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Kicking off this week’s green deals is the addition of the Velotric T1 ST e-bike to the company’s spring sale at a return $1,099 low. It is joined by the Wallbox Pulsar Plus Level 2 EV Charger that starts from its $449 low, as well as a one-day discount on the Greenworks 80V 16-inch String Trimmer and Axial Blower Combo for $270, the lowest price we’ve seen since 2022. Plus, all of the other best new Green Deals landing this week.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Velotric adds T1 ST e-bike to spring sale at $1,099 low

Velotric’s spring into March sale is in full swing, taking up to $500 off of a selection of its e-bikes, with bundle options available for some models as well. A new addition to the offerings is the T1 ST e-bike for $1,099 shipped. Normally going for $1,499, this e-bike sees regular discounts during sales events, with today’s price having last been seen during Black Friday sales. It comes in as a 27% markdown off the going rate and lands as a return to the all-time low.

The sleek T1 ST e-bike comes in two colorways (sand and lava) equipped with a 350W (600W peak) motor and a removable 36V battery that propels the e-bike up to 20 MPH (25 MPH when unlocked) for up to 52 miles on a single four to six-hour charge. It offers a variety of features like the 5-level pedal assist with a torque sensor, a SHIMANO 8-speed drivetrain, an integrated LED auto-headlight, double hydraulic disc brakes, puncture-resistant tires, an IPX6 waterproof rating, a 3.5-inch LCD display with USB charging for your personal device, and it even has a walk mode to assist you when walking up a steep hill alongside Apple Find My capabilities.

Wallbox Pulsar Plus Level 2 EV Charger starts from $449 low

Best Buy is offering the Wallbox Pulsar Plus Level 2 EV Charger with NEMA 14-50 plug for $599 shipped. Down from its usual $649, we’ve seen this model go for far lower during 2023, with the biggest discount dropping costs to a $500 low – some third-party retailers have offered it for less during occasional short-lived sales events. Where this deal gets even better, though, is with a My Best Buy Plus membership that takes off another $150 from the price tag, dropping it to a new all-time low. The membership only costs you $50 a year, and not only does that give you $100 more in savings on this charger, but it extends the extra savings across a wide array of appliances, devices, and more.

This EV charger provides up to 40A of power that automatically adjusts its output to not only the connected EV’s accepted levels, but also balances it along with your households’ energy consumption for “up to 7x faster charging.” You can monitor, schedule, and adjust the power levels between 16A and 40A through the companion app, which also provides your energy usage and spending statistics as well, making this device a flexible solution for installations on electrical circuits of 50A. You can also go hands-free by connecting it to your Alexa or Google Assistant. Its NEMA 14-50 plug ensures compatibility with most EVs on the market, including Teslas, just be sure to confirm if it will work with your make and model before purchasing. You’ll also have the option of connecting this charger to your home’s solar energy systems to further save on electricity costs. Head below to learn more.

Greenworks 80V 16-inch String Trimmer and Axial Blower Combo now $270 for one-day discount

Best Buy is offering the Greenworks 80V 16-inch String Trimmer and Axial Blower Combo for $269.99 shipped through the rest of the day. Down from $370, this particular combo package saw several discounts over 2023, with June through August seeing the biggest discounts to $269 and $266. While today’s deal is not the overall lowest we’ve seen, it does come in as a 27% markdown off the going rate and lands at the third-lowest price of the last year – ultimately $47 above the all-time low from 2020. It even beats out Greenworks’ website, where a similar combo is listed for a higher $400 MSRP.

The string trimmer is equipped with a brushless motor and a 2.5Ah battery that gives it a 45-minute lifespan on a single 30-minute charge – ideal for 1/2-acre to 3/4-acre yards. It has a 16-inch cutting swath with variable speed control for easier handling and a Load N’ Go trimmer head for easier spool rewinds. The axial blower covers yards up to 1 acre without concern, reaching a max airflow speed of 170 MPH and 730 CFM, and also sports a variable speed control with a turbo setting for max output. The included battery gives this blower a 70-minute runtime when on its lowest setting. Head below to read more.

Spring e-bike deals!

EcoSmart ECO 36 electric tankless water heater

Other new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Rivian’s secretive ALSO e-bike leaks again, revealing much more this time

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Rivian's secretive ALSO e-bike leaks again, revealing much more this time

Following on the heel’s of last month’s major leak of the design of Rivian’s secretive ALSO e-bike, now we’ve just gotten a much better look at the upcoming entry to the US micromobility market. And it’s a doozy.

