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November has always been a good time to snag a big discount on e-bikes in the US, as electric bike makers long ago gave up on shorter Black Friday sales in favor of simply giving out those huge discounts all month long. But this year is seeing especially massive price cuts due to extra pressure on the industry.

It’s no secret that e-bike companies have been hurting this year. After a couple of major boom years during the rise and fall of the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone wanted to get outside on an e-bike, sales have largely slumped off this year.

The North American e-bike market is still growing, but not at the rate it had been. That has left manufacturers overstocked and trying to move more e-bikes off their high-stacked warehouse shelves.

That’s a headache for e-bike companies but great news for consumers since some of the most popular e-bikes are currently on sale for their best prices ever. In certain cases, several manufacturers have slashed prices across their entire lineup of bikes.

Take Rad Power Bikes, whose sitewide sale has knocked prices off every single e-bike. Some have modest discounts while others are massive. For instance, the RadTrike is nearly 50% off, while the RadRover 6 Plus is as low as $1,399. That’s lower than even the old RadRovers used to sell for pre-pandemic.

radrunner 3 plus

Lectric Ebikes isn’t to be outdone, as the company is also running some eye-popping sales. The brand’s best-selling electric bike known as the XP 3.0 (that also happens to be the best-selling electric bike in the entire US) is still at its $999 price but now includes over $300 worth of extra add-ons.

The XP Lite, which is Lectric’s most affordable model, is now priced even lower at just $749. It also comes with nearly $200 in free add-on accessories for that price.

Similar impressive deals are also running on the Lectric XPedition, XP Trike, and XPeak, offering between $300-$600 off in price discounts and huge accessory packages.

Lectric XPedition e-bike

Juiced Bikes, a San Diego-based e-bike maker, has several models on sale with some of its best offerings taking up to $700 off a new e-bike.

Ride1Up, another San Diego-based electric bike company, has several sales offering up to $400 off many of the brand’s most popular models, such as the Cafe Cruiser.

Two of the Ride1Up’s models, the Portola and the Roadster V2, are both priced at under $1,000.

Priority Bicycles, a New York-based e-bike company, has major sales on its electric and non-electric models, giving riders the option of pedaling hard or barely at all.

I’ve tried several Velotric e-bikes lately and have been very impressed with the models. They nearly all feature UL-listed batteries and have a great bang for your buck, especially when considering the extra built-in tech like Apple Find My functionality for tracking a missing or stolen e-bike. Velotric has several models with up to $600 off, as well as some under $1,000.

Aventon, another California-based e-bike brand, has some pretty great deals itself offering up to $600 off its electric bikes. I recently reviewed the brand’s Soltera.2 and found it to be an awesome commuter e-bike. The fact that it’s not priced below $1,000 makes it even better!

Interestingly, it’s not just US companies getting into the mix. For our European readers, Ampler is offering Black Friday sales that take up to €1,000 off of the company’s popular stealthy e-bikes. We visited the factory in Estonia and saw just how they build these e-bikes to offer high-quality rides that don’t even look like they’re electrically powered.

Even European companies are getting into the Thanksgiving sale spirit!

It’s not just e-bikes, either. Electric scooter companies are also pushing extremely low pricing to boost sales going into the holiday season. Miami-based Fluidfreeride has sales on over a dozen different electric scooter models, some with over $1,000 off. Major names like Apollo Scooters models are nearly 40% off.

In fact, the Canadian company Apollo is offering its own mega sales too, with some models seeing up to $700 off and one already priced at under $900.

apollo pro electric scooter

These are just a few of the many companies offering extra steep discounts on their e-bikes and e-scooters this year. But the same trends are showing across the industry, revealing much bigger sales this year and an extra push to move inventory.

If your e-bike is going strong and you don’t really need a new one, then keep on riding what you’ve got. But if you’ve been sitting on the fence about getting a new e-bike or are considering picking up your first electric bike ever, this just may be the time to jump on it.

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Home Hardware adds Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks to its fleet

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Home Hardware adds Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks to its fleet

The Canadian home improvement chain picked up a pair of Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks, and it’s putting them to work on last-mile delivery routes in the Greater Toronto Area.

This month, the Canadian home improvement retailer Home Hardware began operating two Volvo electric semi trucks out of its St. Jacobs, Ontario truck depot. The pair of trucks will fulfill last-mile deliveries throughout the area, and mark the company’s first step towards transitioning its entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles.

The Volvo VNR trucks have an operating range of 442 km (about 275 miles). Their delivery routes will take them from Home-brand stores within a 100-150 km (about 90 miles) radius of the St. Jacobs distribution centre.

“We are proud to introduce our new battery-electric trucks to our privately-owned fleet,” said Kevin Macnab, president and chief executive officer, Home Hardware Stores Ltd. “Recognized by the Private Motor Truck Council as Safest Large Fleet, as well as Trucking HR Canada as a Top Fleet Employer and a Fleet of Distinction, Home Hardware Stores, Ltd. is committed to forward-thinking logistics that evolve our supply chain to best support our dealers so they can serve their communities.”

Home Hardware debuted their new Volvo VNR Electric trucks at the company’s 60th anniversary celebration and annual franchise event, the Home Hardware Homecoming, held last week in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Electrek’s Take

Volvo VNR Electric at 2024 Home Hardware Homecoming; via Volvo.

