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Closing out this week’s Green Deals before Memorial Day officially arrives, Jackery’s Explorer 600 Plus Portable Power Station leads the pack as it receives its very first discount, dropping the price to $419. It is joined by Murf Electric Bikes taking $400 off all its e-bike models, like the Fat Murf e-bike for $2,195, as well as a collection of 80V Greenworks tools and bundles from Best Buy’s Memorial Day sale starting from $185. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals that are still alive and well.

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.

Jackery’s Explorer 600 Plus Portable Power Station sees first discount to $419 low

As part of its ongoing early Memorial Day sale, the official Jackery Amazon storefront is offering its Explorer 600 Plus Portable Power Station for $419 shipped, after clipping the on-page $80 off coupon. Down from $499, this is the very first chance to save on this new power station since it released a month ago, setting the new all-time low for going forward. Jackery’s storefront is also making it so you can score the Explorer 600 Plus along with a 100W solar panel for just $549, after clipping the on-page $150 off coupon.

Jackery’s Explorer 600 Plus arrives upgraded with a LiFePO4 battery that has a 632Wh capacity and a 800W power output. It sports two AC ports, two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a car port in order to cover your device charging needs, with its own charging only taking a single hour via a wall outlet thanks to its Emergency Super Charging Mode that allows for a more rapid response to emergency situations (planning ahead of an approaching storm, for example). With a single 100W solar panel it can recharge in 8.5 hours, cutting that time down to 4.3 hours with 200W of solar input – or in 7.5 hours from your car. Like the other Explorer models, you can sync your smartphone to the power station to monitor progress or adjust settings, all done through the companion app.

The Fat Murf e-bike parked against railing with woman looking into background, within post for Jackery Explorer 600 Plus power station

Murf Electric Bikes takes $400 off all models

Murf Electric Bikes has launched its Murf into Summer Sale, taking $400 off all its e-bike models through May 27 and also giving away a free helmet to the first 50 orders. One of the brand’s most popular models is the Fat Murf e-bike that is down at $2,195 shipped. Down from its normally $2,595 price tag, these models don’t seem to receive discounts as regularly (or for as long of a period) as other bigger brands like Aventon or Rad Power. We’ve mainly seen occasional holiday sales that usually take costs down by $400 or $500 (usually higher discount rates fall on bundled e-bikes) – sometimes on specific models, sometimes on complete lineups. Regardless, this is still a solid $400 markdown worth considering. Keep in mind, while the discount is not reflected in the price on any of the landing pages, the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

Coming in both a step-thru model and a step-over model, the Fat Murf is stocked with a 52V battery (like all its e-bikes) and a 500W motor (with 750W peak power) that work together to bring the e-bike up to a max speed of 25 MPH for up to 30 miles using only the pure electric throttle or up to 50 miles when using its five levels of pedal assistance. It has a variety of features like its 4-inch all-terrain fat tires for off-the-pavement cruising, a 720-lumen headlight powered by “3 high-power LEDs” for rides at night or early morning, a 7-speed Shimano drivetrain for when you need to get some cardio in, hydraulic disc brakes for greater stopping power, and an upgraded high-resolution display for real-time data and setting adjustments.

More Murf e-bike discounts:

Best Buy has launched its Memorial Day sale through May 27 that is taking up to 27% off a collection of Greenworks 80V electric tools and bundles, while also offering a free 80V battery along with purchase and extra savings opportunities as well. One of the notable additions, and the biggest amount of savings, is the popular 80V 21-inch Lawn Mower, 13-inch String Trimmer, and 730 Leaf Blower Combo for $799 shipped. My Best Buy members can get an extra $199 off, dropping the price to $599.99 shipped. Membership starts at $50, meaning you ultimately save an extra $149 off the combo. Regularly fetching $1,100, today’s deal comes in to repeat a similar discount from April and March and landing at the fourth-lowest price (second-lowest with the membership discount) we have tracked. By adding any of the following Greenworks products to your cart, a free 80V 2.0Ah battery will be automatically added as well.

Powered by its 4.0Ah battery (as well as that free 2.0Ah battery too), the 21-inch lawn mower deck houses the 80V brushless motor for a 45-minute runtime on a single charge (60+ with that extra battery) – with it being able to recharge in up to 50 minutes. It starts with a press of a button so you don’t have to fight with pull strings anymore (lets leave that tech in the 2000s) and has seven levels of height adjustment for its cutting blade. The string trimmer provides a 13-inch cutting path for up to 30 minutes (again, more with the extra battery), and sports a 2-in-1 pivoting head for both trimming and edging needs. The leaf blower provides 730 CFM of air flow that hits at up to 170 MPH, with a variable speed trigger with cruise control.

More Best Buy Greenworks discounts:

Spring e-bike deals!