Our previously best look came in the form of blurrier images that were mistakenly left in a marketing video prepared by the company’s social media team.

But thanks to an eagle-eyed reader who spotted the yet-to-be-released e-bike on the Caltrain yesterday morning (hat tip to Adem Rudin), now we’ve got a great view from the expensive seats, barely two days ahead of the anticipated official reveal.

The bike looks to be a test mule based on the extra engineering hardware and the missing shroud covering the wiring run on the front of the battery case. There appear to be several sensors mounted to the bike, including an expensive triaxial accelerometer on the side of the battery and some piece of diagnostic hardware strapped to the downtube.

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But otherwise, it looks like the real deal and matches the several different angles we saw in blurrier form in my previous leak.

Now we have a great view of the front fork, which is confirmed to be an inverted fork. Fascinatingly, it has structural bosses for mounting a front rack, and we can see the orange cargo box employed on that rack for gear hauling duty. That’s likely a custom-designed fork, as I’m not aware of any other cargo forks of this style currently on the market. It’s also a bit of a strange choice. It certainly adds to the utility of the bike, but most e-bike manufacturers have moved to headtube-mounted racks for better stability. A fork-mounted rack swings with the handlebars, meaning heavier loads will change the dynamics of the ride, reduce the front-end handling, and can even lead to dangerous oscillations under the right (or wrong) conditions.

Moving further down, we can clearly see a tone ring built into the front disc brake rotor, which is a giveaway that the bike will feature anti-lock braking (ABS), or at least front wheel ABS. Front-wheel ABS would be a major safety upgrade and is rarely found on bicycles. Between the inverted front fork and the ABS tone ring, the front end of the bike looks more like light motorcycle gear.

The front and rear racks point towards fairly obvious utility intentions for the bike, though the full-suspension and Kenda El Capo tires seem like they belong more on the dirt trails than the bike lanes. It’s a strange mix, but perhaps the tires were just temporary replacements on the test mule. Full-suspension, while more common on off-road bikes, can still be a major upgrade for an urban commuter. We’ve seen it on premium models from companies like Riese & Müller, though also with incredibly premium price tags.

We’re also getting our best look yet at the battery, which seems to be a removable unit that slides in from the side of the bike. It takes up a big portion of the central frame area, whose panels also likely cover a mid-drive motor and the bike’s speed controller, among other critical electronics. We can also see now that the belt drive is a Gates center-drive system, one of the most premium belt drives out there for bicycles (not to mention that Gates is the belt drive maker of choice for high-power electric motorcycles like those from LiveWire and Zero).

The rear suspension is still shrouded and we don’t get a great look at it. However, we can see some linkage and it may be a four-bar setup – again pointing to the sophisticated engineering that went into designing this frame.

The handlebars appear to support button clusters on each side, though we can’t see what functions they might offer. It’s not clear if there are any shifters or if the bike is a single-speed, and we also don’t see a throttle, though it could be a thumb throttle that is obscured from view. The grips appear to be single lock-ons, so I don’t think we’re looking at a full-width twist throttle like you’d find on a motorcycle.

The mirror and the sumo wrestler bike horn are presumably the test engineer’s add-ons, though we can’t rule out for certain that ALSO riders will get their own mostly naked audio warning device.

What else can you see on the bike that I missed? Let me know in the comments below!

Electrek’s Take

I guess the unveiling was only two days away when this photo was snapped yesterday, and I had already spoiled a blurrier look at the bike last month, but I’m surprised they’re just parading around the yet-to-be-officially-unveiled bike in public like this. Back when Mike Radenbaugh was running the show at Rad Power Bikes, he used to personally ride upcoming bikes and camouflage them with cardboard or other concealers to make them look like any other beater city bike. So I’m surprised more effort wasn’t put into obscuring what is obviously a very unique-looking bike.

I’m glad to see more details here and it’s interesting how much investment was put into the bike’s hardware. Other than a few catalog parts like the tires, wheels, brake levers, etc, nearly the entirety of the bike appears to be custom-designed and produced for ALSO. Even for off-the-shelf parts, they went with a lot of high-end stuff. The tires and the water bottle holder are the only cheaper things I can see (mirror and sumo horn excluded). Features like ABS aren’t cheap. And it’s not clear if there is a gearbox in the mid-drive motor, but I would assume so since a single-speed would be unmarketable at this premium level. All of these features point to a bike that probably has very high performance – perhaps almost as high as its invetiable price tag.

