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It’s time for another edition of our daily Green Deals roundup, but don’t spend too much time reading this if you’re looking to score today’s offer on the RadRover 6 Plus Electric Fat Tire Bike. It’s now $200 off with a FREE $499 extra battery thrown-in for today only, and it’s already starting to sell out. We also spotted the best price of the year on Segway Ninebot F35 Electric Scooter joined by some solid price drops on Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station and this Greenworks 48V Brushless Leaf Blower Kit to make sure you’re fall ready at a discount, and gas-free.

Head below for more 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.

Today only: RadRover 6 Plus Fat Tire e-Bike now $200 off + FREE $499 battery add-on

While stock is beginning to dwindle from the Rad Power Labor Day event, there’s still time to score the step-thru RadRover 6 Plus Electric Fat Tire Bike at $1,399 shipped, down from the regular $1,599 price tag. This $200 deal is live through today only and it is already starting to sell out. Rad is also throwing in a FREE semi-integrated battery, just make sure you add both it and the e-bike to your cart separately – this battery fetches a regular price tag at $499. With today’s deal you’re looking at a total savings of $699. 

This is the latest sixth-generation model of the RadRover, complete with a 750W geared hub motor that “delivers enhanced hill-climbing capabilities” alongside Kenda Juggernaut “puncture-resistant, durable 26×4″ fat tires for off-road adventures and the ability to drive a 275-pound payload. 

It will keep you cruising for 45 miles ore more at top speeds up to 20MPH alongside the a 7-speed Shimano derailleur. The half-twist throttle action joins the onboard LCD screen for real-time battery and performance data. 

Again, you basically have half a day left to take advantage of the $200 price drop alongside the free $499 battery add-on here. Some colorways are already selling out and there’s no telling when or if this deal will return any time soon. 

Our hands-on review will deliver a detailed breakdown of the riding experience and what you’re getting into here. 

Segway’s 25-mile Ninebot F35 Electric Scooter hits best price of the year at $425 (Reg. $680+)

As part of its new 48-hour flash sale, Best Buy is now offering the Segway Ninebot F35 Electric Scooter down at $424.99 shipped. Regularly $700 at Best Buy and $680 directly from Segway, this is up to $275 off and at least $255 in savings. Today’s deal lands at $25 under our previous mention from last month to deliver the lowest price we can find and to deliver the deepest deal we have tracked on this model. It also among the lowest prices we can find for any relatively comparable Segway model at Amazon right now.

The Segway Ninebot F35 Electric Scooter will have you cruising around town at up to 18.6MPH on its 10-inch pneumatic tires for up to 24.9 miles at a time. 

It features a 350W (max 700W) motor with a 36V battery that recharges to 100% in 5 hours with three riding modes: eco mode, standard, and sport mode that favor range over speed, or vice versa. 

This joins a regenerative braking system that also helps to recharge the battery alongside front LED lighting, a quick-fold system for easy storage and portability, and Bluetooth connectivity:

Connect the F35 with the Segway-Ninebot app via Bluetooth to monitor your riding status and data, lock your scooter and upgrade the firmware and enhance the overall riding experience.

Amazon beats Jackery’s official website with Explorer 1000 v2 1kWh power station at $529 (Reg. $799)

It doesn’t matter if you’re planning a camping trip this fall or just want some backup power at home, a new deal is here to help you get the job done at a more affordable price. Over at Amazon you can now find the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 Portable Power Station at $529 shipped once the on-page $30 off coupon has been clipped. Typically sold for $799, you’re now looking at 34% off which leads to a total savings of $270. Even the price on Jackery’s own website can’t touch this, where it is currently on sale for $599. Historically speaking, we’ve only seen the price fall lower than this one time before, and that was when it hit $499 for just a couple of hours back in July. Learn more about this power station down below.

Unlike many solutions out there, the Jackery Explorer 1000 v2 swaps out typical lithium for LiFePO4 batteries to greatly bolster the longevity of this power station. When compared to lithium, you’re looking at around four times as many charge cycles. The capacity of this unit clocks in at 1,070Wh, and the output reaches up to 1,500W. When plugged into a wall outlet, it takes as little as one hour to replenish the battery. Power sources include three AC outlets, dual USB-C (100W/30W) ports, 18W USB-A, as well as a DC car output.

