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Have an old VW Beetle from the 1960s or 70s laying around and want to convert it into an electric vehicle? It’s easier than you think, and cheaper, too. An electric conversion kit from Alibaba designed specifically for classic VW Beetles can nearly get you rolling for $2,000.

Electric conversions of classic cars are quite common, breathing new life into older vehicles yet without the environmental cost of those heavily polluting engines.

Air-cooled cars like a VW Beetle are some of the best options for conversion, and classic cars with simpler designs and roomier engine bays make it easy to perform custom work like this.

A new electric conversion kit designed for VW Beetles made from 1965 to 1975 takes advantage of those perks, offering a relatively easy way to get an old combustion engine car back on the road in fresh, electric glory.

The kit was first spotted by the Autopian‘s Jason Torchinsky, who seems to have as much fun dumpster-fire diving in Alibaba’s catalog as I do.

The design of the kit looks fairly straight forward. It includes a 15 kW electric motor that puts out around 20 horsepower. A 1965 VW Beetle of that era originally carried a 4-cylinder engine that produced closer to 40 horsepower, but electric motors feature much higher torque and thus are capable of producing higher performance than gasoline-powered engines even with lower power ratings.

The 48 kg (105 lb) motor appears to bolt straight onto the Beetle’s transaxle. It’s a simple approach – something has to spin that shaft and the car doesn’t care if it’s a motor powered by electrons or cancer-causing dead dinosaur juice. (This might not be the time for it, but here’s a friendly little reminder that your gasoline-powered car is literally giving your kids future cancer, and probably you, too).

In addition to the bolt-on electric motor, the Beetle conversion kit also includes the electronic speed controller and also a replacement (or rather add-on) digital dashboard with the new electric readouts.

One key aspect that seems to be missing though is the battery. This is very much a “batteries not included” type of deal.

You’ll need a 96V battery pack, which isn’t exactly something you can pick up at WalMart. But with several interesting US-based auto-battery resellers out there, you’ve still got a number of options.

As for a factory electric VW Beetle, don’t get your hopes up. VW threw cold water on the idea of ever making a new electric Beetle. The VW bus, though? That’s alive and well as a modern electric vehicle in the VW ID. Buzz.

Electrek’s Take

This probably isn’t a good kit for you if an IKEA bookshelf assembly turns into a phone-a-friend situation, but it also won’t take a lifelong mechanic to install a kit like this due to the relatively simple design.

Compared to other kits in the US that can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, this one seems fairly compelling. That being said, I always advise caution when making big purchases from Alibaba. In fact, I usually advise to not do it. That hasn’t stopped several of my readers, but I still don’t think it’s worth risking thousands of dollars (and untold thousands more in shipping and customs fees) with untested online vendors from halfway around the world.

I’ve already got a fun little air-cooled Chinese EV of my own, so I don’t think I need to do any Beetle conversions at the moment. And if I did, I’d be on the lookout for a 1969 AMC AMX with a bad drivetrain anyway. Everyone has a Beetle. Give me something interesting.

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Brent oil futures climb 2% as Russia flows, U.S. policies in focus

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Brent oil futures climb 2% as Russia flows, U.S. policies in focus

Oil prices edged down on Tuesday after surging nearly 2% in the previous session, as traders kept a close watch on developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Anton Petrus | Moment | Getty Images

Oil prices gained ground on Tuesday, as Ukraine war escalations raised questions over the resilience of Russian supplies, while uncertainty lingers over the impact of Washington’s policies on key oil consumers.

Brent futures with November expiry were at $69.46 per barrel at 10:54 a.m. London time ( 5:54 a.m. E.T.), up 1.92% from the Monday close.  

The front-month October Nymex WTI contract was trading at $65.97 per barrel, higher by 3.06%. WTI futures did not settle on Monday because of the U.S. Labor holiday.

Russia supply

Moscow and Kyiv have ramped up fire exchanges in their three-and-a-half-year conflict, with Reuters calculations pointing to Ukrainian drone attacks shutting down facilities accounting for at least 17% of Russia’s oil processing capacity. CNBC could not independently verify the report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed “new deep strikes” against Russia in a social media post over the weekend, without disclosing details. His pledge comes amid stalling U.S. and European efforts to draw Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin into conceding to bilateral ceasefire talks with his Ukrainian counterpart.

The White House has separately piled on indirect pressure on Russia’s oil consumers, implementing additional levies on imports of Indian goods it attributed to New Delhi’s ongoing purchases of Moscow’s crude. India has criticized the impositions as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”

In a further sign of deteriorating relations, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday doubled down on lambasting Washington’s trade ties with India as a “totally one sided disaster.”

Critically, Washington has yet to move against China, the world’s largest crude importer and Russia’s biggest oil buyer since the introduction of G7 sanctions. Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met at this week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, in a show of Global South unity.

OPEC+

Also on the supply side, oil investors are looking out for output policy signals from an eight-member subset of the OPEC+ alliance – comprising heavyweights Russia and Saudi Arabia, alongside Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates – which are due to deliberate potential production steps on Sept. 7. The group, which recently expedited unwinding a 2.2-million-barrels-per-day production cut, is widely seen as unlikely to change course on strategy this week.

