Blix e-bikes up to $687 off in savings + new Vika X model down at $1,699, Velotric e-bikes up to $1,100 off, more
We’ve got another day of e-bike deals for you to close out this week’s Green Deals, with the headliner being the launch deal on the new Blix Vika X Folding e-bike at $1,699 that also includes a free carrying bag that fits nicely onto the e-bike for transport. Right on its heels is the Labor Day sale on three of Blix’s popular e-bike models seeing up to $687 in combined savings, as well as three extra savings opportunities being added to Velotric’s Summer Sale that is taking up to an additional $200 off three e-bike models – totaling up to $1,100 in savings! Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals that are still alive and well, like yesterday’s Lectric e-bike bundle discounts or the collection of Rexing EV charger adapters that are currently seeing up to 25% off markdowns.
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.
New Blix Vika X Folding e-bike launches at $1,699 with free bonus gear
Alongside its ongoing Labor Day sale, Blix has launched its new Vika X Folding e-bike at a discounted $1,699 rate and some free gear thrown in too. It will be normally priced at $1,799, but today you’re getting a pleasant $100 shaved off, which isn’t a whole lot, but seeing as a lot of company’s are releasing new models at their MSRPs lately, it’s appreciated here. You’ll also be getting Vika X carrying bag, valued at $99, that folds into itself, making it simple to attach to the rear carrier.
Blix’s Vika X Folding e-bike arrives onto the micromobility scene with a rear-geared 500W hub motor paired with a 614.4Wh battery (barely beating the Vika+ Flex’s 614Wh). It offers three levels of pedal assistance that is supported by the newly added torque sensor. You can actively switch between either class 2 or class 3 settings here, giving you a 20 MPH to 28 MPH top speed range depending on what you prefer while getting up to 70 miles of travel range depending on what settings you go with.
The Vika X e-bike has been given an optional automatic shifting functionality that will adjust gear shifting and motor power to match the rider’s pedaling, or if you prefer making those decisions on your own, gears can be switched between electronically at the simple press of a button, bringing some convenience into the build. Along with this new feature, there’s a bunch more that enhances riding safety, like the added brake light and turn signal capabilities to the integrated taillight, an auto-adjusting backlit color display, a more powerful integrated high-beam headlight – plus, there’s even a speaker-based electronic horn and hydraulic disc brakes that have been thrown on too. Of course, as the name implies, its frame folds down to a 36-inch x 21-inch x 28.5-inch size for easier storage and transport options.
Blix Labor Day sale offers up to $687 in combined savings on three e-bikes starting from $1,399
Blix Bikes’ ongoing Labor Day sale that is taking $500 off three e-bikes and giving away up to $187 in free gear. As a lover of versatility in EVs, the standout for me is the Packa Genie Cargo e-bike for $1,599 shipped. It would normally run you $2,099 most days outside any such sale, and has often been dropping between $1,699 and $1,899 for most of the sales in 2024, though we did see it drop as low as $1,499 once back in April. It lands here at its second-lowest price that we have tracked and even beats out its Black Friday and Christmas pricing from last year by $100, with nearly as much free gear too. Speaking of the free gear, you’ll be getting a pair of running boards alongside a cushioned seat for its rear rack to provide either a comfortable place for a passenger or a dedicated space for other cargo/packages/bags. You can get an in-depth rundown on what to expect in our hands-on review or head below to learn more.
The Packa Genie cruises onto the scene stocked with a 750W geared rear hub motor (peaking at 1,350W) alongside the 672Wh battery and five levels of pedal assistance that comes supported by a 12-magnet cadence sensor (sorry, torque sensor purists). It is a class 2 model so it hits a maximum 20 MPH speed with a 40-mile travel distance for the single battery model, or you can double up the batteries for double the travel range at $400 more. There is also a throttle for pure electric action, though keep in mind relying on it alone will likely drop the travel range down around 25 miles somewhere.
It comes with some nice extra features too, with a full digital display that even has a USB port for charging your phone as you ride – which is always appreciated as someone who uses my phone’s GPS to navigate the city streets. There’s also puncture-resistant tires, fenders over top both of those, integrated head and taillights, a smart bell, hydraulic disc brakes, 7-speed gear shifter, as well as the obvious mounting points along the rear rack which boasts a 200-pound payload. A rear wheel net guard has even been thrown on, which is essential, in my opinion, if you plan to take any kids on the ride with you.
