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Today’s Green Deals are full of new lows, rare opportunities, and short-term deals alike, with EAST OAK’s 21-inch Smokeless Fire Pit hitting a new $146 low ahead of outdoor autumn gatherings. We have two exciting and rare EV deals too, with Electric Bike Company taking up to $500 off seven e-bike bundles that start from $1,899, along with bonus promotional options too, while Lectric’s XPeak Off-Road e-bikes are receiving a $100 price cut for the rest of the month to its pre-tariff $1,299 low. There’s also Bluetti’s short-term Power Week Sale that is taking up to 47% off power stations and bundles, as well as a one-day sale on Anker’s 53L EverFrost Dual-Zone Portable Electric Cooler 50. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals in the links at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s EVOLV Terra Electric Scooter discount, the pre-Prime Day sale from Jackery, and more.

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.

Enjoy autumn gatherings around EAST OAK’s 21-inch smokeless wood-burning fire pit at new $146 low

Amazon is offering the EAST OAK 21-inch Smokeless Fire Pit for $146.16 shipped. Normally going for $270 most days, it remained above $219 for the first five months of 2024, until June saw the first drop further to $197, repeating again in July and being beaten out by August’s former $153 low. We just spotted this model now benefitting from a 46% markdown that lands it at a new all-time low price, saving you $124.

Outdoor gatherings around a firepit are one of the best things about autumn, and with EAST OAK’s large 21-inch smokeless wood-burning fire pit, you’ll be able to complement your fall plans at home or beyond. It weighs in at just 19.4 pounds giving it more portability and has been given a trapezoidal design with a dual-bottom inlet that takes advantage of the Venturi effect “to increase air intake by up to 30 percent, producing a more vigorous flame and more warmth for your outdoor gatherings.” Its “circle-turned-square” shape is an ideal gathering spot for four or more people, providing a uniform 360 degrees of warmth that reaches surprisingly far – plus, there’s an included removable ash tray and fire poker too to make cleaning up after its usage far easier and hassle-free.

If you want to check out all the décor that EAST OAK is currently offering at a discounted rate, including more smokeless fire pit sizes, be sure to browse through its official Amazon storefront here.

Electric Bike Company is taking up to $500 off a collection of e-bike bundles that come fully decked out with various accessories like cargo racks, storage baskets, pannier bags, and more – plus, two bonus promotional options that give you further add-on gear at a significantly reduced rate or free, which we discuss below. While all of the offered bundles are down at affordable rates, considering the company’s high-quality builds, the lowest price among them is on the Model J – Desert Rover for $1,899 shipped. Normally priced at $2,199, we’ve only seen this same rate once before in April, with other rarely occurring discounts we’ve seen only taking $100 off at most. It comes in here today at a repeated $300 markdown that returns costs back to the second-lowest price we have tracked.

As I mentioned above, Electric Bike Company is offering an additional promotion that takes $200 off its Upgraded Tech Package at $199 (selected in the bike customizer), giving you upgraded lighting systems, braking systems, a portable repair kit, an Air Tag bell, an anti-theft alarm system, and an LCD color display – you can learn about the specifics here. The secondary offer provides a fee anti-theft alarm alongside an upgraded 3.5A super charger along with your e-bike purchase by using the code FALL2024 at checkout.

Electric Bike Company’s Desert Rover e-bike is an expanded upon version of the standard Model J, arriving with a golden-tan, metallic Venice Beach moped design that sports a classic banana seat (which can be fully customized in color and all). It’s been given a 500W motor (peaking at 750W), a 14Ah battery, and five levels of pedal assistance to enhance your ride, with it able to hit 20 to 28 MPH top speeds and travel up to 60 miles on a single charge. On top of its usual features, it also has plenty of additional add-on gear, including a rear-mountable cargo rack, a front-mountable rack, a Basil MIK crate, a Basil trunk bag, 3-inch puncture-resistant tires, integrated front and rear safety lights, hand stitched vegan leather grips around BMX handlebars, and an LCD color display with a USB charging port. As part of the package, you’ll also receive a color-matched helmet as well.

Other Electric Bike Co. bundle discounts:

The greatest feature about any of the e-bikes under this brand though, is the customizable options, accessed by hitting the “customize more” button on the individual e-bike’s pages. Most of the parts have two to three options for customization – even the paint job – with plenty more accessories you can add-on as well, allowing you to truly build a ride that fits your preferences and expresses your individuality.

