS, switch gear and instrument cluster from Classic 350, halogen tail lamp and oval-shaped turn signals. 17” Spoked wheels on Retro are shod with 100/80 rubber at front and 120/80 at its rear.New Royal Enfield Hunter 350 LaunchedRetro trim doesn’t get a main stand and weighs only 177 kg. Lower-spec Retro trim is offered with only two colour options, Factory Black and Factory Silver. But Royal Enfield has offered a slew of accessories covered below, to spruce things up considerably.  Hunter 350 Metro & Metro RebelWhile Retro trims appeal to purists, Metro is certainly shooting for the youth and enthusiasts. Metro trim also has a lot more to offer than Retro in terms of features, colours and also cool factors. The large Royal and Enfield branding on either side of fuel may split opinions, but the company has options too.Hunter 350 Metro trims get alloy wheels finished in black, 300 mm disc brake at front and 270 mm disc at the rear, dual-channel ABS, LED taillights, and round turn indicators. Switchgear and instrument cluster are from the more modern Meteor 350 which also gets an option to opt for the tripper screen that enables Bluetooth and smartphone connectivity with notifications, navigation, and more.New Royal Enfield Hunter 350 LaunchedTyres get an upgrade over Retro trim as Metro trims are shod with 110/70 rubber at front and 140/70 rubber at the rear. Dapper White and Dapper Ash are the colours to choose from. However, Dapper Grey can only be available via RE’s MIY personalization platform. Metro Rebel versions get Rebel Black, Rebel Blue and Rebel Red (via MIY). Due to extra features, hardware and main stand, Metro weighs 181 kg.Powertrains & AccessoriesHunter 350 is based on Royal Enfield’s modern J-series platform. Hence, gets the same 349 cc single-cylinder engine as found on Meteor 350. This is a massive departure from Royal Enfield’s spine-shattering engines of yesteryear with a lot of vibrations. It makes 20.2 bhp at 6,100 RPM and 27 Nm at 4,000 RPM and is mated to a 5-speed gearbox with 114 km/h top speed and 36.2 km/l fuel efficiency. It gets a decent 150 mm of ground clearance and 800 mm of seat height.Royal Enfield Hunter 350 Official Accessories (1/x) pic.twitter.com/Kh2FhsceS9— RushLane (@rushlane) August 7, 2022Royal Enfield has also offered a slew of accessories under two distinct themes, Urban and Suburban. Urban theme accessories include a blacked-out engine guard, ribbed seat, sump guard, tail tidy, fly screen, black LED indicators and bar-end mirrors. Suburban accessories include a different engine guard, seat, silver sump guard, pillion backrest, stylized conventional mirrors and a pannier with a waterproof inner bag. These accessories can be bought separately too. Apart from these, Royal Enfield also sells billet aluminum fuel filler caps in black or silver and covers too. More

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      in Electric Cars

      2024 Hyundai Kona Electric SUV Spied For The First Time – New Gen

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      Hyundai Kona EV on sale in India is the pre-facelift 1st gen Kona – Global market has the facelifted 1st gen Kona on offer2024 Hyundai Kona EV Spied – Front ProfileKia and Hyundai combined, are underdogs that will soon match the might of Tesla and BYD in the future. Hyundai has been developing strategic products to compete with well-established EV giants. The South Korean company is also taking on current hottest EV in the world, Tesla Model 3 with upcoming Ioniq 6.Hyundai and Kia are eyeing large electric SUVs too, as we recently saw Kia EV9 under testing and will soon be followed by Hyundai Ioniq 7. 1st gen Hyundai Kona EV facelift is already sold in some markets. The company is also testing 2nd gen Kona EV based on 2nd gen ICE-powered Kona which is also under testing.2024 Hyundai Kona Electric SpiedFor starters, these test mules were spotted just outside of Hyundai / Kia technical centre in Germany. The test mules for Kona EV are almost identical to test mules of regular ICE-powered Kona. But with keen eyes, they can be distinguished from each other even under heavy camouflage.First, Kona EV test mules get a square openable pocket which is presumably for the charging port. 1st generation Hyundai Kona EV which was also launched in India, had a charging port at the front and in the same location too. Hyundai Kona EV facelift based on ICE-powered Kona facelift, also had the charging port at the same spot.2024 Hyundai Kona EV Spied – Side ProfileThis Kona EV facelift was not launched in India. This suggests that the 2nd gen Kona EV will be based on an updated platform of its 1st gen. Second, if we look at the rear, there is no exhaust pipe visible. Like, obviously. Hence, confirming that the latest Kona test mule is in fact, an EV.What Can We Expect?Less camouflaged ICE-powered Kona test mules have been spotted globally. It sports a full-width LED lightbar at the front as seen on other Hyundai products like Staria and Stargazer. It is also likely to get a trapezoidal-shaped LED headlight in its bumpers. Grille on ICE-powered Kona 2nd gen will be closed off for that typical EV appeal that we also see in MG ZS EV.It will also get body cladding all around and Ioniq 5 inspired minimalist interiors. In terms of powertrains, Hyundai is mum on this matter. But as Kona EV is expected to be similar to Kia Niro EV, we can expect the same motor and battery to be shared. Kia Niro EV gets a 200 bhp electric motor which draws power from a 64.8 kWh battery.Kia Niro EV can cover a claimed 463 km of range on a single charge with this relatively large battery. But Hyundai can also offer a smaller battery with a less powerful motor which will eek out a similar range on base variants. We say this because that’s similar to what we got in India with the first gen Kona EV. India launch isn’t confirmed yet, but we still have a long time as it is expected to hit global markets in 2024. Apart from ZS EV, it will also rival upcoming new SUVs from Tata and Mahindra.Source More

