US President Joe Biden being welcomed by Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Alsalam Royal Palace in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on July 15, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Biden administration asked Saudi Arabia, the de-facto leader of oil producer group OPEC, to delay its decision on oil output by a month, the kingdom said in a statement.
The Saudis declined, and in early October OPEC+ — which includes non-OPEC oil exporters like Russia — announced its largest supply cut since 2020, to the tune of 2 million barrels per day starting from November. That means tighter supplies and higher prices at a time of already high inflation and worries of global recession, which angered U.S. lawmakers who are now calling for a “reevaluation” in relations with the Saudi kingdom.
Notably, Biden’s request would have delayed the decision until after the U.S. midterm elections.
In a statement dated Wednesday, the Saudi government defended its move and said all OPEC decisions are based on economic forecasts and needs.
“The Government of the Kingdom clarified through its continuous consultation with the US Administration that all economic analyses indicate that postponing the OPEC+ decision for a month, according to what has been suggested, would have had negative economic consequences,” the statement read.
Responding to the Saudi claims, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby reframed the exchange and accused the kingdom of aiding Russia’s revenues and hampering the impact of Western sanctions on Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
“In recent weeks, the Saudis conveyed to us – privately and publicly – their intention to reduce oil production, which they knew would increase Russian revenues and blunt the effectiveness of sanctions. That is the wrong direction,” Kirby said. “We presented Saudi Arabia with analysis to show that there was no market basis to cut production targets, and that they could easily wait for the next OPEC meeting to see how things developed.”
Kirby said, without giving examples, that other OPEC members opposed Saudi Arabia’s move, and reiterated the Biden administration’s vow to reexamine its relationship with Riyadh.
“Other OPEC nations communicated to us privately that they also disagreed with the Saudi decision, but felt coerced to support Saudi’s direction,” he said. “As the President has said, we are reevaluating our relationship with Saudi Arabia in light of these actions, and will continue to look for signs about where they stand in combatting Russian aggression.”
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden said that there would be “consequences” for Saudi Arabia’s oil production cut, which the kingdom is carrying out in coordination with other OPEC members and non-OPEC allies like Russia. Many in Washington saw this as a snub and a blatant display of siding with Moscow.
U.S. lawmakers have urged the cutting of military sales to Saudi Arabia, America’s top weapons buyer, and are encouraging the passing of anti-trust legislation that would go after OPEC.
Riyadh rejected the accusations of making any politically-motivated moves.
“The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would first like to express its total rejection of these statements that are not based on facts, and which are based on portraying the OPEC+ decision out of its purely economic context. This decision was taken unanimously by all member states of the OPEC+ group,” the Saudi government statement said.
“The Kingdom affirms that the outcomes of the OPEC+ meetings are adopted through consensus among member states, and that they are not based on the unilateral decision by a single country. These outcomes are based purely on economic considerations that take into account maintaining balance of supply and demand in the oil markets.”
The developments spotlight the growing tensions in the nearly 80-year-old U.S.-Saudi relationship, as both parties suggest the other is failing to uphold their end of the bargain in a friendship broadly based on the principle of energy for security.
They also highlight how little control Washington has on Saudi and OPEC energy policy.
“The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US has soured after OPEC+ opted to cut oil quotas – Saudi Arabia is clearly leaning away from the US orbit,” James Swanston, Middle East and North Africa economist at London-based consultancy Capital Economics, said in a client note Thursday.
Still, the Saudi government stressed the continued importance of its relationship with the U.S.
“The Kingdom affirms that it [views] its relationship with the United States of America as a strategic one that serves the common interests of both countries,” it said in its statement.
“The Kingdom also stresses the importance of building on the solid pillars upon which the Saudi-US relationship had stood over the past eight decades. These pillars include mutual respect, enhancing common interests, actively contributing to preserve regional and international peace and security, countering terrorism and extremism, and achieving prosperity for the peoples of the region.”
The long-promised “more affordable” Tesla model has been spied on Chinese social media, and it’s disappointingly about what we expected: a slightly decontented version of the Model Y.
For many years, Tesla had planned to build a much more affordable vehicle, starting around $25k. This vehicle was nicknamed the “Model 2,” and would have offered the most affordable entry point into the EV market, at least in the West.
In its place, Tesla started offering vague promises about “more affordable models, starting in its Q1 report in April 2024. Tesla later specified that these would enter production in the first half of 2025.
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The language Tesla used suggested that the cheaper vehicles would be “new models,” which means more than one model, and not just based on a current Tesla model. But we reported that this was unlikely to be the case, and that the “new models” would just be a stripped-down Model Y.
So, we’ve got confirmation that actual new models aren’t coming – but it does seem like something cheaper is coming down the pipe. And now, from Chinese social media pics of these “first builds,” we know just what kind of decontenting Tesla will do in order to get the cost savings.
Two videos were posted this weekend, on bilibili and weibo. The first was an exterior video by account “极客小猪” (machine translated as “Geek Piglet”). You’ll have to click through if you want to see the whole thing.
Parked side by side with a Juniper Model Y, the two models seem similar in length
It shows the new Model Y as similar in size to the Juniper refreshed model it’s parked next to, though the front and rear are covered by camouflage and it’s hard to tell with perspective of the camera.
As best we can tell from the captions (which isn’t very well), the account seems to think this might be the upcoming larger Model Y L, and the camera perspective in the particular screeenshot above does make it look like the car in the forefront could be slightly longer than the one in the back. But other perspectives show them looking similar in length, and seeing the various missing parts later in the video, we think it’s likely the “more affordable” model.
