Rare price cut takes $100 off Lectric’s XP 3.0 e-bikes and XPeak e-bikes starting from $1,199 (today only)
Lectric has made a big short-term change to its ongoing Labor Day sale, with the brand making some surprise and rare price cuts on a selection of e-bikes that already start at affordable rates. Among these marked down models is Lectric’s best-selling XP 3.0 Long-Range e-bikes that are now priced at $1,199 shipped for the rest of the day, along with the included $355 in free gear. Usually priced at $1,299, we normally see the discounts from this brand being on the bundle packages that come with your purchase, but we’re getting a rare price cut here back to its pre-tariff all-time low price. You’ll also be getting the add-ons of a larger-than-normal giant cushioned saddle that is better supported by the coiled spring suspension, an accordion-style folding bike lock, a front mounting rack, and two cargo baskets (one for the front, one for the rear).
Lectric’s XP 3.0 Long-Range e-bikes come with three color/model options – a standard black, a black step-thru model, or a white step-thru model – all of them sporting the same 500W hub motor (peaking at 1,000W) that works in tandem with the long-range internal 48V battery to hit top speeds of 20 MPH, or higher at 28 MPH, depending on your state’s regulations.
Your travel range will vary based on whether you’re utilizing its pedal assistance functionality (now powered by the brand’s Pedal Assist Wattage Regulation (PWR) Programming that you can learn more about here) up to 65 miles, or using the throttle alone for up to 30 miles. There’s even more built-in features to enjoy here too, like the integrated rear cargo rack, puncture-resistant tires, 180mm hydraulic disc brakes, a headlight and a taillight, as well as the LCD display and its foldable body for easier storage/transport when you’re not on the saddle.
Be sure to also browse through all the other Lectric e-bikes within this soon-to-end sale – with the brand’s XPedition Cargo e-bike receiving the biggest bundle packages at $405 in free gear.
Anker offers 46% off SOLIX power stations, bundles, and accessories during ongoing Labor Day sale
Anker’s ongoing Labor Day sale that will be continuing through September 8 is taking up to 46% off a selection of power stations, solar generator bundles, and accessories as folks are gearing up to begin their fall camping plans. A notable mention is the new SOLIX C300 90,000mAh LiFePO4 DC/AC power stations that just released last week with launch discounts, but the best model among the group for most camping needs is the SOLIX C800 Plus Portable Power Station at $449 shipped. Normally priced at $649 most of the time, the inclusion in this sale marks the sixth official round of discounts we’ve seen on this model since it first hit the market back in March. You can grab it during this sale at a $200 markdown that gives you the all-time lowest price we have tracked, having only seen this deal once before three weeks ago during its Fan Fest Mega Sale.
Anker’s SOLIX C800 Plus has been tailored specifically for campsite needs – with the brand even installing two water-resistant LED camping lights to highlight the fact (more on them below). It provides a reliable 768Wh LiFePO4 capacity housed within a compact unit that can pump out an impressive 1,600W of power output to cover devices and appliances. There are 10 output ports here to handle your power needs – five AC ports, two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, and a car port. Recharge rates are fairly quick too, with a standard outlet refilling the battery from empty in just 58 minutes (great for last-minute plans), or you can utilize 300W of solar input for a recharge in under three hours, with an option to connect it to your car as well, which takes 7.2 hours to reach full.
Back to the two camping lights – they provide three different modes to handle night-time lighting, with a candlelight mode for illuminating up to a 10m² area, a flood light that can increase the area to 20m², or you can gain this increased illumination in its flashlight mode as well. Anker has even thought ahead by making them recharge upon being returned to the top of the station’s casing and including a retractable pole arm to go along with them, giving you more versatility to be used as a hanger, tripod, or even a selfie stick.
Anker SOLIX Labor Day C800 Plus bundles
Other Anker SOLIX Labor Day camping power stations:
F2000, 4,096Wh capacity with expansion battery and 200W solar panel: $2,549 (Reg. $3,999)
F2000, 4,096Wh capacity with expansion battery and 400W solar panel: $2,799 (Reg. $4,347)
You’ll also find an assortment of accessories – solar panels, EverFrost electric coolers, and more discounted as well at the bottom of the main landing page here.