Other Blix Labor Day deals:
- Vika+ Flex Folding e-bike: $1,399 (Reg. $1,899)
- comes with an everyday bag worth $89
- Sol Eclipse Cruiser e-bike, with front basket: $1,399 (Reg. $1,899)
- comes with fender set, rear rack, and city tote worth $187
Save up to $1,100 on three Velotric e-bikes starting from $1,249 as Summer Sale approaches its end
Velotric’s ongoing Summer Sale that is offering up to $900 in combined savings will be ending September 2. With the weekend between us and the upcoming holiday, the brand has added some opportunities to get extra savings on three of the e-bikes that are on clearance, with one being the lightweight T1 e-bike that we covered earlier in the sale with smart features and a range extender battery that is getting an additional $200 taken off to a new $1,399 low (use code VLDeals200 at checkout). Diving into the other two models benefiting from this deal, let’s start with the Go 1 Utility e-bike for $1,249 shipped, after using the promo code VLDeals150 at checkout for an additional $150 off. Normally going for $1,699, we’ve seen it dip in and out of sales across 2024, with the lowest of the year being $1,299, though we have seen it go as low as $1,099 in past years. Today, though, the usual second-lowest price is getting undercut by $50, giving you the best rate we’ve seen in a while. You can get a hands-on rundown from our review or head below to learn more.
The Go 1 e-bike arrives with an equipped 500W hub motor that peaks at 900W, as well as a removable 691.2Wh battery and five levels of pedal assistance that all work in conjunction to carry you up to 55 miles on a single charge at up to 20 MPH (which can be unlocked to 25 MPH).
It has some nice bang-for-your buck features here too, like the SHIMANO 7-speed derailleur, the puncture-resistant tires (which I am always happy to see being a New Yorker), a removable thumb throttle, an a 3.5-inch LCD display with a USB port to charge your phone if you use it for navigation, an integrated LED headlight, a taillight that’s been integrated into the rear rack that also boasts brake light functionality. A nice little touch here is the inclusion of Apple Find My that offers some peace of mind for those who are concerned with theft.
The third e-bike benefitting from these extra savings is the Packer 1 Cargo e-bike at $1,549 shipped, after using the promo code VLDeals150 at checkout for an additional $150 off. This model arrives sporting the longer ‘cargo’ rear rack as opposed to the above’s shorter ‘utility’ one, with some notable features that were praised in our hands-on review. The e-bike cruises into view with a 750W rear-geared hub motor (peaking at 1,200W for areas with more hills as well as larger hauls) and a 691.2Wh battery like the Go 1. You can hit top speeds of 20 MPH (which can be unlocked to 25 MPH too), with a 52 miles on a single charge when primarily using the pedal assistance, though there is the throttle to go pure electric when you want it.
You’re looking at a SHIMANO 8-speed derailleur here, 4-piston hydraulic disc brakes, puncture-resistant tires once again, the same headlight and taillight integrated into the rack as above, as well as the same 3.5-inch LCD display with a USB port and Apple Find My capabilities. Plus, it has a 440-pound payload, meaning it can handle some bigger riders while smaller riders can easily take passengers along with them.
Summer e-bike deals!
- Lectric ONE Long-Range e-bike with $255 in free gear: $2,199 (Reg. $2,454)
- Rad Power RadRunner 3 Plus Utility e-bike with free extra battery: $2,199 shipped
- Murf’s Fat Murf Cruiser e-bike: $1,995 (Reg. $2,995)
- Juiced JetCurrent Pro Foldable e-bike: $1,954 (Reg. $2,799)
- Aventon Abound Cargo e-bike with $439 in free gear: $1,899 (Reg. $1,999)
- Blix Vika X Folding e-bike with free carrying bag (new model): $1,699 (Reg. $1,799)
- Juiced RipCurrent S Fat-Tire e-bike: $1,614 (Reg. $2,399)
- Velotric T1 smart e-bike with range extender battery: $1,599 (Reg. $2,199)
- Rad Power RadWagon 4 Cargo e-bike with free cargo bag: $1,599 (Reg. $1,799)
- Aventon Pace 500.3 Step-Through e-bike with extra battery and more: $1,599 (Reg. $1,799)
- Hiboy EX7 Full Suspension All-Terrain e-bike: $1,400 (Reg. $2,000)
- Lectric XP 3.0 Long-Range e-bikes with $335 in free gear: $1,299 (Reg. $1,554)
- Heybike Mars 2.0 e-bike with Jackery Explorer 600 Plus station bundle: $1,299 (Reg. $1,998)
- Lectric XPress 750 High-Step e-bike with $306 in free gear: $1,299 (Reg. $1,605)
- Lectric XPress 750 Step-Thru e-bike with $306 in free gear: $1,299 (Reg. $1,605)
- Rad Power RadExpand 5 Folding e-bike: $1,249 (Reg. $1,599)
- Rad Power RadRunner 2 Utility e-bike: $1,199 (Reg. $1,399)
- Aventon Soltera.2 Commuter e-bike with $238 in free gear: $1,099 (Reg. $1,199)
- Vanpowers City Vanture Commuter e-bike: $999 (Reg. $1,699)
- RadRover RadCity 5 Plus Commuter e-bike: $999 (Reg. $1,699)
- RadRover 6 Plus High-Step e-bike: $999 (Reg. $1,599)
- Lectric XP Lite 2.0 Long-Range e-bikes with $148 in free gear (pre-order): $999 (Reg. $1,245)
- Lectric XP Lite 2.0 e-bikes with $148 in free gear (pre-order): $799 (Reg. $947)
Best 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.
