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As consumer preference continues trending toward electric vehicles, automakers are moving swiftly to lock up critical battery materials. With battery recycling technology advancing, it will help ease the transition, unlocking the true potential of the sustainability behind electric vehicles. A new EV battery recycling plant in Alabama from Li-Cycle can process up to 10,000 tonnes, enough for about 20,000 EVs per year, helping the US venture toward a zero-emission economy.

Li-Cycle is on a mission to “create an environmentally sustainable supply of critical battery materials” to support the auto industry’s transition to electric vehicles.

The company’s Spoke & Hub Technologies uses a unique hydrometallurgical processing method. The method offers an alternative to the pyrometallurgical method, which Li-Cycle believes can lower costs while saving energy.

Li-Cycle’s processing method is specifically designed as a two-part system recycling battery manufacturing scrap and turns end-of-life batteries into a black mass.

The black mass is then processed and used to generate battery minerals such as nickel sulfate, lithium carbonate, and cobalt sulfate, three of the most critical factors for EV batteries. According to the battery recycling company, li-Cycle believes its method will enable up to a 95% efficiency rate compared to the industry average of 50%.

Perhaps, and more importantly, Li-Cycle’s processing method creates a safe way of recycling lithium-ion batteries without any landfill waste while reducing carbon emissions.

Li-Cycle has three battery recycling plants already in North America, two in the US (New York, Arizona), and one in Ontario. The fourth and latest in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will increase processing capacity to 30,000 tonnes a year.

US-EV-battery-recycling
EV battery recycling process Source: Li-Cycle

Li-Cycle increases US battery recycling capacity with new AL facility

Located in the heart of the EV manufacturing boom in Alabama, Li-Cycle’s third US EV battery recycling plant has officially come online.

The new Alabama lithium-ion recycling facility is over 100,000 square feet and hosts approximately another 120,000 square feet in warehouse space. With the capacity to process 10,000 tonnes of EV battery materials annually, the company can now recycle 60,000 EV batteries across North America.

CEO of Li-Cycle, Ajay Kochar, explains how the new facility can contribute to the growing demand for EVs, stating:

This facility enhances our ability to support the recycling needs of our diverse and growing customer base in North America to ensure lithium-ion battery material is recycled in an environmentally friendly and safe manner. Li-Cycle is creating an essential domestic supply of recycled material to support EV production and assist automakers in meeting their domestic production content requirements.

By the end of next year, Li-Cycle forecasts to have around 65,000 tonnes of EV battery material recycling capacity across its network.

The Alabama EV battery recycling plant is strategically placed in the Southeastern US, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the booming EV market, as it has already brought $33 billion to the region.

Electrek’s Take

Several massive climate bills passed since the beginning of 2021 are already working as designed, boosting EV adoption. EV share in the US hit another record this past quarter, accounting for 5.6% of total vehicle sales.

As these numbers are only expected to accelerate in the next few years, battery recycling will be critical in building a sustainable transportation sector.

With the US planning to achieve a 50% EV share of overall car sales by 2030, recycling technology like by Li-Cycle will ensure we have the battery minerals to get there.

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Tesla prototype sparks speculation: a Model Y, maybe slightly smaller

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July 4, 2025

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Tesla prototype sparks speculation: a Model Y, maybe slightly smaller

A new Tesla prototype was spotted again, reigniting speculation among Tesla shareholders, even though it’s likely just a Model Y, potentially a bit smaller, and the upcoming stripped-down, cheaper version.

Over the last few months, there have been several sightings of what appears to be a Model Y with camouflage around Tesla’s Fremont factory.

It sparked a lot of speculation about it being the new “affordable” compact Tesla vehicle.

There’s confusion in the Tesla community around Tesla’s upcoming “affordable” vehicles because CEO Elon Musk falsely denied a report last year about Tesla’s “$25,000” EV model being canceled.

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The facts are that Musk canceled two cheaper vehicles that Tesla was working on, commonly referred as “the $25,000 Tesla” in early 2024. Those vehicles were codenamed NV91 and NV92, and they were based on the new vehicle platform that Tesla is now reserving for the Cybercab.