Lectric XPeak Off-Road e-bikes get rare price cut with $227 in bonus gear at $1,299 low

Running right alongside the final hours of its Tailgating Flash sale, Lectric has given folks another rare price cut on its XPeak Off-Road e-bikes through the rest of the month at $1,299 shipped, as well as offering $227 in free gear too. Normally priced at $1,399 since releasing earlier this year, we’ve only seen one other price cut on this model that occurred for a single day back during Labor Day sales. Usually, discounts from this brand are on the included bundle packages, but we’re instead getting a mix today of bundle savings and the $100 markdown that drops costs to the return of the pre-tariff all-time low.

The XPeak e-bike’s streamlined frames house the removable 48V battery that powers the 750W rear hub-motor (with a 1,310W peak) and five levels of pedal assistance that can boost the rider’s own efforts up to top speeds of 28 MPH (depending on your state’s laws). For the price, there’s some great features here too, with 4-inch puncture-resistant fat tires, hydraulic mineral oil brakes, a 7-gear Shimano derailleur, a thru-axle wheel attachment system for tool-free installations, a hidden cable routing system, an IP65 water-and-dust-resistant LCD display, and even removable pedals that are a lot more convenient than one might first think.

There are also several mounting points along the frame that allow for additional add-on accessories, including the $227 in free additional gear you’ll be getting along with your purchase including a rear cargo rack, fenders for both your wheels, and an 850 lux Elite headlight.

Be sure to check out the models benefitting from the Tailgating Flash Sale that will be ending tonight, with the brand’s XPedition Cargo e-bikes and the XP 3.0 Long-Range e-bikes getting up to $554 in free gear while it lasts.

home backup, on-the-go backup

Bluetti Power Week Sale takes up to 47% off home and on-the-go backup solutions starting from $299

Bluetti has launched a short-term Power Week Sale through September 28 that is taking up to 47% off a small selection of power stations and bundles for your home backup and travel needs. A notable inclusion in this sale is Bluetti’s AC300 Portable Power Station which comes bundled along with a B300K expansion battery and two 200W solar panels for $2,498 shipped. Normally this package would cost you $3,497 in full, but you’re looking at a solid $999 price cut here that lands it $99 above the all-time lowest price we have tracked. Plus, along with your purchase, you’ll also be receiving a free trolley that is valued at $299 for a total of $1,298 in savings.

Power outages will be far less of a concern for you with this backup bundle from Bluetti, which delivers a 2,764.8Wh LiFePO4 battery capacity that you can add more batteries to in order to expand further up to 11kWh. There are 16 ports on this unit to tackle all your devices and appliances, with seven AC ports (including a 120V TT-30 port), four USB-A ports, two DC ports, a single USB-C port, and two 15W wireless charging pads. It dishes out power up to 3,000W that surges up to 6,000W, and comes with four different ways to recharge the main unit – plugged into a standard wall outlet, hooked up to a maximum 2,400W solar input, connected to a car port, and even dual-charging capabilities when using both AC and solar together.

More Bluetti home backup deals:

Bluetti on-the-go backup deals:

There are also extra savings awaiting you when you join Bluetti’s membership program, which is free to sign up and allows you to exchange earned points for redeemable rewards. You can learn more about it here.

anker

Anker’s 53L EverFrost Dual-Zone Portable Electric Cooler 50 down at $699 for the rest of the day

Coming to us from its Deals of the Day, Best Buy is offering the Anker EverFrost Dual-Zone Portable Cooler 50 at $699 shipped through the rest of the day. Normally this model keeps near its $949 price tag, but we’ve been seeing an increased frequency in discounts as 2024 has progressed, often dropping costs between $699 and $799, while March saw the furthest drop to the $600 low. This one-day only discount comes with a solid $250 markdown that lands it back at the third-lowest price we have tracked overall.

Anker’s EverFrost cooler series makes ice runs a thing of the past thanks to its battery-powered system, with this 53L model sporting what its two smaller counterparts lack: dual-zone refrigeration and freezing capabilities. It comes with an internal battery that provides a 299Wh capacity which keeps your stowed food and beverages cold and crisp for up to 27 hours on a single charge. A nice feature that Anker has included here is the 100W solar input maximum that lets you benefit from solar charging (as well as three additional recharging options) to further extend its battery life.

You can even utilize its two USB-A ports or one USB-C port to recharge your devices while its taking care of your perishables. It also comes designed for portability too, with an EasyTow handle and two 6-inch wheels to provide support when walking to your destination while also including an extendable table, a built-in bottle opener, and remote control of its settings via the Anker app.

Summer e-bike deals!

EAST OAK Smokeless Fire Pit

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.

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You can get antique plates for a first-gen Prius now — feeling old, yet?