And therein lies the rub. It’s shaping up to be a great bike, but also one that very few people will be able to afford. Or even for those who could afford it, it may be difficult to justify all the extra features and tech when, at the end of the day, it still goes just as fast and as far as all the $999 e-bikes out there. I’m not saying that’s the right way to compare it, but I am saying that’s how it WILL be compared. The simple fact of the matter is that there are few e-bike markets that are more price sensitive than in the US. Americans have become used to getting more affordable Chinese manufacturing for years, and lately they’ve seen how good that cheap manufacturing has become on pretty darn decent budget-priced electric bikes.

So will Americans pony up what will probably be 3-4x the price of a budget e-bike for one that has full-suspension, ABS, and very likely some cool connectivity-based features? Time will reveal the answer.

But let’s just say, I’m not yet convinced.

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Spiro raises massive $100M to supercharge Africa’s battery-swapping electric motorcycle revolution

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Spiro raises massive 0M to supercharge Africa’s battery-swapping electric motorcycle revolution

Spiro, the fast-growing electric mobility company based in Africa, has just secured a historic US $100 million funding round – marking the continent’s largest-ever investment in two-wheel electric transport. And if you haven’t been paying attention to the battery-swapping boom across Africa, now might be a good time to start.

We’ve seen battery-swapping take off around the world, with leaders like Gogoro in Asia, Swobbee in Europe, and Vammo in South America, all demonstrating the effectiveness of swappable battery networks for major two-wheeler markets. But don’t count Africa out, either. Spiro has spent the last few years building up its own homegrown battery swapping network for its locally-built electric motorcycles, and is now set to jump-start that impressive growth with a mega funding round.

The impressive fundraising round was led by The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), the impact investment arm of Afreximbank, which contributed US $75 million. The funding will allow Spiro to dramatically scale its fleet of electric motorcycles and expand its already impressive network of battery-swapping stations across the continent.

Swapping gas for watts

Spiro’s model is simple but powerful: affordable electric motorcycles backed by a vast battery-swapping network that eliminates the wait time and charging infrastructure hurdles that typically slow down EV adoption. With over 60,000 electric motorcycles already on the road, more than 1,200 battery swap stations, and 800 million kilometers of low-carbon travel already under its belt, Spiro is building what it claims is Africa’s largest clean two-wheeler ecosystem – and it’s growing fast.

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In fact, the company expects to deploy over 100,000 vehicles by the end of 2025, representing a 400% increase year over year. It’s a lofty goal, but Spiro’s rapid growth over the last few years demonstrates that it’s still attainable.

“Africa is at an inflection point in personal mobility. Riders are rapidly shifting from internal combustion motorcycles to Spiro’s more affordable and accessible battery-swapping ecosystem and motorcycles. For the first time, riders are embracing sustainable transportation because it performs better, costs less to operate, and offers greater profitability than traditional gas-powered vehicles,” said Kaushik Burman, Spiro’s CEO. “This is just the beginning – we’re just getting started.”

I had the chance to speak with Kaushik last month, where he explained to me how a big part of Spiro’s success is helping motorcycle taxi riders – the majority of its customers – achieve a higher standard of living by becoming more profitable with electric motorcycles over gasoline-powered motorcycles. The bikes aren’t just cheaper to purchase, but significantly cheaper to operate, meaning riders can as much as double their daily take-home pay. With that kind of economics, it makes sense why Spiro is seeing such high demand for its motorcycles and battery-swapping network.

More than motorcycles

While Spiro’s bikes are the vehicle – literally – for this transition, the real secret sauce is the swapping network. Riders don’t need to charge at home or wait around for a plug. They just pull into a station, swap out a depleted battery for a fresh one, and get back on the road. It’s a system that’s already proven effective in other regions around the world, and Spiro is now proving it can work at scale in Africa too.

The investment here is also about more than just clean transportation. According to Professor Benedict Oramah, president of Afreximbank, it’s part of a broader push to boost intra-African trade, create local manufacturing jobs, and reduce dependence on imported, second-hand gas-powered vehicles.

“We are delighted to partner with Spiro on this transformative initiative,” said Oramah. “Together, we are laying the groundwork for a new era of intra-African trade and industrialization by stimulating local vehicle manufacturing, strengthening regional integration, and enhancing trade flows.”