Home Hardware is the latest in a growing list of companies – and they’re already adding to the tally of tens of millions of all-electric, zero emission miles driven by Volvo customers. By the time Volvo rolls out its next-generation VNL and FH electric semis next year, it will be the company’s third generation of Class 8 EVs, and it will be backed by more than 100,000,000 miles of real-world data collected by thousands of trucks across dozens of companies.

Is that an insurmountable head start for companies like Tesla to make up? It’s hard to know (and my brain is broken, anyway), but I invite you to check out this episode of Quick Charge recorded a few weeks ago (below) talking about Volvo Truck’s lead, and then share your take on the state of the electric semi truck market in the comments.

Quick Charge

SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Trucks.

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Lion Electric delivers the first electric tow truck in North America

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Lion Electric delivers the first electric tow truck in North America

The newest edition to the CAA-Quebec roadside fleet is a fully electric Lion5 flatbed – and the CAA says it’s the first 100% electrique tow truck in service in North America!

Based on the Lion5 medium-duty truck and upfit with a flat bed body developed by XpaK Industries, CAA-Quebec (think AAA, but in Quebec) is marking an important milestone in its 80-history with the deployment of the first electric tow truck in Canada.

“Roadside assistance has always been in CAA-Quebec’s DNA, and it goes without saying that we are taking the lead in electric towing. We have a responsibility to set an example and take a leadership role in protecting the environment,” said Marie-Soleil Tremblay, president and CEO.

As far as the truck itself goes, the Lion5 chassis is packed with 210 kWh of in-house, 800V battery packs. Those are good for a range of up to 310 km (a touch over 190 miles) courtesy of an energy-efficient, high-torque electric motor putting 315 hp that Lion Electric claims can eliminate between 75 and 100 metric tons of greenhouse gas per year compared to a comparable diesel truck.

What’s more, the Lion5-based tow truck promises to reduce CAA-Quebec’s energy (read: fuel) costs by about 80%, and regular maintenance costs by about 60% compared to gas or diesel vehicles in the same class.

“With this new 100% electric, made-in-Quebec tow truck, we are helping to redefine the future of the towing industry,” said Patrick Gervais, VP Trucks and Public Affairs at Lion. “We are proud to be part of a cleaner and more sustainable future with players like CAA-Quebec and XpaK.”

The Lion5 tow truck was delivered in July, and will spend a year being put through its paces in a multitude of towing situations and extreme weather conditions. CAA-Quebec’s roadside assistance service will share its experience with partners throughout Canada and the AAA in the US.

Electrek’s Take

Lion5 electric tow truck; via Lion Electric.

“Electrek’s Take” is where we put our industry experience to use interpreting the news we report. Here, in an article about a “first ever” new commercial segment being entered by a highly visible EV, I probably should be talking about operating costs, “dollars and sense,” and the importance of stabilized costs for a fleet manager’s projections.

Instead, I’m just going to picture some bro-dude’s lifted 4×4 Ram pickup getting hauled out of a parking spot he’s ICE’d and giggle a bit. You try it, too, and let me know if it made you smile in the comments section.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Lion Electric, via TowCanada.

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IVECO announces new electric cargo van, will it come to US as a Nikola?

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IVECO announces new electric cargo van, will it come to US as a Nikola?

Best known in the US as the OEM behind Nikola, Italian truck brand IVECO entered the 2.5 to 3.5 ton medium duty commercial van segment at this week’s IAA Transportation conference with this: the eMoovy electric chassis cab.

Co-developed with Hyundai and riding on a modified platform of the Korean brand’s Staria ST1 van, the IVECO eMoovy is entering a red-hot commercial EV space with a 215 hp electric motor and either a 63 kWh or 76 kWh battery good for up to 199 miles of range.

The IVECO version leverages the Hyundai’s excellent 800V architecture. That means the eMoovy supports ultra-fast 350 kW charging and V2x functionality, so it can be used to back up a job site, supply power to workers, or even power a home (presumably).

A long time coming

IVECO eMoovy gets plugged in; via IVECO.

We’ve known than a commercialized IVECO version of the Hyundai van (which isn’t sold as an EV, that I’m aware of) has been in the works for some time. In fact, Peter Johnson wrote about the 2022 deal way back in February.

In that article, Peter wrote that, while Hyundai would develop and build the chassis, IVECO would customize the electric vans to suit broader commercial markets and distribute the vehicles throughout its network. If that sounds familiar, that’s because (on the surface, at least) the deal seems pretty similar to the one IVECO has with Nikola … which begs the question: will Nikola get an eMoovy variant to sell in the US?

The new electric van will directly target Ford E-Transit customers in Europe, so there’s no reason to believe it won’t be an attractive alternative for commercial fleets on this side of the pond, as well – especially with the “big rig” street cred that could come with the Nikola association.

Electrek’s Take

The commercial EV market is driven by dollars and cents. If EVs have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than their gas or diesel counterparts? They’ll continue to sell, and their market share will continue to grow. The only question Hyundai and IVECO need to answer is whether North American truck buyers be more likely to buy a Hyundai-branded van, or a Nikola one.

We asked a similar question to Kia’s James Bell on Quick Charge a few weeks back. Listen to his response to those questions, below, then share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Kia’s James Bell on Electrek Quick Charge

SOURCE | IMAGES: IVECO, CarScoops.

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