Connect with us

Published

on

Full-suspension and fat tires are basically the holy grail of comfort when it comes to e-bikes. They’re excessive in many situations, but that doesn’t stop a large swath of new e-bike shoppers looking for both. The only problem is they both tend to add to the cost of an e-bike, often pushing the number into the $2k range or higher. But what if you could get a full-suspension fat tire electric bike for under a thousand bucks? That’s what the Mukkpet Tank offers, and so I was excited to test it out and see how good it could be.

To be fair, the e-bike’s actual MSRP is $1,299, but the sale price of $999 seems to be pretty common so I’m comfortable calling it a sub-$1k bike, at least most of the time.

To see how the bike rides, watch my review video below. Or for the readers, keep on scrolling. Or check out both – you do you, my friend!

Mukkpet Tank E-bike Video Review

Mukkpet Tank Tech Specs

  • Motor: 750W rear-geared hub motor
  • Top speed: 25 mph (40 km/h)
  • Range: Claimed up to 50 miles (80 km)
  • Battery: 48V 15 (720 Wh)
  • Weight: 86 lb (39 kg)
  • Payload capacity: 400 lb (181 kg)
  • Tires: 26 x 4″
  • Brakes: Mechanical disc brakes
  • Extras: Full-suspension fork, color LCD display, LED headlight tail/brake light, Shimano 7-speed drivetrain, included fenders and rear rack platform, cast rims for spokeless design, kickstand

Good, not great

Let’s be real here. For under a thousand dollars, you can’t expect anything on a full-suspension e-bike to be top-notch quality. And nothing here is.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t still decent for the price. I know that to get below the $1k figure, I’m going to see some sacrifices. So what I’m really looking for is how do those sacrifices affect the overall picture.

For example, the suspension simply can’t be amazing because good suspension is expensive. And it’s definitely not amazing, but that didn’t stop me from riding over terrain that would have sent me flying on a hard-tail bike. Some of the worst topographical surprises for commuter e-bike riders are those tree roots that pop out of sidewalks, lifting up blocks and creating the sensation of riding over a giant washboard that previously hosted a few battle tanks along the route.

That kind of terrain can rattle your bones, but the Mukkpet Tank actually made it rideable while keeping my butt in the saddle. That’s basically what it’s meant to do – not giving high-performance, sporty handling. But rather, soak up some big bumps and turn them into little bumps. For that, it seems to work just fine. Yes, it’s clicky and clacky, which is usually a sign of cheaper springs and stops. But it works, which is what cheap e-bike hunters are after.

Then there’s the performance. Hitting 25 mph (40 km/h) is fast enough for almost anyone, even if it doesn’t totally max out the 28 mph (45 km/h) limit of Class 3 e-bikes. The 48V 15Ah battery is even surprisingly large for this price. You won’t get the 50 miles (80 km) of range they claim, at least not without pedaling your heart out alongside the 750W motor, but half of that range is easily doable even on throttle.

And you’re not going to get nicer features like UL-certified batteries on a bike like this, which is part of the equation going in with such a low-cost bike, but that’s a decision everyone has to make for themselves. Do you want to pay a bit extra for that peace of mind, or do you want to save that cash?

And I’m not sure I’d trust the 400 lb (180 kg) max weight rating, especially since I’m not even at half of that figure, but neither are most riders – so I’m not sure it will be an issue.

The rest of the bike is a combination of good enough and surprisingly good. The 7-speed Shimano derailleur? Good enough for recreational riding. The chunky rear rack? Surprisingly good, plus has plenty of space to tie down cargo or lash on a basket.

The mechanical disc brakes? Good enough, though I know they’re going to require more frequent tuning. The color screen? Surprisingly good, and more than I expected on a bike like this. Same goes for the cast rims instead of wheel spokes, which not only looks great but also means you don’t have to worry about rusting or breaking spokes.

The one area that really killed my mood was the super long pedal lag, a telltale sign of a lower-cost cadence sensor to activate the pedal assist. It means that you’ve got to wait a second or two from when you start pedaling until when the motor kicks in. For folks who like to pedal, and especially those in hillier areas, that’s going to be more of a bummer. For folks that spend most of their time at constant speed on long sections without stops, or for those that just use the throttle, the cadence sensor won’t bother you.

Oh yea, and the other mood-killer is probably the weight. At 86 pounds, this is a hefty little runabout. But hey, you wanted full suspension, right?

mukkpet tank

What’s the verdict?

So let’s sum this up. The Mukkpet Tank is a strangely named full-suspension fat tire with some nice features. The suspension isn’t great, but it’s there and offers a full-suspension ride that hardtails can’t match. The speed and power are great, the range is pretty good, and the build quality is decent.

