Lectric Ebikes rose to the top of sales, and now they are giving it all away
In just four years, Phoenix-based Lectric Ebikes quickly grew into a major player in the US e-bike market. The garage startup story of how Lectric’s founders rode the brand’s budget-priced e-bikes all the way to the top has been told many times. Just as fascinating, yet less well-known, is how committed the company has been to giving back through major donations and philanthropy.
Today, on Giving Tuesday, that story deserves to be told.
When Lectric stormed onto the scene with its first sub-$1,000 e-bike, the co-founders Levi Conlow and Robby Deziel had no idea just how big it would become.
Shooting to the top as the best-selling e-bike in the US, the Lectric XP 3.0 has since been joined by several other models that have expanded the company’s range through fat tire bikes, cargo e-bikes, lightweight folders, and more. With several e-bikes still priced at under $1,000, the company has become a heavyweight of the affordable e-bike market.
I sat down with Levi to discuss how his team’s success has enabled the company to achieve its wide-ranging goals beyond merely selling e-bikes.
“In college, I became really interested in the idea of conscious capitalism,” Levi explained. “The idea that a business shouldn’t be purely about pursuing profits. It should do so in a way that focuses on ethics and remembers that a rising tide lifts all ships.”
Since its very beginning, Lectric Ebikes’ business model has focused on disruption by moving into new e-bike categories with models that significantly undercut current price trends. But as Levi explained, that model isn’t just about profits.
“Lectric is determined to continue to disrupt the bike market, also by setting a high bar for philanthropy. We’re the leader in sales, but we also want to lead the way in giving.”
And he isn’t just waxing poetically, either. The company has put its money where its mouth is. Just this year they’ve given away over US $2 million, including more than US $1 million in e-bike donations and over US $1 million in cash donations.
“Part of the reason we can do this is that we run a good company,” Levi continued. “We didn’t go the venture capital route or blow our money on bad business ideas or on buying growth. We’ve run a good, profitable business from day one. Leadership has continued to make what’s important to us important to the company. That’s the beauty of being the founders. Rob and I get to take our principles and further them through the good of the company.”
The amount of giving has grown as well. Last year, Lectric announced that it would partner with Beast Philanthropy to “adopt” an orphanage, completely renovating it with larger and better-equipped facilities to serve more children. The company told customers that for every e-bike sold on Giving Tuesday 2022, Lectric would donate $250 to the project. However, as the budget for the massive undertaking grew, Lectric ultimately donated 100% of its sales from the day.
Donating to orphanages and supporting foster care systems has become one of several main focuses of the company’s giving. “My relationship to parents was a huge resource to me growing up, they were so important to who I became. I still call them probably five times a week. And so that’s been part of why supporting foster care programs has been so important to me. To give orphans the best chance, the best resources that are often taken for granted.”
This year, they’ve decided right from the start to embrace that strategy of total giving. The company just announced that 100% of proceeds from bike sales today on this year’s Giving Tuesday will go towards Lectric’s next philanthropy project. If you want your entire bike purchase to go towards many of the charities and social projects that Lectric supports, you can find their wide range of e-bike sales here. Personally, this year I also started my own e-bike charitable project called E-bikes For Good, and so I’m going to buy an e-bike to donate, knowing that the money I spend will become a second donation as well.
This year’s Giving Tuesday project will be joining a long list of other far-reaching endeavors already undertaken by Lectric. The e-bike brand has partnered with Beast Philanthropy several times for global projects.
Those projects have included donating over 1,000 cargo e-bikes to be used for water collection in Africa for areas without clean drinking water, donating tens of thousands of shoes and clothing to those in need, installing solar power and internet access in a remote area of Colombia, and more.
Lectric has often provided funds and e-bikes for such projects, but also frequently sends its own staff to help out as well.
In addition to philanthropic projects worldwide, Lectric has also focused on helping those in need closer to home.
Recent activities have included working at and supplying Phoenix food banks, $100,000 in toy donations to a statewide toy drive during the holidays (including the Lectric team personally wrapping them), and partnering with local urban farms that feed food-insecure families.
