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It’s another day of amazing seasonal savings in our Green Deals today, with Bluetti’s early access Black Friday sale taking up 50% off its backup power units – including new releases – with tons of bonus savings like member pricing, an additional sitewide 5% off promo code, and more. Next we have an early bird Black Friday special from Electric Bike Company that can score you up to $897 in savings across its e-bike lineup, as well as NIU’s pre-Black Friday sale that is taking up to 64% off the brand’s KQi series of e-scooters. Lastly, we’re getting the first of EcoFlow’s Black Friday flash sales that is offering up to $1,347 off DELTA Pro and DELTA 2 Max bundles starting from $1,139. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals are in the links at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s Black Friday savings from EcoFlow, ENGWE, 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.

Bluetti’s early access Black Friday sale offers up to 55% in savings with new releases and member pricing from $189

Bluetti’s early access Black Friday savings have begun through November 10 taking up to 50% off power stations, bundles, and accessories – including new releases and special pricing for members (sign-up is FREE here, plus you’ll get extra gifts for subscribing) – while also offering an exclusive sitewide 5% off discount during the sale by using the promo code AFFBF5 at checkout. One of Bluetti’s newest releases seeing Black Friday savings is the X20 153.6Wh Power Bank that you can score for $189.05 shipped, after using Bluetti’s Black Friday sitewide 5% off code. This model will be normally priced at $249 after these sales, but you’re getting the first chance to land $50 in cash savings here while it lasts, giving you a more affordable rate on top of securing a 153.6Wh (48,000mAh) backup power solution for your everyday personal devices.

Bluetti’s X20 power bank delivers a 153.6Wh/48,000mAh LiFePO4 battery capacity to cover the charging needs of your smartphone, tablet, laptop, and any other personal device that you take with you throughout your everyday life. Thanks to its 12 adapters it comes “compatible with over 90% of laptops on the market,” with four port options (bi-directional USB-C, two USB-As, and a DC) that let you connect up to four devices at once for multi-charging at up to 160W speeds. You can even hook it up to a wall outlet to charge itself while pumping out juice for your devices, and its BMS (Battery Management System) algorithm increases efficiency to provide up to 16 hours of continuous power on a single charge.

***Note: Remember to apply code AFFBF5 at checkout to knock an additional 5% off the prices listed below.

More new Bluetti releases getting early Black Friday discounts:

Bluetti early Black Friday member discounts:

You can check out everything Bluetti’s early access Black Friday sale has to offer on the landing page here.

Electric Bike Co. early bird Black Friday special

Electric Bike Co. is offering up to $897 in savings with its early bird Black Friday special, deals start from $1,499

Electric Bike Company is offering some early-bird Black Friday savings in the form of free gear alongside any purchase from its e-bike lineup, including discounted models like the Model C Chopper e-bike that is down at $1,899 shipped. This model will normally fetch you $2,099 these days, with our post-tariff market having hiked up the MSRP since summer by $200. While we have seen it go as low as $1,599 in the past (pre-tariffs), you’re still looking at a solid $200 being cut off the price tag of a model that doesn’t see as many discounts as others – plus you’ll be getting additional savings in the free anti-theft alarm, the upgraded 5Ah PowerBoost charger, and an upgraded tool kit (pump, tire tools, wrenches, and storage bag) – all valued at $397 for a total $597 in savings!

Sporting a sleek, classic beach cruiser design with high-reaching chopper handlebars and a saddle with a back support, this custom Model A e-bike comes equipped with a 500W (750W peak) motor and a 14Ah battery that reaches 20 MPH speeds (can be reprogrammed to 28 MPH) with a 60-mile range on a single charge.  It also has five levels of pedal assistance, with a choice for a 12 mag cadence sensor or a torque sensor along with a smaller selection of accessories and features: puncture-resistant tires, integrated front and rear safety lights, hand-stitched vegan leather grips, a rear cargo rack, a waterproof wiring system, and an LCD color display with a USB charging port.

