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With the few June sales events having come to a close over the weekend and future events like Amazon’s upcoming Prime Days waiting on the horizon, we’ve got a few notable Green Deals for you today in the downtime. Leading the charge today is Murf’s Fourth of July sale that is taking $400 off its e-bike lineup while also offering 20% off all accessories, with the company’s Higgs Step-Thru e-bike now sitting at $1,995. It is joined by Jackery’s latest sale that is taking 42% off a collection of power stations and bundles, with options like the Explorer 2000 Pro Portable Power Station bundled alongside two 200W solar panels for a return $1,899 low. There’s also Rachio’s Smart Hose Timer that has just fallen to a new $64 low as well, with other water controller options starting from $79. 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.

Murf Fourth of July sale takes $400 off e-bikes starting from $1,795 with additional 20% off accessories

Murf Electric Bikes has launched its Fourth of July sale through July 7 that is taking $400 off the company’s e-bikes and 20% off accessories. Aside from one model that is available for pickup only, the most affordable amongst the bunch is the Higgs Step-Thru e-bike for $1,995 shipped. Down from its regular $2,395 price tag, we’ve only seen the occasional holiday sales that pop up to take $400 or $500 off this model (with most of the models receiving equally few discounts compared to other brands). Despite the rarity of these price cuts, this is still a solid $400 markdown that repeats the same savings from last month’s Memorial Day sale and is 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.

More tailored for the shorter riders on its 4-foot 11-inch to 6-foot four-inch height range, the Higgs Step-Thru e-bike arrives stocked with a 52V battery (same as the company’s other models) alongside a 500W motor (peaking at 750W) that allow the e-bike to hit a max speed of 25 MPH for up to 30 miles using only the throttle and up to 50 miles when utilizing its five levels of pedal assistance. It also comes with a few convenient features to enhance your experience and its versatility: there’s 4-inch fat tires for better stability, 600-lumen headlight powered by “3 high-power LEDs” for rides at darker times, Tektro hydraulic disc brakes, an integrated cargo rack with a 100-pound payload, and an upgraded high-resolution display for real-time data and setting adjustments.

Murf Fourth of July e-bike discounts:

Murf Fourth of July accessory discounts:

Jackery Explorer 2000 Pro Portable Power Station within post for Murf Fourth of July sale

Jackery Solar Generator 2000 Pro bundle returns to $1,899 low during 42% off member sale

Jackery has launched a member sale through June 30 that is continuing the company’s 42% off discounts from Father’s Day sales for those registered as members (with non-members still benefitting from minor discounts). Membership is free and easy – just head to the site and register your e-mail to gain access to these savings opportunities. One of the biggest chances to save amongst the offerings is on the Explorer 2000 Pro Portable Power Station with two 200W Solar Panels for $1,899 shipped ($2,599 for non-members). Recently fetching $3,299 over its original $3,599, this starts as a solid $700 off its usual price, doubled to a $1,400 markdown for members that is usually only seen during major sales events like Black Friday or Christmas – and even last year, we saw it sitting $100 higher during those sales, giving you a repeat chance from last month to grab this solar generator combo at the best rate we have seen.

Providing a 2,160Wh capacity and 2,200W of max power output, the Explorer 2000 Pro boasts the usual smart controls by syncing your smartphone, letting you monitor and adjust settings as you need while also giving you remaining power levels and helping you to manage power consumption. When hooked up to a maximum of six Jackery SolarSaga 200W solar panels, it can full recharge from 0 to 100% in less than three hours – or in just two hours via a wall outlet. With its eight ports, all your device’s charging needs and appliance’s power needs will be covered: three ACs, two USB-As, two USB-Cs, and one car port. You can also find the Explorer 2000 Pro bundled with only one 100W solar panel at $1,599 shipped for members and $2,099 for non-members – or grab the power station alone for $1,099 shipped for members and $1,599 for non-members, down from $1,899.