Rachio 3 4-zone smart sprinkler controller within post for Rad Power e-bikes

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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Mullen PowerUP is an EV and mobile charging station in one

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6 mins ago

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June 17, 2024

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Mullen PowerUP is an EV and mobile charging station in one

MULLEN ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF ZERO-EMISSIONS, ALL-ELECTRIC POWERUP MOBILE EV CHARGING TRUCK

Based on the all-electric Mullen THREE electric chassis cab, Mullen says the new PowerUP mobile charging platform provides increased job site versatility thanks to on demand, mobile DC fast-charging.

The Mullen PowerUP ships with its own 160 kW battery pack, with a modular design that’s capable of bringing up to 1 MWh wherever it’s needed, whether that’s a job site without a grid connection or a disaster relief effort. The mobile charging station delivers that power through two 60 kW DCFC ports, 2 20 kW L2 AC chargers, or a pair of 12V jumper terminals for getting ICE-powered vehicles going again. And … if all this sounds familiar, there’s probably two reasons for that.

The first is that the Mullen PowerUP is remarkably similar, visually, to a mobile EV charging truck shown by Mack Trucks back in March. Based on a Mack MD Electric and hauling a “renewable” natural gas gen set to provide electrical power, a concept version of the truck was shown at the ACT Expo in May, but remains “just” a concept.

The second is that Mullen already launched a PowerUP mobile EV charger last year. That “original” PowerUP was based on the larger, Class 5 Mullen FIVE and it, too, carried a gen set. This new PowerUP, meanwhile, is fully electric, and is more of a mobile BESS than a mobile generator with EV ports attached to it.

Mullen PowerUP mobile BESS

Mullen PowerUP mobile charging solution; via Mullen.

“We’re constantly innovating and adapting to meet the evolving needs of the industry,” said David Michery, CEO and chairman of Mullen Automotive. “The feedback on the initial PowerUP concept was overwhelmingly positive, but the market is clearly looking for a zero-emission solution. By leveraging our all-electric Mullen THREE, the new PowerUP delivers recharging at a higher level of scalability and performance while offering zero emissions for both the vehicle and power unit.”

Mullen is developing PowerUP at its High Energy Facility located in Fullerton, California. Mullen says its acquisition of battery pack production assets from Romeo Power have significantly accelerated the development of the truck as a fully battery-based mobile charger.

Electrek’s Take

One of 250 Mullen THREE trucks leased to MGT last year; via NGT News.

I’ve been hyper-critical of Mullen over the years, but while I’m still unconvinced about the brand’s automotive/sporty-car aspirations, these guys are starting to win me over on the commercial truck side. They’re building solid-state batteries, delivering hundreds of trucks, have units in inventory, are building out their national dealer network, and they are absolutely terrifying the competition – many of whom are still a year or 18 months away from delivering their medium-duty cabover trucks to customers.

So, when it comes to Mullen, I’ll leave it like this: I’m starting to believe.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Mullen, via email.

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Sunbelt Rentals adds electric skid steer to its California lineup

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1 hour ago

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June 16, 2024

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Sunbelt Rentals adds electric skid steer to its California lineup

Turner Construction, Sunbelt Debut Electric Skid Steer

The latest addition to Sunbelt Rentals’ ever-expanding lineup of zero-emission construction equipment is here, and it’s an all-electric skid steer set to be deployed on the Gateway project at UC Berkeley, California.

UC Berkeley’s Gateway will be the future home of the school’s computer and data science departments. Students there will explore technological solutions for an equitable and decarbonized future – making zero-emission equipment like the electric Bobcat T7X skid steer is a natural fit for this project.

And, more than that, it was one of the reasons Turner Construction won the job. “It’s all about supply and demand. The electric construction equipment market depends not just on the development of the technology itself, but on a contractors’ willingness to pilot, rent, and streamline that equipment too,” explains Emi LaFountain, Regional Sustainability Manager for Turner Construction. “It’s thrilling to be at the crux of both positions and be a part of that push for a lower-carbon job site.”

The Bobcat T7X features a 76.2 kWh powering a 107 hp electric drive motor and several other servos and axial motors that, together, are good for 7500 lbs. of breakout lift force … but the question of whether or not that’s enough to get the job done is still something that a number of fleet managers need to see to believe – which is why the ability to rent electric equipment like this from a company like Sunbelt is such a critical step towards mainstream adoption.

“We are grateful to be able to provide our customers with new technology that will aide in achieving their sustainability goals along with doing our part to provide environmentally friendly solutions in the construction equipment realm,” says Sunbelt Product Line Manager, Jenny Pratt. “Our customers will be able to operate outside of normal working hours and in applications where its’ diesel counterpart would not be suitable. This allows for increased productivity and quicker job completion.”

The deployment of the electric skid steer marks a second such “first” for Turner in California. The other being was the company’s pilot of the Volvo EC230 Electric 30 ton excavator initially piloted by Skanska earlier this year.

Electrek’s Take

I said it earlier in the article, but it’s worth repeating: the ability to rent electric equipment like this from a company like Sunbelt is such a critical step towards mainstream adoption.