During the holidays, the company even gave each of its employees a $2,000 stipend to donate to a charity of their choice.
“I’ve always believed in the saying that ‘The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give that gift away,’ Levi explained. It’s one of several quotes that Levi tries to live his life by.
And based on the company’s track record, it seems they’re doing a pretty good job.
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Signage is seen at the United States Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., August 29, 2020.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have charged the founder of a U.S.-based cryptocurrency payments firm with operating what they allege was a sophisticated international money laundering scheme that moved over half a billion dollars on behalf of sanctioned Russian banks and other entities.
Iurii Gugnin, a 38-year-old Russian national living in Manhattan, was arrested and arraigned Monday and ordered held without bail pending trial.
Gugnin faces a 22-count indictment accusing him of wire and bank fraud, violating U.S. sanctions and export controls, money laundering, and failing to implement legally required anti-money laundering protocols.
“The defendant is charged with turning a cryptocurrency company into a covert pipeline for dirty money, moving over half a billion dollars through the U.S. financial system to aid sanctioned Russian banks and help Russian end-users acquire sensitive U.S. technology,” Assistant Attorney General Eisenberg said in a statement.
Prosecutors said Gugnin used his companies — Evita Investments and Evita Pay — to process about $530 million in payments while concealing the origins and purposes of the funds. Between June 2023 and January 2025, he allegedly funneled the money through U.S. banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, primarily using tether, a widely used, dollar-pegged stablecoin.
Clients included individuals and businesses linked to sanctioned Russian institutions such as Sberbank, VTB Bank, Sovcombank, Tinkoff, and the state-owned nuclear energy firm Rosatom.
To carry out the scheme, Gugnin allegedly misrepresented the scope of his business, falsified compliance documentation, and lied to banks and digital asset platforms about his ties to Russia. Prosecutors say he masked the source of funds through shell accounts and doctored more than 80 invoices, digitally erasing the identities of Russian counterparties.
Investigators also cite internet searches indicating he knew he was under scrutiny, including queries like “how to know if there is an investigation against you” and “money laundering penalties US.”
The Justice Department said Gugnin maintained direct ties to members of Russia’s intelligence service and officials in Iran — countries that do not extradite to the U.S.
He is also accused of helping the export of sensitive U.S. technology to Russian clients, including an anti-terrorism-controlled server.
Gugnin was profiled last fall in a Wall Street Journal article about high-net-worth renters in Manhattan, where he reportedly paid $19,000 per month for an apartment.
If convicted on bank fraud charges, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, but if convicted on all counts, Gugnin could be given a consecutive maximum sentence significantly longer than his lifetime.
Despite China’s recent warning, BYD is ramping up the pressure on rivals with another ultra-affordable electric vehicle. BYD launched the Seal 06 EV, starting at just over $15,000, as the price war in China appears to be getting out of hand.
Meet the BYD Seal 06 EV
The new Seal 06 EV arrives after the China Automobile Manufacturers Association (CAMA) issued a warning last week, stating an automaker’s recent price cuts are “triggering a new round of price war panic.”
Although the statement didn’t single out BYD, it’s pretty obvious who they are referring to. BYD cut prices (again) on May 23 by up to 34% across 22 of its most popular models. Its cheapest electric car, the Seagull EV, now starts at just 55,800 yuan ($7,800).
BYD is now turning up the heat with another low-cost EV rolling out. The Seal 06 EV officially launched in China, starting at just 109,800 yuan, or about $15,300.
It’s available in three trims with two BYD Blade LFP battery pack options: 46.08 kWh or 56.64 kWh, providing a CLTC range of 470 km (292 miles) and 545 km (339 miles).
The electric sedan measures 4,720 mm in length, 1,880 mm in width, and 1,495 mm in height, approximately the same size as the Tesla Model 3 (4,720 mm in length, 1,850 mm in width, and 1,443 mm in height).