This one may hit the sweet spot for being something that’s neither too small or too large, but in case you feel differently, we’ve also spotted $1,250 off BLUETTI’s 2.7kWh AC300 power station with B300K battery. And on the smaller side of things, we’ve found this Baseus’ 10,000mAh power bank with MagSafe and 30W USB-C charging at $27.50.

Skip raking this year with Greenworks’ 140 MPH 48V brushless leaf blower kit at $120 (Reg. $200)

We’re closing in on the fall season, which means the leaves are likely to start dropping depending on where you live. Now’s your chance to cash in on some savings and get ahead of all that with Amazon now offering the Greenworks 48V Brushless Leaf Blower Kit for $119.99 shipped. This bundle generally fetches $200, so you’re looking at an $80 price drop that takes 40% off the amount you’d generally have to spend. You’re also looking at a price that comes within $8 of the all-time low, making this price just about as good as it gets. Learn more about what you can expect from this bundle down below.

Yard work will be much easier this fall when you add this leaf blower bundle to your tool collection. Powered by not one, but two 24V batteries, Greenworks touts this leaf blower as offering “gas-like power with the convenience of the 24V battery platform.” Once up and running, it boasts an airflow of 585 CFM and 140 MPH airspeed. This will make leaves and other types of debris move, even the stuff that can generally prove to be quite stubborn. The kit includes the blower, two 4Ah batteries, and a charger.

If you can live with a less powerful leaf blower, be sure to check out yesterday’s coverage of a Greenworks cordless mower, blower, and trimmer combo at $373. Yes, it costs more than the blower itself, but you’re getting just about everything you need to take care of your yard in one fell swoop.

Head below for even more Green Deals we are still tracking:

Score $255 in FREE gear with Lectric’s impressive 2024 long-range ONE e-bike

Sitting alongside its still live Labor Day offers which include hundreds in free add-on gear, we are pulling out the offer on the impressive 2024 Lectric ONE e-bike today. The brand is offering it for $2,199 shipped with $255 in FREE add-on gear to deliver one of the best offers we have tracked outside of the launch deal months ago, coming within $14 in terms of value of the back to school offer. You’re looking at a total value of $2,454 here with extras we will detail below. 

To put it lightly, we came away very impressed after taking a good look at launch back in March on this model. Despite the sticker north of $2,000, this is a more than value-packed price for an e-bike this premium. 

This long-range e-bike takes things up a notch with high-grade European transmissions and carbon fiber-reinforced drive belts, including an auto-shifting weather-sealed electricgearbox from Pinion.

It runs on a 750W rear hub-motor with a 48V battery that will have you cruising for 50 miles at up to 28MPH, and that’s just with the standard battery. There’s 5 levels of PWR pedal assistance, a thumb throttle, 20-inch city tires, hydraulic mineral oil disc brakes, and a new color LCD display.

Today’s package bundle deal nets you $255 worth of add-ons including an aluminum rear rack, a set of wheel fenders, and a 1.5-liter Top Tube Bag to stow smaller EDC items with a dedicated smartphone compartment. 

MOD Black 3, the baddest-looking mountain e-bike now $500 off with FREE $599 SUP ($1,099 in savings)

We feature a ton of amazing e-bike and EV deals around here, but one of my favorite, at least in terms of looks, is seeing a major price drop with some bonus goodies right now. You can now land the MOD Black 3 down at $2,999 shipped and score a FREE $599 MOD Board Inflatable SUP. Simply add both to your cart to redeem the discount. With recent price hikes this bike now carries a regular price tag at $3,499, which means you’re saving $500 and scoring a free $599 SUP for a total of $1,099 in savings…nice. 

Aside from delivering one of the baddest-looking mountain e-bikes on the market, in my opinion, there’s some notable specs to power you through your adventures here too. 
It comes with a 750W rear brushless geared hub motor (1,000W peak) alongside a 720Wh MOD Samsung Powerpack battery – this allows you to cruise for up to 50 miles at max speeds of 28 MPH. Other highlights of the build here include the five levels of pedal assistance, 7-speed Shimano drivetrain, thumb throttle, and hydraulic disc brakes alongside the rear cargo rack. 

Hit up our our hands-on review for a closer look.

Summer e-bike deals!

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Volkswagen is cutting ID.4 and other EV output as fresh plant shutdowns loom

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September 26, 2025

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Volkswagen is cutting ID.4 and other EV output as fresh plant shutdowns loom

Volkswagen-ID.4-plant-shutdown

The ID.4 is one of several Volkswagen electric vehicles that will be impacted by the planned shutdowns at two German EV plants. VW is also planning to halt production of the ID.4 in the US.