In the same way that a rental car is so many people’s first experience with an electric car, a short-term rental may be that first experience an operator has with a battery-electric skid steer, wheel loader, or telehandler. As such, Sunbelt should be commended for adding BEVs to its fleet. Here’s hoping other companies step up as well.

SOURCES | IMAGES: Bobcat; Turner Construction.

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Used EV price crash keeps getting deeper with ‘premium’ brand idea history

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6 hours ago

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June 16, 2024

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Used EV price crash keeps getting deeper with 'premium' brand idea history

A used 2020 Tesla Model 3 is available for sale on a CarMax lot on March 10, 2022 in Burbank, California. 

Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Back in February, used electric vehicle prices dipped below used gasoline-powered vehicle prices for the first time ever, and the pricing cliff keeps getting steeper as car buyers reject any “premium” tag formerly associated with EVs.

The decline has been dramatic over the past year. In June 2023, average used EV prices were over 25% higher than used gas car prices, but by May, used EVs were on average 8% lower than the average price for a used gasoline-powered car in U.S. In dollar terms, the gap widened from $265 in February to $2,657 in May, according to an analysis of 2.2 million one to five year-old used cars conducted by iSeeCars. Over the past year, gasoline-powered used vehicle prices have declined between 3-7%, while electric vehicle prices have decreased 30-39%. 

“It’s clear used car shoppers will no longer pay a premium for electric vehicles,” iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer stated in an iSeeCars report published last week. Electric power is now a detractor in the consumer’s mind, with EVs “less desirable” and therefore less valuable than traditional cars, he said.

The gap between used luxury brands and EVs has widened, too. Used BMW prices exceed prices for comparable, all-electric, Tesla vehicles by a significant amount, according to iSeeCars. A Tesla Model 3 cost $2,635 more than a BMW 3 Series in May 2023, but by May of this year, was priced over $4,800 less than the 3 Series. 

More people are selling their used EVs today than ever before, at least partially because the market is bigger than every before. In 2022, 176,918 used EVs were purchased in the U.S. In May alone, that number increased to over 45,000. There are many more vehicles in the used market than new car market, and used vehicle value does rapidly depreciate as a rule. A one-year-old used car is, on average, priced at 80% of the same car sold new. As more EVs enter the used market at lower prices, the EV market does become available to a wider market of potential first-time EV owners. 

The South Point pre-owned car lot on June 07, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

Why experts say falling EV prices could actually hinder widespread adoption

There are reasons why EV premiums are more likely to decline in the used market regardless of the recent consumer perception shift: battery technology is continually getting better, increasing range on new models, and consumers also worry about batteries degrading over time. Newer models have longer ranges and improved battery life with temperature control for charging. Between 30-50% of the value embedded in an EV is the battery. But offsetting that is the fact that EVs have lower overall owner costs, from fuel to maintenance, and owners of used EVs can qualify for federal tax credits. 

A key factor in the recent decline in used EV prices has been Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who began an industry price war as demand slumped by cutting prices in 2023, with price cuts on Model X, Y and S vehicles continuing into 2024. Scott Case, the CEO of Recurrent, a startup that measures EV battery performance for auto consumers, recently told CNBC that declining used Tesla prices correspond to new Tesla price drops, followed by decreasing prices across used EV competitors. 

In January, Hertz also shifted its aggressive EV strategy to sell off 20,000 EVs at Hertz Car Sales locations, roughly one-third of its EV fleet, selling used Teslas at a “no haggle” $25,000 average price across the country.

Declining market demand for EVs and a lack of infrastructure have pushed many auto companies to step back from aggressive EV rollouts, and put more promotion behind hybrid models, which are experiencing a boom. General Motors recently cut its expected sales and production of EVs from a 200,000–300,000 range to 200,000-250,000. EVs made up less than 3% of GM’s Q1 sales. Ford has faced losses from its Model E electric vehicle rollout, even as combined hybrid and EV sales rose in May. Ford has now made the decision to rescind a program announced during the initial EV boom that required Ford dealers to make significant investments in EV infrastructure to be able to sell electric vehicles.

Charging infrastructure is still in an early stage and without increased infrastructure, switching to electric vehicles is an accessibility issue for many Americans. But access to EV chargers is growing. There are over 64,000 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations in the United States, with over 176,000 total EV charging ports, according to the Department of Energy. EV charging infrastructure has grown by 29% since the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which included tax incentives to adopt EVs. There are roughly 145,000 gas stations in the U.S. 

A Pew Research analysis using Department of Energy data found that roughly six in 10 Americans now live within two miles of a public charger, though only 7% of people who live within two miles of a charger will consider buying an EV, Pew found. Most EV charging still occurs at home, while there are also rural EV “deserts.”

A Gallup poll of Americans in April found ownership of EVs increasing by 3% annually, but an equal percentage decline in consumers who indicated serious interest in buying an EV, down from 12% to 9%. Overall, 35% of Americans said they might consider buying an EV in the future, down from 43% last year.

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