There’s nothing overly fancy, and there are some downsides like the mechanical disc brakes and the laggy pedal assist sensor.

But all told, the bike does a good job of fulfilling the role of a modest, folding fat tire e-bike. It’s comfortable and seems to work pretty well. It’s hard to gauge longevity, and I sure would have liked to see a UL label on here somewhere, but the bike still has some value to it.

I probably wouldn’t jump to call this my prime bike, but I’d happily have one for a friend to join me on rides – at least for a friend who says they need full suspension. For anyone else who can deal with a hard-tail e-bike, deals like the Lectric XP 3.0 seem to offer more value, at least in my opinion. But they don’t have that key feature of full suspension, which for whatever reason, some people seem to think they need. So if that’s you, then this bike would do it for you, and for a more than reasonable price.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

In rare earth metals power struggle with China, old laptops, phones may get a new life

Published

on

By

In rare earth metals power struggle with China, old laptops, phones may get a new life

A stack of old mobile phones are seen before recycling process in Kocaeli, Turkiye on October 14, 2024.

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

As the U.S. and China vie for economic, technological and geopolitical supremacy, the critical elements and metals embedded in technology from consumer to industrial and military markets have become a pawn in the wider conflict. That’s nowhere more so the case than in China’s leverage over the rare earth metals supply chain. This past week, the Department of Defense took a large equity stake in MP Materials, the company running the only rare earths mining operation in the U.S.

But there’s another option to combat the rare earths shortage that goes back to an older idea: recycling. The business has come a long way from collecting cans, bottles, plastic, newspaper and other consumer disposables, otherwise destined for landfills, to recreate all sorts of new products.

Today, next-generation recyclers — a mix of legacy companies and startups — are innovating ways to gather and process the ever-growing mountains of electronic waste, or e-waste, which comprises end-of-life and discarded computers, smartphones, servers, TVs, appliances, medical devices, and other electronics and IT equipment. And they are doing so in a way that is aligned to the newest critical technologies in society. Most recently, spent EV batteries, wind turbines and solar panels are fostering a burgeoning recycling niche.

The e-waste recycling opportunity isn’t limited to rare earth elements. Any electronics that can’t be wholly refurbished and resold, or cannibalized for replacement parts needed to keep existing electronics up and running, can berecycled to strip out gold, silver, copper, nickel, steel, aluminum, lithium, cobalt and other metals vital to manufacturers in various industries. But increasingly, recyclers are extracting rare-earth elements, such as neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, which are critical in making everything from fighter jets to power tools.

“Recycling [of e-waste] hasn’t been taken too seriously until recently” as a meaningful source of supply, said Kunal Sinha, global head of recycling at Swiss-based Glencore, a major miner, producer and marketer of metals and minerals — and, to a much lesser but growing degree, an e-waste recycler. “A lot of people are still sleeping at the wheel and don’t realize how big this can be,” Sinha said. 

Traditionally, U.S. manufacturers purchase essential metals and rare earths from domestic and foreign producers — an inordinate number based in China — that fabricate mined raw materials, or through commodities traders. But with those supply chains now disrupted by unpredictable tariffs, trade policies and geopolitics, the market for recycled e-waste is gaining importance as a way to feed the insatiable electrification of everything.

“The United States imports a lot of electronics, and all of that is coming with gold and aluminum and steel,” said John Mitchell, president and CEO of the Global Electronics Association, an industry trade group. “So there’s a great opportunity to actually have the tariffs be an impetus for greater recycling in this country for goods that we don’t have, but are buying from other countries.”

With copper, other metals, ‘recycling is going to play huge role’

Although recycling contributes only around $200 million to Glencore’s total EBITDA of nearly $14 billion, the strategic attention and time the business gets from leadership “is much more than that percentage,” Sinha said. “We believe that a lot of mining is necessary to get to all the copper, gold and other metals that are needed, but we also recognize that recycling is going to play a huge role,” he said.

Glencore has operated a huge copper smelter in Quebec, Canada, for almost  20 years on a site that’s nearly 100-years-old. The facility processes mostly mined copper concentrates, though 15% of its feedstock is recyclable materials, such as e-waste that Glencore’s global network of 100-plus suppliers collect and sort. The smelter pioneered the process for recovering copper and precious metals from e-waste in the mid 1980s, making it one of the first and largest of its type in the world. The smelted copper is refined into fresh slabs that are sold to manufacturers and traders. The same facility also produces refined gold, silver, platinum and palladium recovered from recycling feeds. 