There are a few holes in the camouflage that give som indication of what might be different, like that the rear light bar from the Juniper might be cut off rather than running across the whole rear of the car. The new one is also missing the “T E S L A” logo across the rear, as can be seen in a little window showing the rear camera.
The video gets a look at the interior of the vehicle, where the seats are covered up. I originally suspected the vehicle might have cloth seats, but the cover seems to have dropped down in the rear, and something leather-like is showing through, so Tesla may still be using its fake leather product to cover the seats.
It also shows that the center console is cut off between the armrest and the screen, using up less material and giving an open space there. This is somewhat similar to the original design of the Model S, which had a large space in front of the center console. We can’t tell from the video if the 2 phone charging mats are still present or not – it looks like the space they’d normally go is there, but the pattern looks different than the current NFC phone chargers.
For another look at the interior, we saw a couple more photos from another Chinese social media account, 42号车库, or “Garage No. 42” on Weibo. These show the steering wheel, front seats, rear and roof a little more clearly. It seems to be of the same car, given the status of the seat covers in the rear.
More changes become apparent here: there is no panoramic glass roof on the car, and the rear screen which was added in the Juniper refresh is once again eliminated. But the turn signal stalk, which was eliminated in the Model 3 Highland refresh and returned in a vestigial manner in the Juniper refresh, is (thankfully) still there.
The balance of these changes suggest that a lot of them are just rollbacks of the content which was added to the cars in the Juniper refresh. Interestingly, though, the Juniper refresh did not increase the price of the car significantly. So, rolling back those changes shouldn’t decrease the price of the car all that much either.
But these just show us some of the interior and exterior changes – the model might have other changes as well. From time to time, Tesla has offered cheaper versions of its vehicles either with rear-wheel drive only, to save on the cost of the front motor, or with a smaller or cheaper (e.g. LFP) battery. The new “affordable” Model Y might incorporate those changes too, and be able to get cost down more because of it, but we’ll have to wait for more information on that.
Further, there’s been no indication of a cheaper Model 3 or any actual “new models” yet. Model 3 is a smaller car than the Model Y, and thus could be cheaper – if Tesla is saving a significant amount of money by cutting a little plastic out of a center console, surely cutting hundreds of pounds of aluminum would save even more. We had expected the “more affordable models” to include both a stripped-down Model 3 and Model Y, but per Musk’s comments on the call, we might only be getting a Model Y.
Maybe it would be nice to have someone in charge who takes the mission of sustainable transport seriously. Which Musk does not, and has in fact acted against with his recent actions.
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It may be small in size, but Honda promises the new N-ONE e is fit for a “daily partner” with a flexible interior, ample range to navigate the city, and it can even power up your home..
Honda reveals the new N-ONE e electric car
The N-ONE e is Honda’s second light EV, or “kei car” as they are called in Japan. It’s Honda’s second electric kei car, following the N-VAN e, launched in October 2024.
Although the N-VAN e was mainly for business use, the new N-ONE e is specifically designed as an everyday driver.
Honda said the new EV was “developed in pursuit of the ideal EV” with a unique design, spacious interior layout, and enough driving range for daily travels. The N-ONE e is the electric version of Honda’s retro kei car, the N-ONE, which has been on sale in Japan since 2012.
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It looks about the same as the gas-powered model, but the new EV has a new face with a smoothed-out black grille and two additional charge ports up front.
Honda N-ONE e electric car (Source: Honda)
Honda boasted that the electric city car has “added the cleanliness that only an EV can offer” with smoothed edges and a new rounded bumper design.
The interior, on the other hand, has been completely revamped from the gas model to maximize space. It includes a decent-sized infotainment screen and a push-button gear selector.
Honda N-ONE e electric car (Source: Honda)
There’s also plenty of physical buttons for climate control functions and more. To maximize interior space, Honda kept it simple with smart storage options and flexible seating.
Although Honda has yet to reveal specifics, it did say the N-ONE e has achieved a WLTP cruising range of over 270 km (167 miles).
It will likely share parts with the N-VAN e, hinting at a single electric powertrain with up to 63 hp, the limit for kei cars in Japan.
With Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) capabilities, Honda’s new EV can be used as a mobile power source during a natural disaster or power outage. You can also use it to power electronics, a campsite, a worksite, and more on the go.
Honda is opening advanced reservations for the new electric car on Friday, August 31. It’s scheduled to launch in September, around the same time Honda’s “Super EV” for Europe is set to debut.
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A view of Cheniere’s Sabine Pass LNG facility located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, as seen from Port Arthur, Texas, on June 23, 2025.
Joel Angel Juarez | Reuters
Shares of liquified natural gas, or LNG, companies jumped Monday after the European Union agreed to purchase $750 billion of energy from the U.S.
LNG exporters Cheniere and Venture Global were up about 3% and more than 4%, respectively. NextDecade and New Fortress Energy, which build LNG infrastructure, jumped more than 2% and about 3%, respectively.
EU President Ursula von der Leyen said the purchases would help reduce the bloc’s dependence on Russia for natural gas.
“Purchases of US energy products will diversify our sources of supply and contribute to Europe’s energy security,” Von der Leyen said in a statement over the weekend. “We will replace Russian gas and oil with significant purchases of US LNG, oil and nuclear fuels.”
The energy purchases are part of a broader trade deal struck between the EU and the U.S. over the weekend. The deal imposes 15% tariffs on EU exports to the U.S. In addition to the energy purchases, Brussels has agreed to invest $600 billion in the U.S. above current levels.
President Donald Trump said “energy is a very important component” of the deal during a meeting with von der Leyen on Sunday.