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You can get antique plates for a first-gen Prius now — feeling old, yet?

This fall marks the 25th anniversary of the US launch of the first-gen Toyota Prius — a car that, arguably, has done more to more to shift the market away from fossil fuels than any other single vehicle (more on that in a minute). That means that, in many states, you can now get “antique” or “historic” plates for a modern hybrid.

If that sounds appealing to you, here’s what it might cost to keep that OG Prius on the road for many more years to come.

“When the Prius burst into the US market, it was nothing short of a revolution,” reads the breathless Toyota PR copy. “A true trailblazer in the world of hybrid vehicles, (Prius) set the stage for the electrification movement, captivating environmentally conscious drivers with its innovative spirit.”

I think that’s true. And, as for that claim in the header that the Prius did more to shift the US auto market away from fossil fuels than any other single vehicle, ask yourself this: would there even be a Tesla Roadster (much less an “affordable” Model Y) without the Toyota Prius bringing the conversation about electric cars into the mainstream zeitgeist fully eight years earlier?

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I spent enough time behind the wheel of a seriously quick and capable US Electricar Consulier to tell you this much: no, there wouldn’t.

They’re still out there


2001 Prius, via Toyota.

The inspiration for this article was, predictably enough, a first-generation Prius sighting in my own neighborhood. One of more than 52,000 first-generation Priuses (Prii?) sold in the US, this one was green, with a straight body, glossy paint, and the woman driving it turned out to be the car’s original owner. Her Prius – Toyota’s first gas-electric hybrid – continued to give her great service from its 1.5-liter four-cylinder ICE and high-torque electric motor, and the car’s nickel-metal hydride battery pack seemed serviceable enough, though she couldn’t tell me if it was original (her husband took care of all that).

That, along with the possibility of trolling boomers with an antique-plated Prius, led me to ask myself, “What would it really take to keep one of these on the road?”

Even if your Prius spent its entire life in a garage and has only 60,000 miles on the clock, 25 years is still twenty-five years, and rubber doesn’t care about mileage. That’s not just the rubber in the tires, either. The factory struts, bushings, CV joints, belts – even the engine mounts will surely need to be replaced. Ditto for the door and window seals.

Along with a 12V battery, fresh oil and filter change, and a thorough cleaning, that’s the kind of stuff you should budget for on day one. Here’s a quick estimate on what that would run (parts only, of course, because you work on antiques yourself):

  • tires – Michelin Energy Saver A/S or Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus in 195/65R15, plan on spending about $150/tire
  • shocks and struts – KYB Excel-G, commonly sold in pairs, expect to pay about $200/ea.
  • control arm bushings and sway bar links – MOOG control arm bushings and sway bar end links, $25-50/link
  • engine and transmission mounts – Dorman or Westar makes replacements at roughly $60–120 each, depending on which mount(s) you need
  • CV boots / axle rebuild kits – GSP or SKF kits typically sell $25–75/boot
  • Serpentine / accessory belt – Gates makes an OE-quality replacement belt for about $40

This is the big one


Under the hood; via Toyota.

You’ll notice, by now, that I’ve avoiding one particular bill. The one repair item that makes anyone looking at an older EV or hybrid think twice – the high-voltage battery. And, if you’ve done any kind of research into the cost of replacement batteries for older electric cars, you already know why that is. I haven’t mentioned it, because it’s not that bad.

I found a new high-voltage replacement battery for a Prius from GreenTec on sale for just $2,050 with a 36-month warranty, or $1,399 for a refurbished unit with a 12-month warranty. That’s not only significantly less than the price of a refurbished transmission for a Toyota Corolla of a similar vintage – it’s probably a lot less than people who still think EVs are new technology would have guessed, too.

Battery costs are going down


2024 Tesla Prices
2024 Model S; via Tesla.

The costs of replacing a high-voltage EV battery in older model year cars continues to go down – and that’s true for newer EVs, too. “We’ve seen about $12-18K as an average replacement cost for a Tesla battery,” says KJ Gimbel, founder and CEO of extended EV warranty firm, Xcelerate Auto. “(At that number) we’re confident that we’ll be able to support the vast majority of claims that arise, regardless of the model.”

In other words, if you’re the type of gear head who expresses a midlife crisis by buying a sensible, reliable daily driver, you could do a lot worse than a historic Prius.

That’s my take, anyway – what’s yours? Let us know what you think of the Prius’ 25th American birthday, its role in the EV revolution, and whether or not it’ll ever gain true classic status in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

Original content from Electrek.


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What messy middle? Orange EV has logged over 10 MILLION all-electric hours!

