The world of Automobiles and motorcycles is changing, a transition from old, archaic but fun, fossil-devouring internal combustion engines to new, cleaner and efficient propulsion systems.
Ever since the world has awakened its conscience regarding climate, the deciding powers of the world have kept strong-arming the manufacturers to push for cleaner alternatives to the fossil-derived fuel sources, all in the spirit of preserving our precious planet.
For the past two and a half decades, the automotive and motorcycle industries have been working to find an optimal solution to the climate change problem. From hybrid technology to hydrogen technology, every manufacturer has thrown their hand at it, trying to find the best possible outcome.
In search of a world-saving solution, in the year 1996, the world got the Toyota Prius, a Hybrid car that very nearly claimed to be the solution manufacturers were looking for. A marriage between the good’ol trusted Internal Combustion Engine and an electric battery – supposedly the best of both worlds.
The hybrid technology on the Prius made it one of the fuel-efficient cars on the planet, gaining tremendous loyalty among the customers who, let’s say, belonged to the Greta Thunberg clan: save the planet and all that.
Other manufacturers subsequently followed suit and rolled out their iteration of the hybrid technology, which kept the environmental conservative gang and lobbyists happy (for a while). But the problem arose when the enthusiast community figured out the hybrid models were slow, heavy and unenthusiastic to drive. Regardless, the sales for the hybrid models racked up a decent share of the market, but the void remained; the auto makers still had to resort to the ancient polar caps melting inefficient plain old internal combustion engine.
That is until 2013, when the world of automobiles welcomed the now-infamous Holy Trinity: The McLaren P1, Ferrari LaFerrari and the Porsche 918 Spyder, all three hypercars equipped with an engine assisted by the hybrid technology propelling them to unholy levels of performance for a street car. Showcasing to the whole world the untapped benefits of the hybrid technology, and also demonstrating, perhaps, that hybrid technology is not all that boring after all. Providing a handbook for the other manufacturers to build their versions of Hybrid Sports cars and supercars. A win-win situation, a healthy compromise between protecting the trees and catering to the enthusiasts.
Now that the cars are taken care of, what about the motorcycles? Decades on since the first mass-produced hybrid car showed up, motorcycles still kept chugging along with the traditional ICE as their primary propulsion system, showing very little interest in redefining the path, and why would they motorcycles drank less of the dinasour juice and emmited far less toxicants into the atmosphere, so there was never a need to immediatelyrectify something that at the time wasnt broken.
But, like all good things, it had to come to an end. Governments started clamping down on motorcycle emissions, resulting in the advent of electric motorcycles; naturally, not everyone accepted electric motorcycles, citing the age-old excuse of “it’s bland” and “uninteresting”.
Nonetheless, a technological gap existed in the motorcycling world – A hybrid-shaped gap that was until Honda and Kawasaki released their version of hybrid technology for the two wheels, last year. A Maxi Scooter from Honda, dubbed the PCX Hybrid and a supersports from Kawasaki, a 450cc equipped with a 48V lithium ion battery dubbed the Ninja 7 Hybrid, and a few other maxi scooters hailing from the land of China.
But you see, there was a problem as impressive as they are, none of the hybrid two-wheeler released so far were catered for the masses, they were more of a brand-building exercise because one of them is a maxi scooter and the other a 450cc supersports. None of them is really looking to acquire the market share, keeping the hybrid tech reserved for the very few.
But Yamaha sought otherwise; they decided to release their hybrid tech for the masses to experience by equipping one of their most popular models with their Hybrid technology.
Cue the 2025 Yamaha FZ-S Hybrid, A streetfighter-esque commuter motorcycle that’s quite renowned in the Asian market. The Yamaha FZ-S Hybrid comes with a standard 149cc single cylinder engine, the same as the non-hybrid model, but this comes with, you’ve guessed it, an electric motor attached to the crank.
Yamaha calls it the SMG (Smart Motor Generator), which develops an additional torque at the lower RPM on top of the IC engine’s 12.2 HP and 13 Nm of torque. The extra boost from the electric generator is sure to aid in the initial launch and acceleration of the motorcycle, which is already quite known for its sprightly acceleration.
Yamaha updated the FZ-S for the 2025 model year, and along with the usual life cycle upgrade, Yamaha introduced the Hybrid model, which goes on sale alongside the standard FZ-S.
In the Indian market, the standard Yamaha FZ-S sells for (USD 1,500) INR 1,34,000/-, the hybrid model goes for (USD 1600) INR 1,40,000/-, although the said SMG electric motor is quite minuscule in comparison, Yamaha claims it has improved the overall fuel efficiency and low-end acceleration.
But does the Hybridisation of motorcycles make sense? Considering how manufacturers are being handicapped by the increased weight that results from installing an electric motor in the engine, so far, the added advantage from the heavy electric motor barely outweighs its limitations. So, should manufacturers look for an alternative solution, perhaps hydrogen or some other form of sustainable, fossil-fuel-free fuel, which Moto GP is about to introduce from 2027?
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