Samsung Bespoke A.I. All-in-One Electric Washer and Ventless Dryer starts from $1,800
With Labor Day having officially arrived, Samsung is not only offering plenty of great opportunities to benefit from big savings right now, but its focusing some select deals on its popular Bespoke A.I. All-in-One Electric Washer & Ventless Dryer at $1,999 shipped. Normally fetching $3,339 most days, we saw it fall to a short-lived $1,600 low at Costco back in June, while Best Buy was offering the second-best rate we’ve seen at $2,000. Best Buy has undercut the price today, however, as the same washer/dryer is now priced at the lowest rate we’ve seen on the site so far for $1,800. Picking it up off Samsung’s website, though, has some added benefits, with the company offering a $100 credit on future purchases, as well as an extended two year Care+ plan at $148 off (costing just $1) – plus, there are even further bundle discounts when you buy multiple appliances together. Either way, this is a great chance to upgrade your laundry room at one of the most affordable rates while also possibly regaining some space if you currently have dual units.
This all-in-one washer/dryer unit from Samsung arrives with an ENERGY STAR certification and powered by AI capabilities that makes laundry duties far less time consuming. Thanks to this AI programming, the unit can detect the types of fabric that you throw inside and even adjust settings during its cycles based on how soiled they happen to be, tailoring every wash to the desirable levels your clothes need.
It sports a larger detergent tank than we typically see with these all-in-one models, which is able hold up to 47 loads of detergent at once before needing to be refilled – or, you can use the Flex One compartment for added convenience and versatility, giving you the option to instead hold 25 loads of detergent as well as 34 loads of softener too. We can not discuss the benefits to this washer/dryer without touching on one of its biggest design features: its ventless design. This feature not only allows you to place it virtually anywhere in your home, but its dual-inverter heat pump tech will also significantly increases its energy efficiency, especially when working alongside the AI to calculate and predict electricity costs in order to “reduce energy usage by up to 19%.” Head below to learn more.
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.
That network of dependable high-speed chargers, paired with solid app integration that makes it easy for Tesla drivers to find available chargers just about anywhere in the US, gave the brand a leg up – but no more. By opening up the Supercharger network to brands like Ford, Hyundai, Kia, and others, Tesla has given away its biggest competitive advantage.
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Add in charging and route-planning apps like Chargeway, that make navigating the transition from CCS to NACS easier than ever with its intuitive colors and numbers and easy on/off switch for vehicles equipped with NACS adapters, and it feels like the time is right to start suggesting alternatives to the old EV industry stalwarts. As such, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Here, then, are my picks for the best Tesla S3XY (and Cybertruck) alternatives you can buy.
Less Model S, more Lucid Air
Lucid Air sedans; via Lucid.
Developed by OG Tesla Model S engineers with tunes from Annie Get Your Gun playing continuously in their heads, the Lucid Air promises to be the car Tesla should and could have built, if only Elon had listened to the engineers.
With panel fit, material finish, and overall build quality that’s at least as good as anything else in the automotive space, the Lucid Air is a compelling alternative to the Model S at every price level – and I, for one, would take a “too f@#king fast” Lucid Air Sapphire over an “as seen on TV” Model S Plaid any day of the week. And, with Supercharger access reportedly coming later this quarter, Air buyers will have every advantage the Supercharger Network can provide.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Less Model 3, more Hyundai IONIQ 6
2025 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited; via Hyundai.
Hyundai has been absolutely killing it these days, with EVs driving record sales and new models earning rave reviews from the automotive press. Even in that company the IONIQ 6 stands out, with up to 338 miles of EPA-rated range and lickety-quick 350 kW charging available to make road tripping easy – especially now that the aerodynamically efficient IONIQ 6 has Supercharger access through a NACS adapter (the 2026 “facelift” models get a NACS port as standard).
Once upon a time, Mrs. Jo Borrás and I were shopping three-row SUVs and found ourselves genuinely drawn to the then-new Model X. Back then it was the only three-row EV on the market, but it wasn’t Elon’s antics or access to charging, or even the Model X’s premium pricing that squirreled the deal. It was the stupid doors.