Volkswagen plans shutdowns at ID.4, Audi EV plants

Europe’s largest automaker will temporarily halt production at two German plants where it builds some of its most popular electric cars.

Volkswagen will shut down its Zwickau plant, where it builds the Audi Q4 e-tron (including the Sportback), for a week, starting on October 8. A company spokesperson confirmed the news with Bloomberg, saying the luxury electric SUV took a hit from the new US tariffs and Germany’s push to slow the EU’s shift to EVs.

The Emden plant, where Volkswagen builds the ID.4 and ID.7, has already slashed worker hours and is expected to temporarily shut down for at least a few days, according to sources close to the matter.

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Although Volkswagen has had strong EV sales in Europe, even overtaking Tesla as the largest electric car brand in the region in the first half of the year, it’s struggling with overproduction. Like several automakers, VW is also bracing for slower sales as the market shifts.

Volkswagen-ID.4-plant-shutdown
Volkswagen ID.4 production at the Emden plant (Source: Volkswagen)

The Zwickau and Emden plants exclusively produce EVs and were part of Volkswagen’s major restructuring deal last year.

To avoid shutting down the facilities, VW agreed to reduce its workforce by 35,000 across Germany by 2030. Jobs in Emden and Zwickau were protected under the agreement.

Volkswagen-ID.4-plant-shutdowns
EV production at Volkswagen Zwickau plant (Source: Volkswagen)

Volkswagen builds other electric vehicles, including the ID.3 and Cupra Born, but these models are set to move to its Wolfsburg plant over the next few years. The Zwickau plant will continue building the Audi Q4 e-tron following the shutdown.

The planned shutdowns in Germany follow Volkswagen’s announcement to halt ID.4 production in the US earlier this month.

Volkswagen-ID.4-production
Volkswagen ID.4 production at Chattanooga, TN (Source: VW)

VW will pause ID.4 production at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant, starting in late October. The company said it was “a market-driven decision.”

Volkswagen has been offering some of the most significant discounts on electric vehicles in the US. The VW ID.4 has been the most affordable EV to lease, starting at just $129 per month. However, with the $7,500 federal EV tax credit expiring at the end of the month, VW, like many others, is expecting slower sales in the coming months.

Want to test Volkswagen’s electric SUV out for yourself? You can use our link to find Volkswagen ID.4 models in your area (trusted affiliate link).


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OpenAI’s historic week has redefined the AI arms race for investors: ‘I don’t see this as crazy’

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September 26, 2025

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OpenAI's historic week has redefined the AI arms race for investors: 'I don’t see this as crazy'

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman listens to questions at a Q&A following a tour of the OpenAI data center in Abilene, Texas, U.S., Sept. 23, 2025.

Shelby Tauber | Reuters

This week, OpenAI redefined what momentum — and risk — look like in the artificial intelligence arms race.

Now comes the hard part: Executing on CEO Sam Altman‘s multitrillion-dollar vision.

In a rapid-fire series of announcements, the company unveiled partnerships involving mind-bending sums of money and cemented its place at the center of the next wave of machine learning infrastructure.

It began Monday with news that Nvidia plans to invest up to $100 billion to help OpenAI build data center capacity with millions of graphics processing units (GPUs). A day later, OpenAI revealed an expanded deal with Oracle and SoftBank, scaling its “Stargate” project to a $400 billion commitment across multiple phases and sites. Then on Thursday, OpenAI deepened its enterprise reach with a formal integration into Databricks — signaling a new phase in its push for commercial adoption.

“In all, this is the biggest tale yet of Silicon Valley’s signature fake it ’til you make it, and so far it seems to be working,” said Gil Luria, managing director at D.A. Davidson.

The startup, known mostly for its ChatGPT chatbot and GPT family of large language models, is trying to become something much bigger: the next hyperscaler. Never mind that it’s burning billions of dollars in cash and is fully reliant on outside capital to grow, nor that its buildout plans require the amount of energy that would be needed to power more than 13 million U.S. homes.

Altman has long said that delivering the next era of AI will require exponentially more infrastructure.

“You should expect OpenAI to spend trillions of dollars on data center construction in the not very distant future,” he told CNBC and a small group of reporters over dinner in San Francisco last month. “And you should expect a bunch of economists wringing their hands, saying, ‘This is so crazy, it’s so reckless,’ and we’ll just be like, ‘You know what? Let us do our thing.'”