Made in Africa, for Africa

Founded in 2022, Spiro is leaning into local production as part of its growth strategy. The company has assembly facilities operating in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, and Rwanda, with new pilot programs now underway in Tanzania and Cameroon.

This latest funding builds on more than $180 million already raised from backers like Equitane and Société Générale, further underscoring investors’ confidence in Spiro’s model.

“Spiro’s rapid expansion into new markets demonstrates the immense appetite for clean, affordable, and efficient transport across the continent,” said Gagan Gupta, Chairman of Equitane. “With FEDA’s support, Spiro is exceptionally well positioned to scale even faster.”

Electrek’s Take

While most electric motorcycle battery swapping headlines are dominated by Europe, the US, or China, this is a powerful reminder that Africa is carving out its own lane – and it’s doing it with a smarter, scalable approach that solves local problems in local ways. Battery swapping may not be the answer everywhere, but it’s proving to be a perfect solution in dense urban areas where fuel is expensive and charging access is limited.

And if Spiro hits that 100,000-vehicle goal next year? Well, don’t be surprised if Africa ends up leading the world in practical, everyday e-mobility adoption. After all, doesn’t a 100 kg electric vehicle make a lot more sense for a quick taxi trip than a 2,500 kg one?

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China says U.S. and Australia ‘should play a proactive role’ to bolster rare earth supply chains

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China says U.S. and Australia 'should play a proactive role' to bolster rare earth supply chains

FILE PHOTO: Workers transporting soil containing rare earth elements for export at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, Oct. 31, 2010.

Stringer | Reuters

China on Tuesday responded to the U.S.-Australia critical minerals deal by saying resource-rich rare earth countries should take “a proactive role” in stabilizing their critical minerals supply chains.

A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked about the U.S. and Australia critical minerals deal which has been framed as an effort to counter Beijing’s dominance.

“The formation of global production and supply chains is the result of market and corporate choices,” Guo Jiakun said, according to NBC.

“Resource-rich nations with critical minerals should play a proactive role in safeguarding the security and stability of the industrial and supply chains, and ensure normal economic and trade cooperation,” he added.

Rare earths are a category of minerals that are critical for a swath of products from cars to semiconductors.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday signed an agreement at the White House intended to boost the supplies of rare earths and other critical minerals.

The framework agreement, which was described as an $8.5 billion deal between the allies, comes shortly after China imposed more stringent export controls on rare earths.

China’s Commerce Ministry earlier this month announced expanded curbs on the export of rare earths and related technologies, seeking to prevent the “misuse” of minerals in the military and other sensitive sectors.

Western automotive industry groups have been among those to raise the alarm over the new export controls, saying the measures could pave the way to a period of supply chain chaos.

Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands after signing a $8.5 billion rare earth minerals agreement during a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Oct. 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images

Demand for rare earths and critical minerals is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years as the clean energy transition picks up pace.

China is the undisputed leader of the critical minerals supply chain, accounting for roughly 60% of the world’s production of rare earth minerals and materials. U.S. officials have previously warned that this poses a strategic challenge amid the pivot to more sustainable energy sources.

Rare earth stocks

George Cheveley, natural resources portfolio manager at Ninety One, described the U.S. and Australia agreement as a long time coming, but “a good deal” designed to boost the supply of critical minerals outside of China.

“From an investment point of view, it is not so obvious. This is a very small sector,” Cheveley told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Tuesday.

“And clearly when you’re dealing with a sector so politicized and where government money is being put in essentially as a subsidy, it is telling you that it is difficult to make it work economically,” he added.

Shares of some of Australia’s largest critical metals and rare earths companies jumped on Tuesday, while others lost ground after an early rally.

Lynas Rare Earths, Australia’s largest rare earths producer by market capitalization, fell 7.6% after posting gains earlier in the session. Mineral sand miner Iluka Resources slipped 0.1%, while lithium producer Pilbara Minerals added around 2.6%.

Latrobe Magnesium, Australia’s primary producer of the critical metal magnesium, notched gains of more than 15%.

Stateside, rare earth stocks were last seen slightly lower in premarket. Critical Metals slipped 3.8%, USA Rare Earth fell 2.4%, and MP Materials lost 1.8%.

— CNBC’s Evelyn Cheng & Dylan Butts contributed to this report.

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