- Haul your precious cargo on Lectric’s Xpedition e-bike with $405 in free gear at $1,475, more from $799
- These three popular Tesla and J1772 EV adapters from Rexing are up to 25% off today from $50
- First chance to save on Anker’s new SOLIX C300 90,000mAh DC and AC power stations from $150 (Reg. $200+)
- Power everything, anywhere: Anker offers a massive $2,498 in savings on SOLIX F3800 power station backup bundles
- Add 220W of solar input to your EcoFlow setup at $319 low during 24-hour flash sale (Save $479)
- Anker’s 5-pound PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh power bank station keeps charging needs mobile at $120 (Reg. $150)
- Cruise into fall on Segway’s Ninebot F35 electric scooter at return $450 low (Reg. $700)
- Save $500 on Segway’s LiFePO4 Cube 2000 expandable portable power station at $1,200
- EcoFlow’s 3,600Wh DELTA Pro power station home backup bundle down at $2,375, more options from $899
- Save 20% on Z GRILLS’ updated 2024 550B2 beginner-friendly pellet grill and smoker at $321
- Goal Zero’s Yeti 300, 500, and 700 portable power stations return to lowest prices starting from $240
- Rad Power’s Labor Day sale drops RadCity 5 Plus Commuter e-bike to new $999 low (Reg. $1,699)
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Like manual transmission shifting, the ability back a tow hitch under a trailer coupler seems to be a skill that younger generations have given up on – but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to haul their bikes, boats, or RVs out into the wilderness. Now, a new patent reveals GM’s plans to make hooking a trailer to your vehicle even easier, with a drone.
The watchdogs over at GM Authority have uncovered a new filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published 27MAY2025, under patent number US 12,312,107 B2.
The new GM patent describes a smart trailering system that uses a semi-autonomous electric drone to help inexperienced drivers manage their combined towing rigs with a combination of vehicle telematics and a comprehensive array of cameras, radar, and LiDAR sensors that are constantly tracking the truck, the trailer, and the road conditions ahead.
More than that, however, the drone system reportedly runs a series of safety checks that new trailerers and RVers may not know how – or even that they should be doing. These include checks to ensure that the trailer is properly attached to the hitch, checking the trailer’s load balance for handling and safety, and confirming that brake lights and turn signals are functioning properly.
Guardian angel drone
Once on the road, the drone can follow along, providing a live video feed to eliminate blind spots while changing lanes. GM says the system could also alert the driver if something is wrong, like if the trailer is swaying too much or if cargo has come loose or shifted unexpectedly.
Finally, the drone can fly directly above the vehicle and trailer rig, giving drivers the sort of overhead “360” view they might already be familiar with in their GM vehicles – but expanded to include the trailer as well. In concept, it’ll look something like this (below).
GM drone overhead view
There’s a lot more to this, with boat launching assist, hitch guidance, and other safety angles, but you get the idea. This isn’t quite the self-hitching, self-parking, Segway-like Airstream concept shown at CES 2022, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction – especially if, like me, you believe that the best way to teach someone to appreciate nature is to get them out in it.
Let us know what you think of all this drone assisted high-tech driver support tech GM is working on in the comments.
SOURCES: USPTO, via GM Authority; featured image via ChatGPT.
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Environment
Senate passes GENIUS stablecoin bill, giving crypto industry first major legislative win
The World Liberty Financial website arranged on a smartphone in New York, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Senate on Tuesday passed the GENIUS Act, a landmark bill that for the first time establishes federal guardrails for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins and creates a regulated pathway for private companies to issue digital dollars with the blessing of the federal government.
