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Electric motorcycles have demonstrated superior performance in many areas from acceleration to speed and even towing, but they’ve long trailed behind ICE-bikes when it comes to range. That’s set to change with the launch of the new 2024 Evoke 6061-GT electric motorcycle, now preaparing to make its North American debut.

Evoke Motorcycles has built urban-oriented naked bikes for years, focusing on sporty commuter designs. With the launch of its original 6061 design in 2020, the Beijing-based company entered the cruiser market with a novel frame concept.

The twin-plate aluminum exo-frame wasn’t just innovative looking, it also offered a rarely seen option in the industry: cruiser styling. Instead of the tighter-tucked seating position found in most electric roadster and sportbikes, the Evoke 6061 finally presented what the industry has been missing: an electric motorcycle with a relaxed cruiser frame.

Now the 2024 version destined for North America is getting a number of updates, including a massive battery pack for some impressively long-range touring.

evoke 6061-gt

The new 2024 Evoke 6061-GT battery pack is said to be rated for 30 kWh of capacity, offering up to 660 km (410 miles) of range per charge. That’s what the company refers to as the “city range” figure, usually calculated by many motorcycle manufacturers at closer to 50 km/h (31 mph) average speed that is commonly seen in urban areas.

Even so, it blows some of the current longest range electric motorcycles out of the water.

For mixed riding, Evoke lists the range as 497 km (308 miles). Highway speeds are said to net 335 km (205 miles).

The motor is no joke either, packing in 90 kW (120 hp) of power and 206 Nm (152 lb-ft) of torque. The company says it can blast the bike up to a top speed of 230 km/h (140 mph).

Just don’t expect to get the stated 205 miles of highway range if you’re cruising around at over 100 mph!

The new 2024 6061-GT includes updated exterior fairings that hide a bit more of that aluminum exo-frame, a lighter and more energy dense axial flux motor, and a wider set of tires.

The bike also sports a fast charging system that is said to recharge the battery to 80% in just 30 minutes from a DC fast charging station.

That fast charging capability combined with such a large battery is designed for true long range riders who enjoy motorcycle touring, explained CEO of Evoke Motorcycles Nathan Siy:

“We are excited to introduce the all new 6061-GT, a game-changer for the electric motorcycle market. The 6061-GT is sure to appeal to the long-range rider and is designed to bring electrification to the long open road while delivering an exhilarating riding experience, jaw-dropping range and ample power on tap.”

evoke 6061-gt

Riders in the US and Canada can already place an order for the Evoke 6061-GT, though shipping is not expected to begin until April 2024. Pricing is currently set at US $24,995, putting it in line with many models available from leading long-range electric motorcycle manufacturers like Energica.

The company also explained that “European orders will begin in early 2024 for selected regions,” though didn’t provide any info yet on which European countries would see orders open first.

The unveiling of the 6061-GT comes less than two months after Evoke showed off a new electric dirt bike.

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Elon Musk Tapped to Lead New ‘DOGE’ Department—Despite the Government Already Having One for Efficiency

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Elon Musk Tapped to Lead New ‘DOGE’ Department—Despite the Government Already Having One for Efficiency

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is to officially join Trump’s administration as the co-head of the new US Department of Government Efficiency – a second federal department with the goal of making government spending more efficient.

You can’t get more ironic than that.

Throughout the elections, Musk, who is already CEO of Tesla, and SpaceX, a well as the defacto head of X, xAI, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, has been floating the idea to add to his workload by joining the Trump’s administration to lead a new department aimed at making the federal government more efficient.

He has been calling it the “Department of Government Efficiency”, which spells out ‘DOGE’, a meme that Musk appears to enjoy.

Well, now Trump appears to want to be going through with this idea.

He announced the new department and Musk as head, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, in a statement today:

I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the “Save America” Movement. “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” stated Mr. Musk.

What’s most ironic is that there’s already a federal department with the goal of cutting government waste and ensuring efficiency: the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The GAO’s main objectives are:

  • auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively;
  • investigating allegations of illegal and improper activities;
  • reporting on how well government programs and policies are meeting their objectives;
  • performing policy analyses and outlining options for congressional consideration;
  • issuing legal decisions and opinions;
  • advising Congress and the heads of executive agencies about ways to make government more efficient and effective

It sounds similar to what Musk described when talking about his DOGE, but Trump hasn’t gone into many details other than it will “cut waste.”

He also has a confusing message as he compares the initiative, which is supposed to cut government spending, to “The Manhattan project”, a massive and expensive government project.

Trump said that DOGE will help the government “drive large scale structural reform”:

It will become, potentially, “The Manhattan Project” of our time. Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of “DOGE” for a very long time. To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.

The statement also noted that DOGE will only operate until July 4, 2026.

Musk has previously claimed that he could cut at least $2 trillion dollars of the $6.5 trillion dollar US federal budget.

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Oil could plunge to $40 in 2025 if OPEC unwinds voluntary production cuts, analysts say

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Oil could plunge to  in 2025 if OPEC unwinds voluntary production cuts, analysts say

A pump jack in Midland, Texas, US, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. 

Anthony Prieto | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Oil prices may see a drastic fall in the event that oil alliance OPEC+ unwinds its existing output cuts, said market watchers who are predicting a bearish year ahead for crude.

“There is more fear about 2025’s oil prices than there has been since years — any year I can remember, since the Arab Spring,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, an oil price reporting agency.

“You could get down to $30 or $40 a barrel if OPEC unwound and didn’t have any kind of real agreement to rein in production. They’ve seen their market share really dwindle through the years,” Kloza added.

A decline to $40 a barrel would mean around a 40% erasure of current crude prices. Global benchmark Brent is currently trading at $72 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures are around $68 per barrel.

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Oil prices year-to-date

Given that oil demand growth next year probably won’t be much more than 1 million barrels a day, a full unwinding of OPEC+ supply cuts in 2025 would “undoubtedly see a very steep slide in crude prices, possibly toward $40 a barrel,” Henning Gloystein, head of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group, told CNBC. 

Similarly, MST Marquee’s senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic posited that should OPEC+ unwind cuts without regard to demand, it would “effectively amount to a price war over market share that could send oil to lows not seen since Covid.”

However, the alliance is more likely to opt for a gradual unwinding early next year, compared to a full scale and immediate one, the analysts said.

Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double.

Martoccia Francesco

Energy strategist at Citi

The oil cartel has been exercising discipline in maintaining its voluntary output cuts, to the point of extending them.

In September, OPEC+ postponed plans to begin gradually rolling back on the 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts by two months in an effort to stem the slide of oil prices. The 2.2 million bpd cut, which was implemented over the second and third quarters, had been due to expire at the end of September. 

At the start of this month, the oil cartel again decided to delay the planned oil output increase by another month to the end of December.

Oil prices have been weighed by a sluggish post-Covid recovery in demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy and leading crude oil importer. In its monthly report released Tuesday, OPEC lowered its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast from 1.6 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.

The pressured prices were also conflagrated by a perceivably oversupplied market, especially as key oil producers outside the OPEC alliance like the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil are also planning to add supply, Gloystein highlighted.

Bearish year ahead for oil

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Have you had a ride in a driverless vehicle?

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Have you had a ride in a driverless vehicle?

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