Instead, Musk noticed that Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y production lines were starting to be underutilized as the Company faced demand issues. Therefore, Tesla canceled the vehicles program based on the new platform and decided to build new vehicles on Model 3/Y platform using the same production lines.

We previously reported that these electric vehicles will likely look very similar to Model 3 and Model Y.

In recent months, several other media reports reinforced this, and Tesla all but confirmed it during its latest earnings call, when it stated that it is “limited in how different vehicles can be when built on the same production lines.”

Now, the same Tesla prototype has been spotted over the last few days, and it sent the Tesla shareholders community into a frenzy of speculations:

Electrek’s Take

As we have repeatedly reported over the last year, the new “affordable” Tesla “models” coming are basically only stripped-down Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

They might end up being a little smaller by a few inches, and Tesla may use different model names, but they will be extremely similar.

If this is it, which is possible, you can see it looks almost exactly like a Model Y.

It’s hard to confirm if it’s indeed smaller because of the angle of the vehicle compared to the other Model Ys, but it’s not impossible that the wheelbase is a bit smaller – although it’s hard to confirm.

Either way, the most significant changes for these stripped-down, more affordable “models” are expected to be cheaper interior materials, like textile seats instead of vegan leather, no heated or ventilated seats standard, no rear screen, maybe even no double-panned acoustic glass and a lesser audio system.

As previously stated, the real goal of these new variants, or models, is to lower the average sale price in order to combat decreasing demand and maintain or increase the utilization rate of Tesla’s current production lines, which have been throttled down in the last few years to now about 60% utilization.

If this trend continues, Tesla would find itself in trouble and may even have to close its factories.

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Ethereum is powering Wall Street’s future. The crypto scene at Cannes shows how far it’s come

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July 4, 2025

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Ethereum is powering Wall Street's future. The crypto scene at Cannes shows how far it's come

Ethereum succeeded beyond anyone's expectations, says network co-founder Vitalik Buterin at EthCC

CANNES — Wall Street’s new plumbing is being built on Ethereum and this week its architects took over the same French Riviera villas and red carpet venues that host the Cannes Film Festival in May.

The Ethereum Community Conference, or EthCC, took over the beachside town that was swarming with crypto founders, developers, and some of the institutional giants now building atop the infrastructure.

The crypto elite climbed the iconic red-carpeted steps of the Palais des Festivals — a cinematic landmark now repurposed as the stage for Ethereum’s flagship European event.

“The atmosphere this year was palpable in Cannes,” said Bettina Boon Falleur, the powerhouse behind EthCC for the past seven years. “The prestige of the location, combined with the quality of talks, has reinforced Ethereum’s stature and purpose in the wider ecosystem.”

Private parties sprawled across cliffside estates and exclusive resorts, but the conversations were less about price action and more about the blockchain’s evolving role as the back-end of global finance.

EthCC, now in its eighth year, has tracked Ethereum’s trajectory from scrappy experiment to institutional backbone.

“That impact was unmistakable this year,” Falleur said. “From Robinhood embracing decentralized finance infrastructure via Arbitrum to local governments like the City of Cannes exploring deeper integration with the crypto economy.”

Indeed, one of the boldest moves came this week from Robinhood, which became the first publicly traded U.S. company to launch tokenized stocks on-chain.

At a product showcase held inside a Belle Époque mansion overlooking the sea, Robinhood unveiled a sweeping new crypto strategy — including the ability for European users to trade tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs via Arbitrum, a Layer 2 network built on Ethereum.

The announcement helped push Robinhood stock past $100 for the first time, capping off a week of fresh all-time highs and a more than 30% rally since being snubbed by the S&P 500 during a recent rebalance.

Inside the Palais des Festivals, ETHCC draws founders, developers, and institutions into the same halls that host the world’s biggest film premieres — this time, for the future of finance.