The importance of copper to OEMs’ supply chains was magnified in early July, when prices hit an all-time high after President Trump said he would impose a 50% tariff on imports of the metal. The U.S. imports just under half of its copper, and the tariff hike — like other new Trump trade policies — is intended to boost domestic production.

Stock Chart IconStock chart icon

hide content

Price of copper year-to-date 2025.

It takes around three decades for a new mine in the U.S. to move from discovery to production, which makes recycled copper look all the more attractive, especially as demand keeps rising. According to estimates by energy-data firm Wood Mackenzie, 45% of demand will be met with recycled copper by 2050, up from about a third today.

Foreign recycling companies have begun investing in the U.S.-based facilities. In 2022, Germany’s Wieland broke ground on a $100-million copper and copper alloy recycling plant in Shelbyville, Kentucky. Last year, another German firm, Aurubis, started construction on an $800-million multi-metal recycling facility in Augusta, Georgia.

“As the first major secondary smelter of its kind in the U.S., Aurubis Richmond will allow us to keep strategically important metals in the economy, making U.S. supply chains more independent,” said Aurubis CEO Toralf Haag.

Massive amounts of e-waste

The proliferation of e-waste can be traced back to the 1990s, when the internet gave birth to the digital economy, spawning exponential growth in electronically enabled products. The trend has been supercharged by the emergence of renewable energy, e-mobility, artificial intelligence and the build-out of data centers. That translates to a constant turnover of devices and equipment, and massive amounts of e-waste.

In 2022, a record 62 million metric tons of e-waste were produced globally, up 82% from 2010, according to the most recent estimates from the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR. That number is projected to reach 82 million metric tons by 2030.

The U.S., the report said, produced just shy of 8 million tons of e-waste in 2022. Yet only about 15-20% of it is properly recycled, a figure that illustrates the untapped market for e-waste retrievables. The e-waste recycling industry generated $28.1 billion in revenue in 2024, according to IBISWorld, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 8%.

Whether it’s refurbished and resold or recycled for metals and rare-earths, e-waste that stores data — especially smartphones, computers, servers and some medical devices — must be wiped of sensitive information to comply with cybersecurity and environmental regulations. The service, referred to as IT asset disposition (ITAD), is offered by conventional waste and recycling companies, including Waste Management, Republic Services and Clean Harbors, as well as specialists such as Sims Lifecycle Services, Electronic Recyclers International, All Green Electronics Recycling and Full Circle Electronics.

“We’re definitely seeing a bit of an influx of [e-waste] coming into our warehouses,” said Full Circle Electronics CEO Dave Daily, adding, “I think that is due to some early refresh cycles.”

That’s a reference to businesses and consumers choosing to get ahead of the customary three-year time frame for purchasing new electronics, and discarding old stuff, in anticipation of tariff-related price increases.

Daily also is witnessing increased demand among downstream recyclers for e-waste Full Circle Electronics can’t refurbish and sell at wholesale. The company dismantles and separates it into 40 or 50 different types of material, from keyboards and mice to circuit boards, wires and cables. Recyclers harvest those items for metals and rare earths, which continue to go up in price on commodities markets, before reentering the supply chain as core raw materials.

Even before the Trump administration’s efforts to revitalize American manufacturing by reworking trade deals, and recent changes in tax credits key to the industry in Trump’s tax and spending bill, entrepreneurs have been launching e-waste recycling startups and developing technologies to process them for domestic OEMs.

“Many regions of the world have been kind of lazy about processing e-waste, so a lot of it goes offshore,” Sinha said. In response to that imbalance, “There seems to be a trend of nationalizing e-waste, because people suddenly realize that we have the same metals [they’ve] been looking for” from overseas sources, he said. “People have been rethinking the global supply chain, that they’re too long and need to be more localized.” 

China commands 90% of rare earth market

Several startups tend to focus on a particular type of e-waste. Lately, rare earths have garnered tremendous attention, not just because they’re in high demand by U.S. electronics manufacturers but also to lessen dependence on China, which dominates mining, processing and refining of the materials. In the production of rare-earth magnets — used in EVs, drones, consumer electronics, medical devices, wind turbines, military weapons and other products — China commands roughly 90% of the global supply chain.

The lingering U.S.–China trade war has only exacerbated the disparity. In April, China restricted exports of seven rare earths and related magnets in retaliation for U.S. tariffs, a move that forced Ford to shut down factories because of magnet shortages. China, in mid-June, issued temporary six-month licenses to certain major U.S. automaker suppliers and select firms. Exports are flowing again, but with delays and still well below peak levels.

