Electrek

Listen to a recap of the top stories of the day from Electrek. Quick Charge is available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

Friday and Saturday kicked off the inaugural season of the first-ever electric boat racing league when the first eight teams in the UIM E1 Championship Series motored, foiled, and splashed across the Red Sea in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Marc Anthony’s Team Miami had pole position heading into Saturday’s race, but two other famous names were on the podium; here are the final E1 results.

This one style of vehicle is known by many names. In India, it’s an auto rickshaw. In Thailand, a tuk-tuk (a fun onomatopoeia that arose from the traditionally loud two-stroke engines powering them). But whatever it’s called, these three-wheeled taxis have used their half-bike, half-wagon design to shuttle folks around cities for decades. And now, a new era of rickshaws is seeing electric drives enabling interesting new designs.

EVs, PHEVs, and hybrids made up 16.3% of total light-duty vehicle (LDV) sales in the US in 2023 – Tesla’s price cuts were a big reason.

Ethiopia spent nearly $6 billion to import fossil fuels last year — with more than half of that spending going to fuel vehicles. In response, Ethiopia’s Transport and Logistics Ministries have announced that automobiles cannot enter Ethiopia, unless they are electric. (!)

The UK slashed value-added tax (VAT) to zero for folks installing battery storage in their homes from February 1, 2024.

As Range Rover’s first EV gets closer to launch, the all-electric vehicle is already creating a buzz. According to the company, the new electric Range Rover has over 16,000 buyers on the waitlist.

Saskatchewan’s capital city is moving forward with plans to electrify its Regina Transit fleet, signing a five-year contract with Nova Bus to acquire 53 battery electric city buses.

On the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Elon Musk’s $55 billion Tesla compensation package getting rescinded, Cybertruck’s PowerShare details coming, GM goes back to plug-in-hybrids, and more.

Xcel Energy just announced its big solar and wind plans in the US Midwest – here’s the lowdown.

Today’s deals are a cornucopia of special sales and savings opportunities, headlined by the QuietKat Lynx All-Terrain e-bike at $2,999, those $1,000 in savings are joined by a home energy backup sale from Jackery that has a selection of power stations and solar panels from $359. Then save on EGO Power+ electric snow blowers from $549. Plus, all of today’s other best new Green Deals.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

In initial tests, the new Porsche Taycan showed impressive driving range of up to 365 miles (587 km). Although these were pre-series models, the upgraded EV drove over 100 miles more than the current model.

Polestar’s online configurator is no longer accepting new custom Polestar 2 orders, and Polestar says that the reason is because demand is too high for its best-selling vehicle.

Commercial Trailer Leasing (CTL) recently announced a groundbreaking partnership with Orange EV to bring a fleet of zero-emission electric yard trucks to various terminals across the US.

For Honda to compete as the industry shifts to electric, CEO Toshihiro Mibe explained, “We need more affordable EVs.” Honda is set to expand its lineup with an electric replacement for its all-time best-selling Civic.

We are just over one year removed from the initial launch of solar EV startup Aptera’s Accelerator program, which was implemented to not only get customers to commit to their SEV purchase fully but also help give the company some financial runway as it inches toward scaled production. It may have taken longer than anticipated, but the program succeeded, raising nearly $34 million.

Today, Trek announced its newest electric mountain bike, the Trek Marlin+. Not only is it an interesting electric hardtail MTB in its own right, but it also offers one of the most affordable Bosch-powered mid-drives on the market.

Volvo Trucks just released an updated version of its FM Low Entry model cabover city truck with new features meant to give it an edge navigating urban environments. But the big news is tucked away beneath the cab. This truck is electric … and, for the first time, there is no diesel version coming.

Tesla Cybertruck can power your home with its new Powershare product, but we are now starting to get an idea of the cost. The installation alone is about $4000.

Ford’s EV sales fell 11% in January amid slower-than-expected demand. The Mustang Mach-E led the downfall, with sales slipping 50% year-over-year.

If you’ve been inside a Rivian R1T or R1S, you could argue they’re pretty well equipped to handle off-road terrain and are already reasonably customizable with add-ons. However, a custom truck specialist in Florida has reimagined the Rivian pickup for “Apocalyptic” level performance with an entirely customized exterior complete with LED lights, a roll cage, and even Kevlar paint.

Hyundai announced a new deal with Iveco Group to supply an all-electric van based on its global eLCV platform. The Iveco-badged electric van will be Hyundai’s first export to use its new EV platform.

Tesla is having to “recall” over 2 million vehicles, but again, the fix is just a software update and this time, it’s about font sizes. Seriously.

Tesla has dropped the price of the two base Model Y trims in Canada, which now means buyers of the popular Model Y AWD could get up to $12,000 in rebate in Quebec.

This could be big as the Dual Motor version of the electric SUV is popular in the cold region.