Like most new BYD vehicles we’ve seen, the new Seal 06 EV is equipped with its God’s Eye ADAS and DiPilot 100 smart cockpit system. However, unlike some of the more premium models, the Seal 06 uses a camera system rather than LiDAR.
The new EV joins BYD’s Seal lineup of vehicles, which includes the hybrid Seal 06 DM-i and the popular electric Seal sedan models.
Inside features a similar setup to BYD’s other new vehicles with a 15.6″ rotating center infotainment and a smaller driver display screen.
Although the Seal 06 EV starts at 109,800 yuan ($15,300), BYD promises “with over 33 hard-core standard features, the entry-level version is high-end.”
It features a few added amenities not typically found in entry-level cars, including heated and ventilated front seats, a panoramic sunroof, ambient lighting, and a surround sound stereo system. It even has a built-in refrigerator that can heat and cool.
Will it compete with Tesla’s Model 3 in the Chinese market? Although it features less range, the Seal 06 EV is half the cost. The base Model 3 RWD starts at 235,500 yuan ($32,800) in China with a CLTC range of 634 km (394 miles). Which one would you buy? Let us know in the comments.
After slashing prices again last month, another low-cost, but well-equipped BYD EV is arriving in China. Will the Seal 06 EV pressure others, like Tesla, to follow suit? We will find out shortly.
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The US solar industry is still booming, but looming policy threats could pull the plug on that momentum.
According to the new US Solar Market Insight report from SEIA and Wood Mackenzie, the industry installed 10.8 gigawatts (GW) of new electricity-generating solar in Q1 2025, with solar and storage making up a whopping 82% of all new capacity added to the grid.
And US solar manufacturing is also on a roll: The first quarter saw 8.6 GW of new module manufacturing capacity come online, the third-largest quarterly increase on record.
That growth came from eight new or expanded factories in Texas, Ohio, and Arizona. Meanwhile, US solar cell production doubled to 2 GW, thanks to a new factory in South Carolina.
But the industry’s rapid expansion is under threat. New tariffs and the “Big, Beautiful Bill” passed by the House that would gut clean energy tax incentives are injecting serious uncertainty into the market. SEIA warns that if the Senate doesn’t act to fix the legislation, the consequences will be severe: factory closures, energy shortages, job losses, and higher electricity bills.
“Solar and storage continue to dominate America’s energy economy, adding more new capacity to the grid than any technology using increasingly American-made equipment,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. “But our success is at risk.”
According to SEIA, if Congress doesn’t change course, 330,000 jobs could disappear, along with 331 planned or operating factories and $286 billion in local investment. Americans could also see $51 billion in higher power bills.
Tariff uncertainty is already rattling the industry. Anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) on Southeast Asian solar cells and modules, plus other tariff shifts, are adding to the instability. Meanwhile, proposed changes to clean energy tax credits would undercut long-term planning for manufacturers and developers alike.
“The 10.8 GW of solar capacity installed in Q1 2025 represents a significant portion of new US electricity generation,” said Zoë Gaston, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie. “However, our analysis suggests that the US solar market has yet to reach its full potential.”
And it’s not just analysts raising red flags. SEIA and Wood Mackenzie have downgraded their five-year outlook for every solar segment except community solar. Residential solar is expected to drop 14% compared to previous projections, and utility-scale solar is down 6%. If the clean energy tax credits are rolled back, that outlook could fall even further.
One major point of tension is politics. Texas led the nation in new solar capacity in Q1 2025, and Florida overtook California to land in second place. Eight of the top 10 states for solar installations in the quarter voted for Donald Trump in 2024.
That means the places most at risk if the House bill isn’t fixed are represented by Republicans.
SEIA says that if clean energy tax incentives are gutted, US energy production will drop by 173 terawatt-hours (TWh), and the country will not be able to compete with China in the global race to power AI.
The bottom line: The US solar industry is scaling up fast, but policy missteps could slam on the brakes just when momentum is peaking.
Read more: Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful’ bill will cause a US energy shortage – SEIA
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