MacKenzie Sigalos

Ether, the token native to the Ethereum blockchain, was up nearly 6% on the week and several public equities tied to the blockchain have rallied alongside it.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, a company that mines bitcoin, gained more than 1,200% since announcing it would make ether its primary treasury reserve asset. Bit Digital, which recently exited bitcoin mining to “become a pure play” ethereum staking and treasury company, gained more than 34% this week. And SharpLink Gaming, which added more than $20 million in ether to its balance sheet this week, jumped more than 28% on Thursday.

Ether ETF inflows are rising again too — a sign that institutional investors are warming back up.

Ether is still down more than 20% this year and lags far behind bitcoin in market cap and adoption. But funds tracking ETH have seen two straight months of mostly net inflows, according to CoinGlass data. Still, ether ETFs total just $11 billion — compared to $138 billion in bitcoin ETFs.

Institutions aren’t betting on Ethereum for hype — they’re betting on infrastructure.

Even as prices stall and the network faces headwinds from slower base layer revenues and faster rivals like Solana, the momentum is shifting toward utility.

“Ethereum is getting plugged into these core transactional systems,” Paul Brody, global blockchain leader at EY, told CNBC on the sidelines of EthCC. “Investors, savers, people moving money — they are going to start shifting from some of the older mechanisms of doing this into Ethereum ecosystems that can do these transactions faster, cheaper, but also very importantly, with significant new functionality attached to it.”

Crypto founders and developers climb the iconic red-carpeted steps of the Palais des Festivals — a familiar backdrop for the Cannes Film Festival, now repurposed for Ethereum’s flagship European event.

MacKenzie Sigalos

Deutsche Bank recently announced it’s building a tokenization platform on zkSync — a faster, cheaper blockchain built on top of Ethereum — to help asset managers issue and manage tokenized funds, stablecoins, and other real-world assets while meeting regulatory and data protection requirements.

Coinbase and Kraken are also racing to own the crossover between traditional stocks and crypto.

Coinbase has filed with the SEC to offer trading in tokenized public equities, a move that would diversify its revenue stream and bring it into more direct competition with brokerages like Robinhood and eToro.

Kraken announced plans to offer 24/7 trading of U.S. stock tokens in select overseas markets.

BlackRock‘s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL — launched on Ethereum last year — offers qualified investors on-chain access to yield with redemptions settled in USDC in real time.

Stablecoins, meanwhile, continue to serve as the backbone of Ethereum’s financial layer.

Circle’s USDC — the second-largest stablecoin — still settles around 65% of its volume on Ethereum’s rails. According to CoinGecko’s latest “State of Stablecoins” report, Ethereum accounts for nearly 50% of stablecoin market share.

“The builders and contributors at EthCC aren’t chasing the next bull run,” Falleur said, “they’re laying the groundwork to make Ethereum home for the next billion users.”

Even as newer blockchains tout faster speeds and lower fees, Ethereum is proving its staying power as a trusted network.

Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, told CNBC in Cannes that there is an assumption that institutions only care about scale and speed — but in practice, it’s the opposite.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delivers a keynote at ETHCC, laying out the network’s next steps — and its values test — as institutional adoption accelerates.

EthCC

“A lot of institutions basically tell us to our faces that they value Ethereum because it’s stable and dependable, because it doesn’t go down,” he said.

Buterin added that firms often ask about privacy and other long-term features — the kinds of concerns that institutions, he said, “really value.”

Tomasz Stańczak, the new co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, said institutions are choosing Ethereum for the same core reasons.

“Ten years without stopping for a moment. Ten years of upgrades, with a huge dedication to security and censorship resistance,” he said.

He added that when institutions send orders to the market, they want to be “absolutely sure that their order is treated fairly, that nobody has preference, that the transaction actually is executed at the time when it’s delivered.”

Those guarantees have become increasingly valuable as stablecoins and tokenized assets move into the mainstream.

The Senate’s recent passage of the GENIUS Act, along with Circle’s IPO, gave the industry a regulatory tailwind and helped reinforce Ethereum’s role as the infrastructure layer for tokenized finance.

Ethereum’s core values — neutrality, security, and censorship resistance — are emerging as competitive advantages.

