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The massively excessive GMC HUMMER EV is known as a “supertruck,” and now the automaker is announcing a “super e-bike” to go with it. The newly unveiled GMC HUMMER EV ALL-WHEEL DRIVE EBIKE will serve as a companion vehicle for the massive electric truck.

The new GMC HUMMER EV e-bike is a hardtail fat tire electric bike that features a pair of Bafang hub motors to provide all-wheel drive.

Each motor is rated at 750W continuous and 1,200W peak, meaning the bike puts out 2.4 kW of power at full tilt. That allows it to reach speeds of up to 28 mph (45 km/h).

Fortunately, the bike also includes a pair of four-piston hydraulic disc brakes to bring it back down to reasonable speeds.

A maximum of 1 kWh of battery will supply those power-hungry motors, and the battery is removable for charging off the e-bike.

For those keeping score at home, that means the GMC HUMMER EV will have a 200x larger battery than the GMC HUMMER EV ALL-WHEEL DRIVE EBIKE.

Priced at around $113,000, the four-wheeled version is also around 28x more expensive than its $3,999 two-wheeled companion.

GMC will have the e-bikes available at its dealerships but will also offer the e-bike direct-to-consumer for online ordering.

gmc hummer ev all-wheel drive ebike

Despite the throttle and pedal-assist e-bike offering all-wheel drive, there are actually three drive modes that let riders shut off one of the motors.

Cruise mode engages only the rear motor. Traction mode engages only the front motor (and must be named ironically based on how quickly you’ll start spinning that front tire in loose terrain). Adrenaline mode kicks in both motors at once for true all-wheel drive operation.

As you might have guessed, the bike wasn’t actually developed by GMC. Instead, the company partnered with an e-bike brand known as Recon Power Bikes.

As GMC’s marketing director Rich Latek explained:

GMC is excited to collaborate with Recon as they develop the GMC HUMMER EV AWD Ebike. With design cues and inspiration taken directly from the GMC HUMMER EV Supertruck, this Ebike further expands customer’s ability to explore different off-road trails – whether in the vehicle or out on the bike.

Recon’s president, Jeff Fuze, added:

The Recon Team is thrilled to be the officially licensed partner producing the GMC HUMMER EV AWD Ebike. We are honored to partner with GMC on this unique world-class AWD Ebike that parallels HUMMER EV’s unrivaled reputation as the leader in EV off-road adventure.

Pre-order reservations are now open for anyone who missed the chance to get an early electric HUMMER but who doesn’t want to make the same mistake on the e-bike version.

Electrek’s Take

Oh boy.

Here’s the thing: I love electric vehicles, but I hate everything there is to the HUMMER EV. It’s an abomination. The egregious waste of resources alone is an affront to humanity, let alone the questionable ethics of putting that much power in a 9,000-pound (4,100-kg) bulldozer that could literally crush pedestrians without the driver even knowing it.

The GMC HUMMER EV ALL-WHEEL DRIVE EBIKE, on the other hand, feels like a step in the right direction. It’s still excessive but at a level that is at least reasonable. And the rider is sure as hell going to know if he or she hit someone.

I’m sure it’d be a fun off-roader and would even handle a city commute as well, though that’s not what it’s built for.

I half wonder if the bike was a response to some of the outrage directed at the GMC HUMMER EV from much of the pro-not-getting-crushed-by-cars community. It would have been pretty easy. It’s not like GMC had to do much work here. The magic of licensing agreements meant that some money changed hands and a GMC sticker went on a Recon e-bike.

Whether or not this e-bike is worth $4,000 when you could find other similarly capable e-bikes for less is something I’ll leave up to my educated readers.

And let’s all hope that GM’s second attempt at an electric bike goes more smoothly than its first.

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Trump’s penalty threat puts India in a bind over Russian oil

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Trump's penalty threat puts India in a bind over Russian oil

The Reliance Industries Ltd. oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, on Saturday, July 31, 2021.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

India is navigating a tricky balancing act after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “penalty” over its continued imports of Russian oil — a trade that New Delhi appears reluctant to end anytime soon.