The story OpenAI is selling is that it’s responding to market demand, which shows no signs of stopping. And eventually, the thinking goes, this will all be profitable.

Current financial projections show OpenAI is on track to generate $125 billion in revenue by 2029, according to a source familiar with the company’s internal forecasts.

Tech giants ramp up AI spending

It’s a bold bet – and one full of execution risk.

Building out 17 gigawatts of capacity would require the equivalent of about 17 nuclear power plants, each of which takes at least a decade to build. The OpenAI team says talks are underway with hundreds of infrastructure providers across North America, but there are no firm answers yet.

The U.S. grid is already strained, gas turbines are sold out through 2028, nuclear is slow to deploy and renewables are tied up in political roadblocks.

“I am extremely bullish about nuclear, advanced fission, fusion,” Altman said. “We should build more … a lot more of the current generation of fission plants, given the needs for dense, dense energy.”

What did crystallize this week, however, was the scale of Altman’s ambition as the OpenAI CEO began to put hard numbers behind his vision – some of them staggering. 

“Unlike previous technological revolutions or previous versions of the internet, there’s so much infrastructure that’s required, and this is a small sample of it,” Altman said Tuesday at OpenAI’s first Stargate site in Abilene, Texas.

That mentality – blunt, ambitious, and dismissive of convention – has defined Altman’s leadership in this new phase.

Deedy Das, partner at Menlo Ventures, said the scale of OpenAI’s infrastructure partnerships with Oracle may seem extreme to some, but he views it differently.

“I don’t see this as crazy. I see it as existential for the race to superintelligence,” he said.

Das argued that data and compute are the two biggest levers for scaling AI, and praised Altman for recognizing early on just how steep the ramp in infrastructure would need to be.

“One of his gifts is reading the exponential and planning for it,” he added.

History shows that breakthroughs in AI aren’t driven by smarter algorithms, he added, but by access to massive computing power. That’s why companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are all chasing scale.

OpenAI’s $850 billion buildout contends with grid limits

Alibaba, OpenAI, and Anthropic have all pointed to insatiable demand for their models from consumers and businesses alike. As these companies push to embed AI into everyday workflows, the infrastructure stakes keep rising.

Ubiquitous, always-on intelligence requires more than just code — it takes power, land, chips, and years of planning.

“I think people who use ChatGPT every day have no idea that this is what it takes,” Altman said, gesturing to the site in Abilene. “This is 10% of what the site is going to be. We’re doing ten of these.”

He added, “This requires such an insane amount of physical infrastructure to deliver.”

The cost of staying ahead

Though the buildout is flashy, the funding behind it remains hazy.

Nvidia’s $100 billion investment will arrive in $10 billion tranches over the next several years. OpenAI’s buildout commitment with Oracle and SoftBank could eventually reach $400 billion.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest partner and shareholder that holds a right of first refusal for cloud deals, “is not willing to write them an unlimited check for compute,” Luria said. “So they’ve turned to Oracle with a commitment considerably bigger than they can live up to.” 

As a non-investment-grade startup without positive cash flow, OpenAI still faces a major financing challenge.

Executives have called equity “the most expensive” way to fund infrastructure, and the company is preparing to take on debt to cover the rest of its buildout. Nvidia’s long-term lease structure could help OpenAI secure better terms from banks, but it still needs to raise multiples of that capital in the private markets.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said the company plans to build some of its own first-party infrastructure — not to replace partners like Oracle, but to become a savvier operator. Doing some of the work internally, she said, makes OpenAI “a better partner” by allowing it to challenge vendor assumptions and gain a clearer view into actual costs versus padded estimates.

That, in turn, strengthens its position in rate negotiations.

“The other tool at their disposal to reduce burn rate is to start selling ads within ChatGPT, which may also help with the fundraising,” Luria suggested as a way to ease its burn rate.

Altman said earlier this year in an interview with Ben Thompson’s Stratechery that he’d rather test affiliate-style fees than traditional ads, floating a 2% cut when users buy something they discovered through the tool. He stressed rankings wouldn’t be for sale, and while ads aren’t ruled out, other monetization models come first.

That question of how to monetize becomes even more urgent amid OpenAI’s breakneck growth.

“We are growing faster than any business I’ve ever heard of before,” Altman said, adding that demand is accelerating so quickly that even this buildout pace will “look slow” in hindsight. Usage of ChatGPT, he noted, has surged roughly tenfold over the past 18 months, particularly on the enterprise side.