We went with the similarly new Volvo XC90 T8 in denim blue, and followed up the big PHEV with a second, three years later, in Osmium Gray. When it’s time to replace this one, you can just about bet your house that the new 510 hp EX90 with 310 miles of all-electric range will be near the top of the shopping list.
The sporty EV6 GT made its global debut by drag racing some of the fastest ICE-powered cars of the day, including a Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG GT, a Porsche, even a turbocharged Ferrari – and it beat the pants off ’em. Combine supercar-baiting speed with an accessible price tag, NACS accessibility, $10,000 in customer cash on remaining 2024 models ($3,000 on 2025s) and just a hint of Lancia Stratos in the styling, the EV6 is tough to beat.
If you disagree with that statement and feel like driving a new Tesla Cybertruck is the key to happiness, I’m not sure an equally ostentatious GMC Hummer EV or more subtle Rivian R1T will help you scratch that particular itch – but maybe therapy might!
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BYD Shenzhen, the world’s largest car transport ship (Source: BYD)
Republicans launched multiple attacks against EVs, clean air and American jobs this week, at the behest of the oil industry that funds them. These attacks won’t be successful, and EVs will continue to grow regardless, and inevitably take over for outdated gasoline vehicles.
However, these republican attacks on EVs will still have some effect: they will diminish the US auto industry globally, leading to job losses and surrendering one of the jewels in the crown of American industry to China, where there is no similar effort to destroy its own domestic EV industry.
But they should inspire worry for Americans, because they will only harm the country’s domestic manufacturing base in the face of a changing auto industry.
Republicans keep trying to kill clean cars
The last time a republican occupied the the White House, we saw similar efforts to try to raise fuel and health costs for Americans, and to block superior EV technology from flourishing. That didn’t work in the end, and EVs continued to grow both during that period and after.
All the while, fossil fuels have maintained their privileged policy position, being allowed to pollute with impunity and costing the US $760 billion per year in externalized costs. Much of that subsidy is accounted for in the cost of pollution from gas cars, which are one of the primary uses of fossil fuels, which means that, in fact, gasoline vehicles receive much more subsidy than EVs do.
And yet, EVs still managed to grow substantially, despite these headwinds. EV sales have continued to grow, both in the US and globally, even as headlines incorrectly say otherwise. The republican party’s attempts to kill them were futile, and will continue to be.
It didn’t work, but it did delay progress
However, anti-EV actions from Mr. Trump and the republican party did manage to delay progress from where it could have been if America actually instituted smart industrial policy earlier.
Surely the American auto industry would be ahead of where it is now if those investments had had time to come online. But instead, republicans are currently trying to kill those jobs, which has already led to several manufacturing projects being cancelled this year, depriving Americans of the economic boost they need right now.
Meanwhile, there’s one place that this sort of stumbling isn’t happening: China.
China is taking advantage
China has spent more than a decade focusing on securing material supply, building refining capacity, developing their own battery technology, and encouraging local EV manufacturing startups.
This has paid off recently, as Chinese EVs have been rapidly scaling in production in recent years. It took a lot of the auto industry by surprise how rapidly Chinese companies have scaled, and how rapidly Chinese consumers have adopted them, after having an initially slow start.
But that adoption hasn’t just been local, it’s also global. Last year, China became the largest auto exporter in the world, taking a crown that Japan had held for decades. But the change was even more dramatic than that – as recently as 2020, China was the sixth-largest auto exporter in the world, just behind the US in 5th place.
China’s dramatic turn upward started in 2020, and now it’s in first place. Meanwhile, because of all the faffing about, the US remains exactly where it was in 2020 – still in fifth place. Well, sixth now, since China eclipsed us (and everyone else).
But tariffs have been tried before, and they didn’t work. When Japan had a similarly meteoric rise to global prominence as an auto manufacturer in the 1970s and 80s, largely due to their adoption of new technology, processes, and different car styles which incumbents were ignoring, the US tried to stop it with tariffs.
All this did was make US manufacturers complacent, and Japan still managed to seize and maintain the crown of top auto exporter (occasionally trading places with Germany) from then until now.