The real test now is whether Ethereum can scale without losing its values.

“We don’t just want to succeed,” Buterin said from the mainstage of the Palais this week. “We want to be something that is worthy of succeeding.”

He said the hope is that future generations will look back and see a network that truly delivered openness, freedom, and permissionless access to the masses.

White-clad guests dance poolside at the rAAVE party in Cannes.

MacKenzie Sigalos

But the week didn’t end in the conference halls, it closed with tradition. On the balcony of Villa Montana, overlooking the Bay of Cannes, the rAAVE party lit up.

White-clad guests sipped cocktails as the DJ spun by the pool, haze curling from smoke machines.

This year, Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov and DeFi icon Stani Kulechov, founder of Aave, stood atop the balcony overlooking the crowd and the light-dotted skyline of Cannes.

It was a fitting snapshot of the momentum behind Ethereum’s institutional rise and symbolic of Web3’s shift from niche experiment to financial mainstay.

WATCH: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev explains ‘dual purpose’ behind trading platform’s new crypto offerings

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev explains 'dual purpose' behind trading platform's new crypto offerings

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July 4th edition: first savings on Aventon Pace 4 smart cruiser e-bike $1,699, Bluetti’s new Elite 100 V2 station at $379, Velotric, Rad, Worx, more

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July 4, 2025

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July 4th edition: first savings on Aventon Pace 4 smart cruiser e-bike ,699, Bluetti's new Elite 100 V2 station at 9, Velotric, Rad, Worx, more

Happy 4th of July, everyone! We’ve got a jam-packed Green Deals for you today, with plenty of new and returning low prices worth considering before they’re gone. Headlining today’s edition is the first chance at savings on Aventon’s new Pace 4 Step-Through Cruiser e-bike that comes with many theft-deterring smart features at $1,699. That’s not all we have in the EV category either, as Velotric has dropped its Fold 1 Lite e-bike to a new $599 low, while Rad Power has added the RadTrike to its 4th of July Sale through this weekend only at its $1,399 low. We also have the launch of Bluetti’s new Elite 100 V2 Portable Power Station with bonus exclusive savings for our readers that takes things to $379. The rear is being brought up by two outdoor tool deals, with the first being Worx’s 20V JawSaw Cordless PowerShare Chainsaw at its best pricing of the last 12 months for $109, as well as Kärcher’s K1700 Electric Pressure Washer falling to $130. Plus, we’ve rounded together all the live savings across EVs, power stations, tools, appliances, and more within our one-stop-shop July 4th Green Deals hub in the links at the bottom of the page.

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.

Aventon offers first savings on new Pace 4 step-through cruiser e-bike loaded with theft-deterring smart features at $1,699

As part of its ongoing 4th of July Sale through July 8, Aventon has included the very first cash savings on its new Pace 4 Smart Step-Through Cruiser e-bike at $1,699 shipped. This model was released to the market back in April carrying a $1,799 price tag, which we’ve only seen get some brief accessory additions so far, but no previous price cuts. During this sale through July 8, however, Aventon is giving folks their first chance at savings with a $100 markdown, setting the bar for future discounts, whenever they may reappear.

Aventon has been releasing many upgraded smart models of its popular legacy e-bikes, and the Pace 4 Step-Through Cruiser e-bike is one of the latest to arrive – plus, the first to get any discounted pricing. Coming with three colorway options, it cruises onto the scene with a 500W rear hub motor (peaking at 864W) and a removable internal 733Wh battery. It’s been given an IPX6 water-resistant construction, and comes with three customizable PAS levels that support you for up to 70 miles on a single charge (relying on the throttle reduces this mileage). It starts as a class 2 e-bike with a 20 MPH top speed, unless you live in a state that allows its 28 MPH max speed to be unlocked.

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Along with the many notable design features like the torque sensor, Tektro hydraulic front and rear brakes, the 8-speed Shimano derailleur, integrated front and rear lighting, and color display, the big standout coming along for the ride is the added smart features. Keeping theft-deterrence in mind, Aventon has given this model security features that include a startup password, remote rear wheel locking, an onboard alarm that pairs with the “unusual activity detection” to send notifications, over-the-air updates done automatically through the display, and more.