Despite Trump telling reporters Friday that he “heard” India would halt purchases, officials in New Delhi have remained noncommittal. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the country decides its energy import sources “based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time.”

“The Indians must be having some confusion” following Trump’s threat — a reversal from the more tolerant approach taken under the Biden administration, Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“Now we’re flipping around and saying, ‘What are you doing taking all this Russian oil?'” McNally said.

In March 2022 — a month after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — Daleep Singh, a former U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics in the Biden administration, reportedly said that “friends don’t set red lines” and “there is no prohibition at present on energy imports from Russia.” 

“What we would not like to see is a rapid acceleration of India’s imports from Russia as it relates to energy or any other exports that are currently being prohibited by us or by other aspects of the international sanctions regime,” Singh said.

On July 30, Trump announced that India would face a 25% tariff beginning Aug. 1, along with an unspecified “penalty” for buying Russian oil and military equipment.

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But analysts suggest that India, which is the third-largest energy consumer in the world, isn’t blinking. Reuters reported that there are no immediate changes planned to India’s long-term contracts with Russian suppliers, citing two anonymous Indian government sources that did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Russia has become the leading oil supplier to India since the war in Ukraine began, increasing from just under 100,000 barrels per day before the invasion, or a 2.5% share of total imports, to more than 1.8 million barrels per day in 2023, or 39%. According to the International Energy Agency, 70% of Russian crude was exported to India in 2024.

India’s energy minister Hardeep Singh Puri defended New Delhi’s actions in a July 10 interview with CNBC, saying that it helped stabilize global prices and was even encouraged by the U.S.

“If people or countries had stopped buying at that stage, the price of oil would have gone up to 130 dollars a barrel. That was a situation in which we were advised, including by our friends in the United States, to please buy Russian oil, but within the price cap.”

Russian oil exports had been capped at $60 per barrel in December 2022 by the Group of Seven nations, representing the world’s top economies, while the European Union had lowered the price cap to just above $47 per barrel in July.

Still, pressure is mounting. Vishnu Varathan, Managing Director at Mizuho Securities, said that the U.S. threats present a “clear and present danger” to India. He said that New Delhi is likely to remain non-committal on oil purchases as it assesses the trade-offs of this “Russia option” as a bargaining chip.

India will need to scour the global market for comparable oil bargains with Russian oil, Varathan, who is also the head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan, added.

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New Delhi could explore alternatives, including Iran — if an exemption from the U.S. can be negotiated — as well as a few other producers “either within or outside of the OPEC+ that have been pressured by the U.S,” Varathan said.

The OPEC+ bloc had agreed on Sunday to raise output by 547,000 barrels per day in September, as concerns mount over potential supply disruptions linked to Russia.

India is going to face a tough choice, Rapidan’s McNally said.

“Trump is serious. He’s frustrated with Putin… India is going to have a tough choice to make, but it’s hard to see them continuing to import that a million and a half barrels [of] Russian crude if Donald Trump decides to really put the whole relationship on the line over it.”

India's purchases of Russian oil helped to stabilize global oil prices: Hardeep Singh Puri

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Forbidden fruit: new Volkswagen Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions

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Forbidden fruit: new Volkswagen Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions

Wagons don’t get a lot of love Stateside, with American buyers choosing SUVs over – well, pretty much every other type of vehicle imaginable. That’s our loss, as the latest plug in hybrid versions of the Volkswagen Passat are here to prove.

The latest Passat Variant eHybrid (or, in some markets, Vario, which is what the Europeans like to call wagons) is different from the version we get in the US. Unlike the domestic version which is based on a low-cost platform specific to the US and China, the Euro-market version is built on the MQB platform that underpins VW’s flagship Arteon four-door coupe and both VW‘s and Audi’s entry-luxe SUVs.