Then as now, the true way to compete is to adapt to the changing automotive industry and take EVs seriously, rather than giving the auto industry excuses to be complacent. But instead, republicans aren’t doing that, and in fact are working to ensure the American auto industry doesn’t adapt, by actively killing the incentives that were leading to a boom in domestic manufacturing investment.
US auto industry jeopardized by republicans
Make no mistake about it: destroying EV incentives, and allowing companies to pollute more and innovate less, will not help the US auto industry catch up with a fast moving competitor.
As we at Electrek have said for years, you cannot catch up to a competitor that is both ahead of you and moving faster than you.
It also applies to nations, which could have spent the last decade doing what the Chinese auto industry has been doing, but instead non-Chinese automakers have been begging their governments for more time, even though it’s not the regulations that threaten them, it’s competition from a new and motivated rival that is moving faster and in a more determined manner towards the future.
The way that we get around this should be clear: take EVs seriously.
But that’s not what republicans are doing, and in doing so, they are signing the death warrant for an important US industry in the long term.
Another thing republicans are trying to kill is the the rooftop solar credit, which means you could have only until the end of this year to install rooftop solar on your home before the cost of doing so goes up by an average of ~$10,000. So if you want to go solar, get started now, because these things take time and the system needs to be active before you file for the credit.
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International equipment manufacturer Vermeer has unveiled a full-scale prototype of its Interlune excavator, a machine designed to ingest 100 metric tons of rocks and dirt per hour, extracting valuable helium as it makes its way across the surface … of the Moon.
Helium plays a critical role in the manufacturing of semiconductors, chips, optics, and all the other stuff that makes EVs, autonomy, the Internet, and the rest of twenty-first century life possible. The problem is that, despite being the second-most common element in the universe, helium is pretty rare on Earth – and we are rapidly running out. As such, there are intense economic and political pressures to find new and reliable sources of helium somewhere, anywhere else, and that demand has sparked a new modern space race focused on harvesting helium on the Moon and getting it back home.
To that end, companies like American lunar mining startup Interlune and the Iowa-based equipment experts at Vermeer are partnering on the development of suite of interplanetary equipment assets capable of digging up lunar materials like rocks and sand from up to three meters below the surface, extract helium-3 (a light, stable isotope of helium believed to exist in abundance on the Moon), then package it, contain it, and ship it back to Earth.
“When you’re operating equipment on the Moon, reliability and performance standards are at a new level,” says Rob Meyerson, Interlune CEO. “Vermeer has a legacy of innovation and excellence that started more than 75 years ago, which makes them the ideal partner for Interlune.”
The company showed a scaled prototype of the machine at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (above), emphasizing the need to develop new ways to operate equipment assets in the extreme temperatures of extraplanetary environments beyond diesel or even hydrogen combustion.
On the airless surface of the moon, it would be impossible for an internal combustion engine to operate on the moon’s surface because there is no oxygen for combustion. Electrically powered machines seem the obvious solution with solar power generation supplying the electricity. But the answer is not that simple.
Temperature changes on the surface of the moon are extreme. They can soar to 110° C and plummet to -170° C. Developing electric construction machinery to perform in this environment is no easy task, but Komatsu is tackling issues one by one as they appear. Using thermal control and other electrification technologies, we are engineering solutions.
Despite Komatsu’s apparent head start, however, Vermeer seem to pulled ahead – not just in terms of machine development, but in terms of extraction potential as well.
“The high-rate excavation needed to harvest helium-3 from the Moon in large quantities has never been attempted before, let alone with high efficiency,” said Gary Lai, Interlune co-founder and CTO. “Vermeer’s response to such an ambitious assignment was to move fast. We’ve been very pleased with the results of the test program to date and look forward to the next phase of development.”
Interlune is funded by grants from the US Department of Energy and NASA TechFlights. In 2023, the company received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research award to develop the technology to size and sort lunar regolith (read: dirt). Interlune has raised $18 million in funding so far, and is planning its first mission to the Moon before 2030.
Electrek’s Take
Interlune helium harvester concept; via Interlune.
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