The bill passed with a 68-30 vote.
It’s a milestone day for the crypto industry, which put around $250 million into the 2024 cycle to elect what’s now considered to be the most pro-crypto Congress in U.S. history, and for President Donald Trump‘s sprawling digital asset empire.
“The GENIUS Act will protect consumers, enable responsible innovation, and safeguard the dominance of the U.S. dollar,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., one of the sponsors of the bill, in a statement.
The bill still faces hurdles in the Republican-held House, but passage in the Senate signals a turning point — not just for the technology, but for the political clout behind it.
The GENIUS Act, short for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act, sets guardrails for the industry, including full reserve backing, monthly audits, and anti-money laundering compliance.
It also opens the door to a broader range of issuers, including banks, fintechs, and major retailers looking to launch their own stablecoins or integrate them into existing payment systems.
The legislation grants sweeping authority to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who last week told a Senate appropriations subcommittee in a hearing that the U.S. stablecoin market could grow nearly eightfold to over $2 trillion in the next few years.
The bill’s passage drew sharp criticism from Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who accused Republicans of “rubberstamping Trump’s crypto corruption,” and allowing the president to sell “access to the government for personal profit.”
Merkley had pushed for an amendment to bar elected officials from personally profiting off digital assets, but said GOP lawmakers blocked all efforts to hold a floor vote.
In May, Senate Democrats unveiled the “End Crypto Corruption Act,” spearheaded by Merkley and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, meant to prohibit elected officials and senior executive branch personnel and their families from issuing or endorsing digital assets.
GENIUS now heads to the House, which has its own version of a stablecoin bill dubbed STABLE. Both prohibit yield-bearing consumer stablecoins — but diverge on who regulates what.
The Senate’s version centralizes oversight with Treasury, while the House splits authority between the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency, and others. Reconciling the two could take a while, according to congressional aides.
The GENIUS Act was supposed to be the easiest crypto bill to pass, but took months to reach the Senate floor, failed once, and passed only after fierce negotiations.
“We thought it would be easiest to start with stablecoins,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., said on stage in Las Vegas at this year’s Bitcoin 2025 conference, which focused heavily on stablecoins.
“It has been extremely difficult. I had no idea how hard this was going to be,” she said.
At the same event, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., echoed the frustration: “It has been murder to get them there,” he said of the 18 Senate Democrats who ultimately crossed the aisle.
Disrupting legacy rails
Stablecoins are a subset of cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of real-world assets. About 99% of all stablecoins are tethered to the price of the U.S. dollar.
They offer instant settlement and lower transaction fees, cutting out the middlemen and directly threatening legacy payment rails.
Shopify has already rolled out USDC-powered payments through Coinbase and Stripe. Bank of America‘s CEO said last week at a Morgan Stanley conference that the bank is having conversations with the industry and individually exploring stablecoin issuance.
Deutsche Bank found that stablecoin transactions hit $28 trillion last year, surpassing that of Mastercard and Visa, combined.
Still, there are limits. The GENIUS Act restricts non-financial large tech companies from directly issuing stablecoins unless they establish or partner with regulated financial entities — a provision meant to blunt monopoly concerns.
JPMorgan Chase, meanwhile, is taking a different route, launching JPMD, a deposit token designed to function like a stablecoin but tightly integrated with the traditional banking system.
Issued on Coinbase’s Base blockchain, JPMD is only available to institutional clients and offers features like 24/7 settlement and interest payments — part of the broader push by legacy finance to adapt to the stablecoin era without ceding ground to crypto-native firms.
Trump’s stake
While Democrats tried to amend the bill to prevent the president from profiting off crypto ventures, the final legislation only bars members of Congress and their families from doing so.
Trump’s first financial disclosure as president, released Friday, revealed he earned at least $57 million in 2024 alone from token sales tied to World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform closely aligned with his political brand.
He holds nearly 16 billion WLFI governance tokens — the crypto equivalent of voting shares — which could be worth close to $1 billion on paper, based on prior private sales.
That’s just one slice of the Trump crypto pie.
The family’s ventures, which include the controversial $TRUMP meme coin, a $2.5 billion bitcoin Treasury and proposed bitcoin and ether ETFs via Truth.Fi, and a newly launched mining firm called American Bitcoin, reflect an aggressive push into digital finance.
Forbes recently estimated Trump’s crypto holdings at nearly $1 billion, lifting his total net worth to $5.6 billion.
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