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What messy middle? Orange EV has logged over 10 MILLION all-electric hours!

Orange EV may not be a household name like Mack or Kenworth, but this small-ish maker of all-electric heavy duty terminal tractors is making a name for itself where it matters: on the job. And this week, the company’s deployed fleet logged its ten millionth hour of operation!

Despite claims from oil-backed “efficiency” groups and fossil-backed hydrogen propaganda to the contrary, battery-powered heavy-duty EVs are proving themselves more than capable of getting the job done today, with millions upon millions upon millions of over-the-road miles as proof. Now, Orange EV is throwing its own data into the mix, with a deployed fleet of HDEVs that’s logged ten million hours of operation across more than 27 million low-speed, extreme duty miles.

“Ten million hours makes one thing clear: Orange EV has taken electric terminal trucks from possible to proven,” said Kurt Neutgens, President and CTO of Orange EV. “Our 340 customers are operating at an average of 97% uptime, with no compromises, proving you can cut costs, boost performance, and improve health and safety all at once.”

What might be more impressive than the miles covered, though, is how few trucks Orange has deployed to get to that number. The company reports that multiple units have already surpassed 30,000 hours of active service while others still are approaching a full decade of daily use — and all of them are still running on their original Orange-designed LFP battery packs.

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“Diesel yard trucks rarely achieve this level of durability, but Orange EV delivers with every truck,” adds Neutgens, a former Ford engineer. “Every hour of safe, reliable operation raises the bar for what fleets should expect from their equipment.”

Since delivering its first customer truck back in 2015, Orange EV has deployed more than 1,600 trucks across 40 states and four Canadian provinces. Together, these trucks have eliminated approximately 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide and saved fleets over $100 million (US) in fuel and maintenance costs alone. And, in more than 10 million hours of duty, not a single Orange EV yard truck battery has experienced a thermal event.

Electrek’s Take


e-TRIEVER electric terminal truck; via Orange EV.

Over at The Heavy Equipment Podcast, we had a chance to talk to Orange EV founder Kurt Neutgens ahead of last year’s ACT Expo for clean trucking. On the show (available here), Kurt explained how his experience at Ford helped inform his design ideology, and that the Orange EV was designed to be cost competitive with diesel options, even without subsidies.

Give it a listen, then let us know whether you think the big yard dogs’ success will help debunk the “messy middle” myths or not, in the comments.

SOURCE | IMAGESOrange EV.


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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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Inside the uranium plant at the center of U.S. plans to expand nuclear power

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Inside the uranium plant at the center of U.S. plans to expand nuclear power

Why U.S. companies are reopening uranium mines

EUNICE, NEW MEXICO — Paul Lorskulsint was a shift manager at a brand new uranium enrichment facility deep in the American Southwest when catastrophe struck Japan in 2011.

A massive tsunami and earthquake had caused a severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Thousands of miles away in Eunice, New Mexico, Lorskulsint turned on the television to make sure his team could witness what was happening across the Pacific Ocean.

Lorskulsint knew the disaster in Japan was a watershed moment for the nuclear industry. The plant where he was leading an operations shift had just opened in 2010, after the European uranium enricher Urenco had spent years building the facility in anticipation of growing demand.

Over the ensuing decade, public support for nuclear power diminshed and a dozen reactors closed in the U.S. as the industry struggled to compete against a flood of cheap natural gas and renewable energy. Demand for the low enriched uranium that fuels nuclear plants dwindled.

“The price of what we sold basically went through the floor,” Lorskulsint, who is now the chief nuclear officer at Urenco USA, told CNBC. Urenco’s long-term contracts with utilities insulated the facility during the downturn, he said, but the price drop put further expansion plans on hold.

Paul Lorskulsint, Chief Nuclear Officer, Urenco USA talks about the uranium enrichment process.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Headquartered outside London, Urenco is joinly owned by the British and Dutch goverments and two German utilities. Its New Mexico facility is the only commercial enrichment facility left in the U.S. The last U.S.-owned commercial facility in Paducah, Kentucky, closed in 2013 and its owner the United States Enrichment Corporation went bankrupt during the downturn after Fukushima.

Fourteen years later, the situation has reversed once again. Urenco USA is racing to expand its enrichment capacity. The nuclear industry is gaining momentum as electricity demand in the U.S. is projected to surge from artificial intelligence and the push to expand domestic manufacturing. Doubts persist about whether U.S. power supplies will ramp up quick enough to meet the needs. Increasing uranium enrichment will be a key part of the process, despite the history of past disappointments. 