Jackery member sale power station discounts:

Jackery member sale bundle discounts:

Rachio Smart Hose Timer within post for Murf Fourth of July sale

Rachio’s Smart Hose Timers start from new $64 low

Amazon is offering the Rachio Smart Hose Timer for $64.35 shipped. Down from its usual $70 price tag, we’ve seen it steadily decrease in price since the new year began, with semi-regular discounts bringing the price down further with each new iteration. Although this is only a $6 markdown, it still lands it at the all-time lowest price we have tracked. You’ll also find this model paired with the required Wi-Fi hub for $79 shipped, down from $100. With the smart hose timer and Wi-Fi hub working in tandem, you’ll gain complete smart controls over your water supply as it comes out of your spigot, accessed from your smartphone via the Rachio app. You can monitor your water’s flow rates (or be alerted when your hose isn’t running and it should be), set schedules – plus, the timer can use Wi-Fi to watch weather forecasts and skip scheduled watering after it has already rained or before it is expected to begin. You can also pair up to four of these timers with one Wi-Fi hub for maximum coverage. Head below for more.

If you want to take your smart controls to the ultimate level, consider pairing the above timer/Wi-Fi hub with the Rachio 3rd Gen: Smart 4-Zone Sprinkler Controller for $99, down from $150. It features exclusive weather recognition technology that is programmed to automatically skip unnecessary watering during and after inclement weather, with functions like rain skip, wind skip, freeze skip, and more. It comes ready to use out of the box, with no extra charges or app subscription fees, and you’ll be able to manage everything from the convenience of your phone through the easy-to-use app.

For bigger yards, there are other options to consider here, with the 8-Zone Sprinkler Controller for $169, down from $230. There is also a 16-Zone Controller that is available for $212, down from $300. And if you want added protection for the controller boxes, there are two bundles available with waterproof outdoor enclosures, with the 8-zone bundle fetching $201, down from $270, and the 16-zone bundle going for $244, down from $281. You can also find two bundles of sprinkler controllers and the hose timer, with with the 8-zone controller bundle for $248, or the 16-zone controller for $291.

Summer e-bike deals!

MAREY Power Pak 12kW electric tankless water heater within post for Murf Fourth of July sale

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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Elon Musk Tapped to Lead New ‘DOGE’ Department—Despite the Government Already Having One for Efficiency

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November 13, 2024

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Elon Musk Tapped to Lead New ‘DOGE’ Department—Despite the Government Already Having One for Efficiency

Elon Musk embarassed court

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is to officially join Trump’s administration as the co-head of the new US Department of Government Efficiency – a second federal department with the goal of making government spending more efficient.

You can’t get more ironic than that.

Throughout the elections, Musk, who is already CEO of Tesla, and SpaceX, a well as the defacto head of X, xAI, Neuralink, and the Boring Company, has been floating the idea to add to his workload by joining the Trump’s administration to lead a new department aimed at making the federal government more efficient.

He has been calling it the “Department of Government Efficiency”, which spells out ‘DOGE’, a meme that Musk appears to enjoy.

Well, now Trump appears to want to be going through with this idea.

He announced the new department and Musk as head, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, in a statement today:

I am pleased to announce that the Great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American Patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE”). Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the “Save America” Movement. “This will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people!” stated Mr. Musk.

What’s most ironic is that there’s already a federal department with the goal of cutting government waste and ensuring efficiency: the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The GAO’s main objectives are:

  • auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently and effectively;
  • investigating allegations of illegal and improper activities;
  • reporting on how well government programs and policies are meeting their objectives;
  • performing policy analyses and outlining options for congressional consideration;
  • issuing legal decisions and opinions;
  • advising Congress and the heads of executive agencies about ways to make government more efficient and effective

It sounds similar to what Musk described when talking about his DOGE, but Trump hasn’t gone into many details other than it will “cut waste.”

He also has a confusing message as he compares the initiative, which is supposed to cut government spending, to “The Manhattan project”, a massive and expensive government project.

Trump said that DOGE will help the government “drive large scale structural reform”:

It will become, potentially, “The Manhattan Project” of our time. Republican politicians have dreamed about the objectives of “DOGE” for a very long time. To drive this kind of drastic change, the Department of Government Efficiency will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government, and will partner with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.