Be sure to also check out the full lineup of Aventon’s 4th of July Sale offers, which are seeing annual lows hitting several popular legacy models that have otherwise gone un-budged from their 2025 pricing, like the Aventure 2 All-Terrain e-bike at $1,599 or the Level 2 Commuter e-bike down at $1,399, among others.

Bluetti Elite 100 V2 portable power station

Get exclusive bonus savings on Bluetti’s new Elite 100 V2 1,024Wh LiFePO4 power station launching at $379

As part of its ongoing early Prime Day Sale through July 7, Bluetti has launched its newest backup power solution – plus, the exclusive bonus savings we secured for our readers extends here! You can now pick up the brand’s new Elite 100 V2 Portable Power Station at $379.05 shipped, after using the exclusive code 9TO5TOYS5OFF at checkout. This new model will be carrying a $799 price tag outside of discounts, with this sale giving you the chance at the first cash savings while it’s still fresh to the market. You’re looking at a combined 53% markdown that saves you $420 off the tag and sets the bar for future discounts.

Bluetti’s new Elite 100 V2 station follows along the path set by its previous Elite 200 V2 release, albeit in a smaller size. It brings a 1,024Wh LiFePO4 battery capacity to your campsite and/or travel needs, weighing just 25 pounds with a hidden handle for easy portability. It provides up to a 1,800W steady output and surges as high as 2,700W when needed, boasting 11 port options to cover devices and appliances: four ACs, two USB-Cs, two USB-As, two DCs, and a car port. It comes rated for up to 4,000+ charging cycles, giving you backup power support for many years to come.

You can recharge its battery via several ways – starting through a standard wall outlet that will have it back to 80% in just 45 minutes or to a full battery in 70 minutes. There’s also a 1,000W max solar input to take advantage of the sun’s rays, which fills the entire battery in around 70 minutes with sunny conditions. There are also options for charging through your car’s auxiliary port as you drive, a generator, and dual AC and solar charging.

Don’t miss out on Bluetti’s early Prime Day Sale that is seeing up to 50% in initial discounts and includes exclusive 5% bonus savings for our readers – all from $239 through July 7.

Velotric Fold 1 Lite e-bike

Velotric’s low-cost Fold 1 Lite e-bike just got even more budget-friendly with solid features at a new $599 low

As part of its ongoing 4th of July Sale/Prime Day Sale, Velotric is offering the best pricing ever on its Fold 1 Lite e-bike at $599 shipped. This model came onto the scene last August with a $1,099 price tag as a lighter alternative to its standard folding e-bike, which we’ve only seen discounted as low as $999 during the sales since then. Now, with this latest sale event, Velotric is making this low-cost folding model even more budget-friendly with a 45% markdown that cuts $500 off the tag, landing it at a new all-time low price.

Starting as a low-cost and lighter alternative to the Velotric’s Fold 1 e-bike, this newer Fold 1 Lite variation e-bike weighs in at 61 pounds in all (with a 440-pound total payload), which isn’t the lightest of models, but comes in under the weights of its standard and plus counterparts – not to mention well under those models’ pricing too. It’s been equipped with a 500W rear hub motor paired alongside a 486Wh battery, providing 20 MPH default top speeds that can be unlocked to 28 MPH if you live in states with laws allowing such. In terms of travel range, it has five PAS levels that support you up to 48 miles, or you can travel up to 40 miles according to the brand when using the throttle for pure electric cruising.

Of course, being a folding e-bike, you’ll save plenty more space when not riding, as it folds to the smallest of the brand’s sizes at 38-inch (length) by 19-inch (width) by 33-inch (height). There are quite a few solid features here too for such a low price, including puncture-resistant tires with fenders over each, hydraulic disc brakes, front and rear lighting – the latter of which boasts brake lighting, a 1.8-inch LCD screen for setting adjustments and performance data with a USB port to charge devices, among others.