The U.S. is attempting to catch up. Before this past week’s Trump administration deal, the Biden administration awarded $45 million in funding to MP Materials and the nation’s lone rare earths mine, in Mountain Pass, California. Back in April, the Interior Department approved development activities at the Colosseum rare earths project, located within California’s Mojave National Preserve. The project, owned by Australia’s Dateline Resources, will potentially become America’s second rare earth mine after Mountain Pass. 

A wheel loader takes ore to a crusher at the MP Materials rare earth mine in Mountain Pass, California, U.S. January 30, 2020. Picture taken January 30, 2020.

Steve Marcus | Reuters

Meanwhile, several recycling startups are extracting rare earths from e-waste. Illumynt has an advanced process for recovering them from decommissioned hard drives procured from data centers. In April, hard drive manufacturer Western Digital announced a collaboration with Microsoft, Critical Materials Recycling and PedalPoint Recycling to pull rare earths, as well as copper, gold, aluminum and steel, from end-of-life drives.

Canadian-based Cyclic Materials invented a process that recovers rare-earths and other metals from EV motors, wind turbines, MRI machines and data-center e-scrap. The company is investing more than $20 million to build its first U.S.-based facility in Mesa, Arizona. Late last year, Glencore signed a multiyear agreement with Cyclic to provide recycled copper for its smelting and refining operations.

Another hot feedstock for e-waste recyclers is end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, a source of not only lithium but also copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese and aluminum. Those materials are essential for manufacturing new EV batteries, which the Big Three automakers are heavily invested in. Their projects, however, are threatened by possible reductions in the Biden-era 45X production tax credit, featured in the new federal spending bill.

It’s too soon to know how that might impact battery recyclers — including Ascend Elements, American Battery Technology, Cirba Solutions and Redwood Materials — who themselves qualify for the 45X and other tax credits. They might actually be aided by other provisions in the budget bill that benefit a domestic supply chain of critical minerals as a way to undercut China’s dominance of the global market.

Nonetheless, that looming uncertainty should be a warning sign for e-waste recyclers, said Sinha. “Be careful not to build a recycling company on the back of one tax credit,” he said, “because it can be short-lived.”

Investing in recyclers can be precarious, too, Sinha said. While he’s happy to see recycling getting its due as a meaningful source of supply, he cautions people to be careful when investing in this space. Startups may have developed new technologies, but lack good enough business fundamentals. “Don’t invest on the hype,” he said, “but on the fundamentals.”

Glencore, ironically enough, is a case in point. It has invested $327.5 million in convertible notes in battery recycler Li-Cycle to provide feedstock for its smelter. The Toronto-based startup had broken ground on a new facility in Rochester, New York, but ran into financial difficulties and filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in May, prompting Glencore to submit a “stalking horse” credit bid of at least $40 million for the stalled project and other assets.

Even so, “the current environment will lead to more startups and investments” in e-waste recycling, Sinha said. “We are investing ourselves.”

MP Materials CEO on deal with the Defense Department

Continue Reading

Environment

LiveWire gives surprise unveil of two smaller, lower-cost electric motorcycles

Published

on

By

LiveWire gives surprise unveil of two smaller, lower-cost electric motorcycles

LiveWire, the electric motorcycle company that was spun out of Harley-Davidson several years ago, has just shown off two fun-sized electric motorcycles designed to make powered two-wheelers more accessible to new riders, both physically and financially.

The company took to HD Homecoming, a motorcycle festival in Milwaukee, to give a surprise unveiling of the new bikes.

The bikes, which wear what look to be smaller 12″ tires and offer a barely 30″ (76 cm) seat height, are smaller and nimbler than anything we’ve seen from LiveWire before.

But that doesn’t mean they can’t perform. These aren’t some 30 mph (48 km/h) mopeds. LiveWire confirmed that early testing shows respectable performance figures of around 53 mph (85 km/h) speeds and 100 miles (160 km) of range from the pair of removable batteries.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

I’m assuming that range is measured at a lower urban speed, but these appear to be purpose-built to give riders the capability to ride where and how they want at a much more affordable price than LiveWire has ever offered.

Showing off both a trail and a street version, the LiveWire seems to be covering all of its bases.

“The trail model is intended for riding backyards, pump tracks, or even out on the ranch or campgrounds,” the brand explained. “The street model is perfect for urban errands, new riders, mini-moto fans, and anyone looking for a new hobby in the form of a readily customizable, approachable electric moto experience.”