The statement also noted that DOGE will only operate until July 4, 2026.

Musk has previously claimed that he could cut at least $2 trillion dollars of the $6.5 trillion dollar US federal budget.

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Oil could plunge to $40 in 2025 if OPEC unwinds voluntary production cuts, analysts say

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November 13, 2024

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Oil could plunge to in 2025 if OPEC unwinds voluntary production cuts, analysts say

A pump jack in Midland, Texas, US, on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. 

Anthony Prieto | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Oil prices may see a drastic fall in the event that oil alliance OPEC+ unwinds its existing output cuts, said market watchers who are predicting a bearish year ahead for crude.

“There is more fear about 2025’s oil prices than there has been since years — any year I can remember, since the Arab Spring,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, an oil price reporting agency.

“You could get down to $30 or $40 a barrel if OPEC unwound and didn’t have any kind of real agreement to rein in production. They’ve seen their market share really dwindle through the years,” Kloza added.

A decline to $40 a barrel would mean around a 40% erasure of current crude prices. Global benchmark Brent is currently trading at $72 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures are around $68 per barrel.

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Oil prices year-to-date

Given that oil demand growth next year probably won’t be much more than 1 million barrels a day, a full unwinding of OPEC+ supply cuts in 2025 would “undoubtedly see a very steep slide in crude prices, possibly toward $40 a barrel,” Henning Gloystein, head of energy, climate and resources at Eurasia Group, told CNBC. 

Similarly, MST Marquee’s senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic posited that should OPEC+ unwind cuts without regard to demand, it would “effectively amount to a price war over market share that could send oil to lows not seen since Covid.”

However, the alliance is more likely to opt for a gradual unwinding early next year, compared to a full scale and immediate one, the analysts said.

Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double.

Martoccia Francesco

Energy strategist at Citi

The oil cartel has been exercising discipline in maintaining its voluntary output cuts, to the point of extending them.

In September, OPEC+ postponed plans to begin gradually rolling back on the 2.2 million barrels per day of voluntary cuts by two months in an effort to stem the slide of oil prices. The 2.2 million bpd cut, which was implemented over the second and third quarters, had been due to expire at the end of September. 

At the start of this month, the oil cartel again decided to delay the planned oil output increase by another month to the end of December.

Oil prices have been weighed by a sluggish post-Covid recovery in demand from China, the world’s second-largest economy and leading crude oil importer. In its monthly report released Tuesday, OPEC lowered its 2025 global oil demand growth forecast from 1.6 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day.

The pressured prices were also conflagrated by a perceivably oversupplied market, especially as key oil producers outside the OPEC alliance like the U.S., Canada, Guyana and Brazil are also planning to add supply, Gloystein highlighted.

Bearish year ahead for oil

The market consensus is that there’ll be a “substantial” oil stock build next year, said Citibank energy strategist Martoccia Francesco.

“Should the producers group proceed with their production plan, the market surplus could nearly double… reaching as much as 1.6 million barrels per day,” said Francesco. 

Even if OPEC+ doesn’t unwind the cuts, the future ofl prices is still looking break. Citi analysts expect Brent price to average $60 per barrel next year.

Further fueling the bearish outlook is the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose return is associated by some with a potential trade war, said analysts who spoke to CNBC.

“If we do get a trade war — and a lot of economists think that a trade war is possible, and particularly against China — we could see much, much lower prices,” said OPIS’ Kloza.

Trump has also touted a “drill baby drill” policy for U.S. producers, vowing to cut energy prices in half.

For that to happen to retail gasoline prices, oil would need to drop to “below $40” per barrel, said Matt Smith, Kpler’s lead oil analyst.

Right now, retail gasoline prices are at a “sweet spot” at $3 per gallon, where consumers do not feel the pinch and input prices are still sufficiently high for producers, Smith added.

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Have you had a ride in a driverless vehicle?

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November 13, 2024

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Have you had a ride in a driverless vehicle?

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