Be sure to check out the full Velotric 4th of July Sale lineup that is getting up to $720 in savings via price cuts and free bundled gear – including on new models – many of which are also seeing their best annual pricing.

Rad Power RadTrike electric tricycle

Rad Power’s RadTrike is added to July 4th savings through the weekend only at its $1,399 low

As part of its ongoing 4th of July Sale, Rad Power Bikes has added its RadTrike electric tricycle to the lineup only through the weekend at $1,399 shipped, while the rest of the discounted models will retain their savings through July 9. Normally fetching $1,699 at full price, we’ve only spotted two previous discounts on this model in 2025, both of them only taking things down to $1,499. The deal here, however, gives you an even greater $300 in savings, bringing the costs back down to the lowest price we have tracked for the first time this year.

Rad Power Bikes’ RadTrike is a leisurely commuter for first-time and older riders, providing far more stability than standard models for those with physical limitations. It’s been given a 750W brushless-geared hub motor and a 480Wh battery that provides 14 MPH top speeds and up to 55+ miles of PAS support (five levels) on a single charge. On days where you’re not looking to do any manual pedaling, you can take advantage of the half-twist throttle for electric riding at a reduced mileage.

This model isn’t just for commutes and joyrides, and makes a great option for errand running thanks to the included rear cargo rack. There’s also the solid lineup of additional features, including puncture-resistant tires with fenders over each, an integrated taillight with brake light functionality, an LED headlight, and a simple display to switch settings and check battery levels. Notably, it’s the only model from the brand with reverse throttling, giving limited riders more versatile mobility to back up.

Be sure to check out the full lineup of Rad Power’s 4th of July Sale that will be running longer than the above deal to July 9 and includes second-chance savings on the new Radster Trail Off-Road and Radster Road Commuter e-bikes, and more from $999.

Worx 20V jawsaw cordless powershare chainsaw

Get added safety working on the ground: Worx 20V JawSaw with guards and retractable blade now at $109

Amazon is offering the Worx 20V JawSaw Cordless PowerShare Chainsaw for $109 shipped. It’s mostly been keeping to its $170 full price over the last year, with discounts in that 12-month period only going as low as $130 for Black Friday and Christmas, while 2025 has only seen it fall as low as $136. While we have seen it go as low as $89 in past years, today’s deal comes in as the best price we’ve tracked in 12 months, with a 36% markdown that cuts $61 off the tag.

This uniquely designed chainsaw from Worx boasts fully protective guards and an extendable blade that retracts back into its base, making it ideal for working directly on the ground over traditional chainsaws. That blade spins up to a max 1,350 RPM, able to cut through materials that are up to 4 inches in diameter. The chain will be kept at optimal tension levels automatically, with a oiler doing the same to keep everything lubricated and running smoothly. It weighs in at just 7.1 pounds so comfort and control is not lost, letting users of various sizes safely operate it.

Karcher K1700 electric pressure washer

Clear away outdoor muck with Kärcher’s K1700 electric pressure washer with a max 2,125 PSI at $130

Amazon is offering the Kärcher K1700 Electric Pressure Washer at $129.99 shipped. It’s coming down from its $190 price tag here with the biggest savings we’ve seen in nearly three months, which saw the price remain above $144 with discounts in that timeframe. While it’s gone as low as $100 in the past, you’re looking at one of the best prices we’ve tracked over the last year, beaten out by falls to $120 at the top of 2025 and falls to $105 last seen in early April.

No matter the time nor season, there will always be a buildup of grime that needs cleaning on your home’s exterior, as well as walkways, the driveway, patio furniture, and more – and you can power through all that cleaning with this electric pressure washer from Kärcher. It strips away the muck with up to its max 2,125 PSI and 1.46 GPM flow rate, and features a convenient on/off foot pedal and an onboard 0.5-gallon detergent tank for increased cleaning efficiency. It even comes with a detacheable storage unit that keeps the 20-foot hose, wand, and three included nozzles nice and organized where you can always find them.

Ford Mustang e-bike

Best Summer EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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