Also, U.S. enriched uranium supplies are at risk. The U.S. still imported 20% of its enriched uranium from Russia in 2024, a legacy of the now shattered hope for friendship between the two countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War.

The U.S. will completely ban the import Russian uranium by 2028 in repsonse to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leaving a gapping supply deficit just when Washington, the utilities and the tech sector are developing the most ambitious plans in decades to build new reactors.

Nuclear plants like Palisades in Michigan, Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania and Duane Arnold in Iowa are planning to restart operations this decade after closing years ago. The tech sector is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to bring advanced reactors online in the 2030s to help power their computer warehouses that train and run AI applications.

“It is a pivotal moment, the next five to 10 years for the nuclear industry,” Lorskulsint said. “We’re going to have to have to deliver on time, on schedule and continue to maintain that momentum, which is a significant challenge.”

Employees at Urenco USA receive a cylinder of feed material for enrichment process.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Expansion plans

In deeply divided Washington, support for nuclear power is one of the few issues that can still muster some bipartisan support. President Donald Trump wants to quadruple nuclear power by 2050, a significant increase over President Joe Biden’s previous goal to triple it by that date.

The U.S. has only built one new nuclear plant from scratch in the past 30 years, raising doubts about whether such ambitious plans can be realized. But any effort big or small to expand nuclear power in the U.S. will run through Urenco’s facility in New Mexico.

The plant currently has capacity to supply about a third of U.S. demand with $5 billion invested in the facility to date. Urenco is expanding its capacity in New Mexico by 15% through 2027 as utilties replace Russian fuel. It has installed two new centrifuge cascades for enrichment this year. But Urenco’s expansion alone won’t fill the Russian supply gap, Lorskulsint said.

“Our competitors will have to expand in order to make sure that as a whole the industry is still supplied,” he said. “We’re building quickly as we can to make sure that the the industry is not short handed.”

As Russian fuel is banned from the U.S., the Trump administration is pushing for 10 new large reactors to start construction this decade. Alphabet is investing in about 2 gigawatts of new nuclear, Amazon has committed to more than 5 gigawatts, and Meta wants to bring up to 4 gigawatts online.

Urenco USA Facilities in Eunice, New Mexico.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

The industry is worried about the supply gap, Lorskulsint said, but filling it “is not an insurmountable task.”

Urenco USA is a candidate to receive a contract from the Department of Energy to produce more low-enriched uranium, part of U.S. efforts to standup a domestic nuclear supply chain. The contract would allow the New Mexico facility to expand further with the construction of a fourth production building.

Urenco’s competitors are also seeking support from the Energy Department to build out U.S. enrichment capacity. France’s Orano is planning to build a facility in Oak Ridge, Tennesse, with operations potentially starting in the 2030s.

Publicly traded Centrus has a facility in Piketon, Ohio, where it plans to produce low-enriched uranium, but it hasn’t yet started commercial operations. Centrus is the successor company to the United States Enrichment Corporation that went bankrupt in 2013.

Centrus stock has gained more than 400% this year as investors bet on a growing demand for enriched uranium due to U.S. plans to expand nuclear power.

Paul Lorskulsint, Chief Nuclear Officer, Urenco USA talks about the uranium enrichment process next to centrifuge cascade.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Supply chain bottlenecks

But enrichment is just one stage in a long supply chain that will be stretched by growing demand. Uranium delivered to the U.S is often mined in Canada and it is then converted into intermediate state called uranium hexafluoride that is the feedstock for enrichment.

The feedstock is spun in Urenco’s centrifuges to increase the presence of the isotope Uranium-235 to 5%, the level needed for most nuclear plants. The enriched uranium is then shipped to fuel fabricators that manufacture the pellets that go into reactors in power plants.

U.S. nuclear plants are facing cumulative supply gap of 184 million pounds of uranium through 2034, according to the Energy Information Administration.The biggest bottleneck right now for Urenco is the conversion of uranium into the feedstock for enrichment, Lorskulsint said. There are only three facilities in the Western world located in Canada, France and Illinois that convert uranium into feedstock.

“Every portion of the supply chain is going to have to expand, it’s not just about enrichment,” Lorskulsint said. “We need more of everything but conversion right now is the bottleneck.”

The nuclear supply chain may not be the biggest challenge in the end, the executive said. The ageing U.S. electric grid could prove to be the real constraint on building new nuclear due how long it takes to complete upgrades, he said. While this could slow Urenco down, it won’t stop the expansion, he said.

“We came here when the market demanded it,” Lorskulsint said of Urenco’s investment in the U.S. “We were here when the market didn’t demand it. And we are now expanding to make sure that we can still support as much as the market needs from us.”

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