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      in Bike

      Ola Electric New Launch On 15th Aug – New Car, Scooter?

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      It was on 15th Aug last year that Ola S1 Pro was officially launched – This year on the same date, Ola is getting ready for a new launchOla Electric Is Set To Reveal Multiple Products On August 15thOla Electric is one of those electric scooter startups that actually made it big by targeting a premium segment. When we look at sales charts, one can easily say that Hero Electric, Okinawa and Ampere sell more electric scooters. But those are not as enthusiastic as Ola S1 Pro. And definitely don’t come with as many features and don’t perform nearly as well either.But Ola is branching out both vertically and horizontally, foraying into electric cars, indigenous batteries and more. Yeah, Ola is a little ambitious, but that’s not a bad thing. But what can we expect from August 15th event from Ola? Bhavish Aggarwal has given a hint regarding this on social media. Let’s break it down.New S1 Electric Scooter Under Rs. 1 lakhDespite only launching a premium product at a higher price bracket, without any ‘slow-segment’ EVs, Ola has come a long way. But Ola was supposed to launch the S1 alongside S1 Pro. Which we all by now, never happened. With recent price hikes, Ola S1 Pro now costs Rs. 1.4 lakh.There is a place in the market for Ola to finally launch its S1 with the same design as S1 Pro. We can expect a smaller 2.98 kWh battery with 120 km range, and 90 km/h top speed. It also gets fewer features too. S1 is the first of options Aggarwal hinted at, setting priority as it will launch for around Rs. 1 lakh and might run on Move OS 3 from day one. This price bracket is stark important for Ola as Ather Energy is also developing a product for this price bracket.Ola Electric New Launch – 15th AugOla Electric CarAggarwal had teased three Electric Cars, a low-slung sedan and the other two may be an SUV and a hatchback. Four-wheeled PVs have been Ola’s ambition since day one and the company’s mother factory is said to be developed keeping that in mind. Last month, Ola also claimed that their electric car will be the sportiest car ever built in India. Raising a lot of eyebrows.Our rendering artist Pratyush Raut had envisioned Ola’s first electric car based on teasers shared by Bhavish Aggarwal. It looks a lot like Lucid Air, at least from the front. Not a lot is known about this car and makes it to Aggarwal’s list of products in second spot.A Cell FactoryNext in line among the probable launches by Ola, is an indigenous battery production facility. Apart from Ola maps, Aggarwal had also shown off a cell with Ola branding on it on social media last month. Specifications were not mentioned at all. We don’t know whether it’ll be an 18650 or 21750 cell, or how much is the capacity per cell, or the battery chemistry, or anything at all. But all those details may be revealed on August 15th along with where the manufacturing facility will be located.A New Colour For S1 ProLast on the list, is a new colour for S1 range of electric scooters. Currently, S1 Pro is offered with 10 colour options Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink, Black, White, Grey, Bidge, Dark Blue, and Dark grey. Apart from limited Gerua shade, Ola is set to launch a new colour. Even though Bhaish Aggarwal asks us to guess what Ola will launch among the four choices, it is highly likely that the company will launch all four. More