“We believe, just like the broader market, that the group will leave production levels unchanged for October,” ING analysts said Tuesday. “The scale of the surplus through next year means it’s unlikely the group will bring additional supply onto the market. The bigger risk is OPEC+ deciding to reinstate supply cuts, given concerns about a surplus.”

U.S. rates

Market participants are likewise following this week’s release of the U.S. August job report, expected to be factored into the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting of Sept. 16-17. The Fed is currently widely expected to lower interest rates at the time, in a move that could echo into a softer greenback and push up demand for U.S.-denominated commodities, such as oil.

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BMW’s wild new electric motorcycle doesn’t even need a helmet

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BMW's wild new electric motorcycle doesn't even need a helmet

BMW Motorrad just dropped a futuristic electric motorcycle concept that looks like it rolled straight out of a sci-fi movie and into a design studio. The new concept, called the BMW Motorrad Vision CE, is the company’s latest attempt to answer a question that’s been bouncing around for a while now: What should an electric BMW motorcycle actually look like?

Apparently, the answer is: not like anything else on the road.

Where traditional cruisers are low-slung and heavy with chrome, BMW’s new electric concept is lean, sharp, and unapologetically modern. The design team says it blends “emotional tech” with urban performance, which sounds like marketing fluff to me. But what we’re really looking at here is a sleek mashup of café racer attitude, cyberpunk energy, and hidden electric performance.

A structural canopy and a four-point harness work together to provide enclosed protection, meaning riders won’t necessarily need a helmet like on a traditional motorcycle – though eye protection is still a must.

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The CE 04-based concept bike still keeps some familiar lines, like a long, low silhouette and exposed mechanical elements, but everything else is turned up to eleven. LED lighting slashes through the front end. A massive disc-style rim dominates the rear. The bodywork floats above the drivetrain. And the whole bike looks like it could transform into a drone if you pressed the right button.

Under the hood – well, under the body panels – BMW hasn’t revealed exact specs yet, but the CE-04 platform this is based on was already pushing 31 kW (42 hp) and a top speed of 120 km/h (75 mph), making it ideal for urban riding and modest highway hops.

BMW says the Motorrad Vision CE is more than just a design exercise. It’s a glimpse at how the brand plans to evolve its iconic Motorrad DNA into the electric age. And while the bike is just a concept for now, it wouldn’t be the first time BMW took something wild off the show stand and eventually turned it into a production machine. (Remember the original CE 04 concept? Yeah, that’s a real bike you can overpay for and ride right now.) And of course, how could we not mention the original BMW C1 that adopted a similar helmet-free semi-enclosed cage design 25 years ago?

BMW has already made it clear that it sees electric mobility as the future of urban riding, and with the CE lineup forming the core of that push, we might not have to wait too long to see something like this actually hit the streets.

So if you’ve been waiting for a proper electric motorcycle that doesn’t just replace the engine but reimagines the whole experience to feel less biker-like, BMW’s latest concept might just be a glimpse at what’s coming next, reimagining the past with a focus on the future.

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A leading electric dirt bike maker just got a massive boost, and is coming for gas bikes

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A leading electric dirt bike maker just got a massive boost, and is coming for gas bikes

Stark Future, the Spanish electric motorcycle maker that turned the off-road world on its head, just locked in a fresh round of funding, pushing its total capital raised past €100 million. And unlike the big, flashy VC rounds we usually see, this one came mostly from existing backers and a few hand-picked newcomers, including some heavy hitters from the MotoGP world.

In what has become classic Stark style, the round was closed quickly and quietly, underscoring just how confident investors are in the brand’s growth trajectory. CEO and founder Anton Wass says the company intentionally offered a “very attractive valuation” to those who already believed in the mission.

“We managed to close it within a couple of weeks,” said Wass. “It’s a strong testament to the results our team has created.”

And it’s not just hype. Stark has proven it can build bikes that not only compete with gas-powered motocross machines, but completely outclass them. Their flagship model, the all-electric Stark VARG, claims the title of most powerful motocross bike ever made. Riders have already racked up tens of millions of kilometers on the VARG, and the bike has helped convert thousands of motocross enthusiasts to battery power. The model even got e-motos banned from the X-Games when the organizers feared that gas-powered bikes couldn’t keep up.

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That kind of traction, paired with the company’s rapid expansion into over 70 countries, explains why investors are still lining up to get a piece of the action.

But what really makes Stark stand out in the electric motorcycle world is its quick path to profitability. That’s a rare word in the electric motorcycle space, especially for such a young company. Just two years after their first deliveries, and within six years of founding, Stark Future is profitable and thriving. With each passing year, they seem to be improving margins, growing revenues, and launching new platforms.

And speaking of new platforms, those are coming, too. The company teased “very exciting new products” on the way, though didn’t drop specifics just yet. From the rumor mill though, it sounds like the company is preparing street models that could give gas bikes a run for their money. And if they’re anything like the VARG, we can certainly expect bikes that push boundaries and continue proving Wass’s bold thesis: electric motorcycles can outperform internal combustion in just about every way.

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