And that demand isn’t slowing.

Accenture CEO Julie Sweet told CNBC’s Sara Eisen on “Money Movers” Thursday that she’s seeing an inflection point in enterprise adoption. 

“Every CEO board in the C-suite recognizes that advanced AI is critical to the future,” she said. “The challenge right now they’re facing is that they’re really excited about the technology, and they’re not yet AI-ready — for most companies.”

Her firm signed 37 clients this quarter with bookings over $100 million.

“We’re still in the thick of it,” she added. “There’s a ton of work to do.”

Databricks CEO on OpenAI partnership: Enterprises are excited to get AI agents working

Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks, said Thursday that concerns about overbuilding miss the bigger picture.

“There’s going to be much more AI usage in the future than we have today. There’s no doubt about that,” he said. “Not every person on the planet is using at the fullest capacity these AI models. So more capacity will be needed.” 

That optimism is one reason Ghodsi struck a formal integration deal with OpenAI this week — a partnership that brings GPT-5 directly into Databricks’ data tooling and reflects growing enterprise demand for OpenAI’s models inside business software.

Still, Ghodsi said it’s important to maintain flexibility.

Databricks now hosts all three major foundation models — OpenAI, Anthropic, and Alphabet’s Gemini — so customers aren’t locked into a single provider.

But even as infrastructure ramps up, the scale and speed of OpenAI’s spending spree have raised questions about execution.

Nvidia is supplying capital and chips. Oracle is building the sites. OpenAI is anchoring the demand. It’s a circular economy that could come under pressure if any one player falters.

And while the headlines came fast this week, the physical buildout will take years to deliver — with much of it dependent on energy and grid upgrades that remain uncertain. 

Friar acknowledged that challenge.

“There’s not enough compute to do all the things that AI can do, and so we need to get it started,” she said. “And we need to do it as a full ecosystem.”

WATCH: Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank unveil $400 billion Stargate data center

Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank unveil $400 billion Stargate data center expansions

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Tesla complains about EPA’s new policy its CEO paid more than $200 million for

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4 hours ago

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September 26, 2025

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Tesla complains about EPA's new policy its CEO paid more than 0 million for

Trump does an ad for Tesla with Elon Musk
Trump does an ad for Tesla

Tesla is asking the Trump administration not to repeal EPA rules that allow automakers to sell more polluting vehicles despite the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, donating more than $200 million to Trump’s campaign, which clearly included repealing the EPA rules as part of its platform.

For years, Donald Trump has been spreading misinformation about electric vehicles.

Therefore, it wasn’t surprising when he made removing the federal EV tax credit and EPA rules that force automakers to produce more EVs a central part of his platform during the 2024 presidential campaign.

What was more surprising was to see Tesla CEO Elon Musk back Trump with more than $200 million in campaign financing and claiming that the then-former President was “right about everything.”

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Musk has even proudly stood behind Trump has he was calling for the end of the “EV mandate.”

While the CEO publicly sided with Trump on removing the tax credit for EVs, he hasn’t commented on the EPA emission rules.

Now, Tesla is commenting and the company is urging the Trump administration to keep them.

Tesla wrote in a filing to the EPA:

As the recent assessment from the National Academy of Sciences makes clear, the proposal does not sufficiently evaluate the voluminous and rigorously established science, as well as the additionally developed scientific record since the 2009 endangerment finding that further solidifies the level of concern from climate change and the level of confidence that the established scientific community has over these findings.

The American automaker stated that the EPA has not made a sufficient argument based on legal or factual basis for reversing the vehicle emissions standards.

Electrek’s Take

Of course they haven’t, because there’s none. Allowing automakers to slow down the transition to zero-emission vehicle is going to be harful to Americans and the world. Period.

Tesla knows that, as it wrote in the filing, and its CEO too, but he appears to beleive that “white people reclaiming their nations” is more important than curbing climate change and air polution.

As for Tesla as a business, in the mid to long term, yes, it’s true that the removal of the tax credit might benefit Tesla. It won’t benefit Tesla’s mission as it will undeoutbedly slow down EV adoption in the US, but it will knock off some of Tesla’s competition in the US.

However, the EPA emission rules are detrimental to both Tesla’s mission and its business.

Hence why the company is speaking up on that. On the other hand, Musk is silent and just today made posts to back Trump’s authoritharian tendendices of using the justice system to go against political enemies.


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