That might seem weird, since VW has sold more than 34 million units sold worldwide and the Passat is the second top-selling Volkswagen of all time (behind the Golf and ahead of the Beetle). It’s understandable, then, that the European execs are pretty proud of their Passat.

The latest evolutionary stage of the modular transverse matrix (MQB evo)forms the highly innovative technical basis of the ninth Passat generation. Thanks to the significant economies of scale of the MQB evo, Volkswagen has again democratised numerous high-tech developments and made them available for hundreds of thousands of drivers. The two completely newly developed plug-in hybrid drives (eHybrid) are a perfect example of this. In combination with a new battery, they make all-electric ranges of around 100 km possible. This distance turns the new Passat Variant into an electric vehicle for everyday life – this is additionally ensured by short charging times as the battery can now be charged at AC charge points with 11 kW instead of the previous 3.6 kW. The Passat Variant eHybrid can even be charged with up to 50 kW at DC fast charging stations. In addition, the combination of electric drive motor and new economical turbocharged petrol engine provides overall ranges of around 1,000 km.

KAI GRÜNITZ
Member of the Brand Board of Management, VW

In case the jealous American wago-philes reading this aren’t jealous enough, Volkswagen has announced new Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions that add nearly £5k of options for the new model year effectively for free.

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“Match is better equipped than the outgoing Life, with additional features including metallic paint, VW’s IQ.Light LED matrix headlights, tinted rear windows and an ‘assistance pack’ which adds area view and emergency assist,” reports Alastair Crooks, from the UK car site AutoExpress. “The new Black Edition comes with metallic paint, 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, tinted rear windows (darker than the Match’s), heated front and rear seats, a head-up display, a 15-inch central touchscreen and the same assistance pack as the Match.”

The entry-level Match replaces the previous Life trim, but costs the same £45,555 (about $60,500), while the Black Edition costs the same as the outgoing R-Line, from £48,900 (about $64,950). The order books open 14 August.

You can take a look at some of the VW press photos of the European Passat wagon Variant, below, then let us know if you’d rather have this for $60K or the discount American version in the comments.


SOURCE | IMAGES: VW, via AutoExpress.


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E-quipment highlight: Wirtgen Vögele launches new electric MINI pavers

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E-quipment highlight: Wirtgen Vögele launches new electric MINI pavers

Wirtgen Vögele recently revealed the battery-powered MINI 500e and the MINI 502e electric pavers. With an electrically heated screed, a range of paving widths, and zero-emission operations, they’re paving a greener, cleaner path.

Co-developed by Wirtgen Vögele and Italian road equipment manufacturer C. M. S.r.l., the new electric pavers will enable contractors to bid on construction projects that are subject to even the strictest noise and emission limits – but the company is quick to point out that they’re capable enough to serve on conventional job sites.

“These pavers excel on small-scale construction projects and jobs covering a small area – the type of work for which paving crews would not previously have been able to use machines,” reads the official Wirtgen Vögele copy. “Thanks to their elimination of manual labor, among other benefits, the new MINI pavers improve the efficiency and quality of asphalt paving, particularly in the construction of sidewalks and drains, as well as in tight downtown locations.”

The new Wirtgen MINI 502e (the one with wheels) and the MINI 500e (the one with crawler tracks) offer pave widths from 0.25 to 1.8 m, feature a battery-electric drive outputting 22.8 kW (30 hp), and your choice of either a 15 kWh or 22 kWh 48V li-ion battery – good enough battery capacity for up to 16 hours of continuing paving. Both versions can be fully charged on a conventional 110/120 “L1” power socket in about eight hours.

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Electrek’s Take


Wirtgen Vögele MINI 500e; via Wirtgen.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the federal EV incentives are or even what the guys on your crew want to operate. What matters is that construction noise upsets Mrs. Clancik’s terrier, and she will force the town council to keep the noise down all by herself.

If your construction company wants to bid on any municipal work, that means you’re gonna have to stay quiet. Maybe even keep the smells to a minimum, too. Buying electric equipment means you can do both.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Wirtgen, via Construction Equipment International.


If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them. 

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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