LiveWire hasn’t shared any pricing details yet, and the two models are understood to still be in their development phase, but the advanced stages of the designs mean we likely won’t have to wait too much longer.

And with most of LiveWire’s current electric motorcycle models in the $16k- $17k, these bikes could conceivably cost less than half of that figure, changing the equation for young riders who can’t afford a luxury ride.

Electrek’s Take

Of course, they had to do this unveiling at the exact time that I was banging out a multi-thousand-word treatise bemoaning the fact that LiveWire hadn’t launched any smaller models yet. Hmmm, maybe it’s time for an article about how the e-bike industry needs a single battery standard.

Anyway, I’m all-in on this! I can’t even describe how excited this news makes me! This is an important step for LiveWire’s growth because the kind of folks who are drawn to electric motorcycles are often a different market than that sought by traditional legacy motorcycle manufacturers. LiveWire’s existing models are impressive, both in their extreme performance and their design, but they’re still powerhouses that provide more kick than most riders probably need.

These new mini e-motos could be exactly what new riders are looking for. Consider all the teens and young adults ripping it up on Sur Rons in towns across the US right now. Those Sur Rons aren’t street-legal bikes and they were never meant for the riding they’re most commonly being used for. But a street bike in a fun little Grom form factor like LiveWire is showing off? It could scratch that itch and also provide riders with the safety and support of a motorcycle company that comes from a storied history of over 100 years of motorcycle design, all from a new brand like LiveWire that speaks young riders’ language.

And that trail version – same thing. It’s going to offer the fun off-road riding that so many are looking for, yet do it in a well-designed package that isn’t just produced by some nameless factory in China trying to eke out the best profit margin.

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Environment

This new wireless e-bike charger wants to be the future of electric bikes

Published

on

By

This new wireless e-bike charger wants to be the future of electric bikes

Forget fumbling with cables or hunting for batteries – TILER is making electric bike charging as seamless as parking your ride. The Dutch startup recently introduced its much-anticipated TILER Compact system, a plug-and-play wireless charger engineered to transform the user experience for e-bike riders.

At the heart of the new system is a clever combo: a charging kickstand that mounts directly to almost any e‑bike, and a thin charging mat that you simply park over. Once you drop the kickstand and it lands on the mat, the bike begins charging automatically via inductive transfer – no cable required. According to TILER, a 500 Wh battery will fully charge in about 3.5 hours, delivering comparable performance to traditional wired chargers.

It’s an elegantly simple concept (albeit a bit chunky) with a convenient upside: less clutter, fewer broken cables, and no more need to bend over while feeling around for a dark little hole.

TILER claims its system works with about 75% of existing e‑bike platforms, including those from Bosch, Yamaha, Bafang, and other big bames. The kit uses a modest 150 W wireless power output, which means charging speeds remain practical while keeping the system lightweight (the tile weighs just 2 kg, and it’s also stationary).

Advertisement – scroll for more content

TILER has already deployed over 200 charging points across Western Europe, primarily serving bike-share, delivery, hospitality, and hotel fleets. A recent case study in Munich showed how a cargo-bike operator saved approximately €1,250 per month in labor costs, avoided thousands in spare batteries, and cut battery damage by 20%. The takeaway? Less maintenance, more uptime.

Now shifting to prosumer markets, TILER says the Compact system will hit pre-orders soon, with a €250 price tag (roughly US $290) for the kickstand plus tile bundle. To get in line, a €29 refundable deposit is currently required, though they say it is refundable at any point until you receive your charger. Don’t get too excited just yet though, there’s a bit of a wait. Deliveries are expected in summer 2026, and for now are covering mostly European markets.

The concept isn’t entirely new. We’ve seen the idea pop up before, including in a patent from BMW for charging electric motorcycles. And the efficacy is there. Skeptics may wonder if wireless charging is slower or less efficient, but TILER says no. Its system retains over 85% efficiency, nearly matching wired charging speeds, and even pauses at 80% to protect battery health, then resumes as needed. The tile is even IP67-rated, safe for outdoor use, and about as bulky as a thick magazine.

Electrek’s Take

I love the concept. It makes perfect sense for shared e-bikes, especially since they’re often returning to a dock anyway. As long as people can be trained to park with the kickstand on the tile, it seems like a no-brainer.

And to be honest, I even like the idea for consumers. I know it sounds like a first-world problem, but bending over to plug something in at floor height is pretty annoying, not to mention a great way to throw out your back if you’re not exactly a spring chicken anymore. Having your e-bike start charging simply by parking it in the right place is a really cool feature! I don’t know if it’s $300 cool, but it’s pretty cool!

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

Continue Reading

Trending