Electric Bike Co. standard e-bike Black Friday discounts:

Electric Bike Co. e-bike bundle Black Friday discounts:

You can browse through the discounted and non-discounted e-bikes from Electric Bike Co. on the landing page here.

one-day EcoFlow flash sale

EcoFlow Black Friday flash sale takes up to $1,347 off DELTA Pro and DELTA 2 Max bundles from $1,139 (Today only)

The first of EcoFlow’s Black Friday flash sales has dropped this morning, giving folks two power station bundles at a significantly reduced price. The first of these is an Amazon-only offer on the brand’s DELTA Pro Portable Power Station bundled alongside a transfer switch and the appropriate connector for $1,952.07 shipped, after redeeming the on-page 7% off coupon. Normally this bundle would run you $3,299, with discounts having taken costs down to the former $2,099 low once before during the recent Prime Day event, but it’s getting beaten out by the additional 7% discount ($147) to carve out a new all-time low price.

This bundle package from EcoFlow will give you exactly what you need to support you on trips away from the home, while also covering appliance needs in case of an emergency when you are home. The included transfer switch allows you to connect the DELTA Pro’s 3,600Wh LiFePO4 battery to your home’s breakers, with the unit’s 3,600W output power (surging to 7,200W) able to cover certain areas of your home to keep essentials running. There’s also the 14 output ports on this station that can directly power and charge your appliances and devices. Recharging the station’s own battery is fairly quick too, as plugging it into a standard wall outlet will refuel it back to full in just 1.8 hours, or you can get a full recharge in 2.8 hours when utilizing the maximum 1,600W of solar input. All the usual remote smart controls you’ve expected from EcoFlow are available here and can be accessed through the companion app when connected by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

The second option during this flash sale is coming direct from EcoFlow’s site, offering the DELTA 2 Max Portable Power Station with a 800W alternator charger and a free camping light for $1,139.05 shipped, thanks to the sale’s additional 5% off promo in bonus savings that is applied automatically at checkout. More suited for folks who regularly take their power station with them on trips, the DELTA 2 Max’s 2,048Wh LiFePO4 battery capacity will be able to recharge while you drive, giving you about 1,000Wh for every 1.3 hours you’re on the road. It can handle covering devices and appliances with its 3,400W power output and its 15 output port options.

You can check out our launch coverage of the sale here, which we’ve curated for you to give you a one-stop shop of the best deals that we noticed amongst the massive amount of offers.

NIU early bird Black Friday sale

NIU’s KQi2 Pro electric kick scooter with regenerative brakes carries you 25 miles at $380

NIU has launched a pre-Black Friday flash sale through November 17, with the brand’s KQi series of electric scooters benefitting from up to 64% off discounts while it continues. One of the best (and cheapest) of these models that can still provide higher-than-average commuting support is the KQi2 Pro Electric Kick Scooter at $379.98 shipped. Normally priced at $649, it closed out last year at a $369 low, which we haven’t seen appear again this year, but we have seen a few discounts bring costs down to the second-lowest price, which is repeating here during this flash sale. You’re looking at a solid $269 being cut off the going rate, giving you the second-best price we have tracked and the best price of 2024 so far – only $11 above the all-time low from last year.

NIU’s KQi2 Pro provides mobility alongside affordability, with its lower pricing making this a great opportunity to upgrade your commute without breaking the bank. Its 300W motor and 48V battery propels the scooter forward up to 17.4 MPH for up to 25 miles of travel – with the regenerative brakes helping to extend that distance and four riding modes: e-save, sport, custom, and pedestrian. Carrying an IP54 water-resistance rating, it also comes stocked with an LED headlight and taillight, a secondary front drum brake, a foldable body, and an LED dashboard display to adjust settings – which you can also do through the companion app on your smartphone.

More NIU pre-Black Friday flash sale deals:

Best Black Friday e-bike deals!

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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Canadian study finds that 33% of commercial trucks are ready to electrify – today

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3 hours ago

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June 21, 2025

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Canadian study finds that 33% of commercial trucks are ready to electrify – today

Ontario’s trucks are ready to go electric – so what’s holding us back

A new study by the Pembina Institute shows that a third of the commercial trucks and vans on Toronto’s roads are ready to electrify today – while nearly half could be electrified by 2030.

A new analysis by the Pembina Institute titled Electrifying Fleet Trucks: A case study estimating potential in the GTHA finds that as many as a third of trucks in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) could go electric today, rising to more than half by early 2030s — insulating businesses from rising fuel costs and reducing harmful air pollution that drives up health care costs. What’s more, the report found that battery range and charging access are less of a barrier than expected.

“Real-world travel data from Canadian trucks, collected over summer and winter months, shows that electrification is possible today,” says Chandan Bhardwaj, Senior Analyst at the Pembina Institute. “In fact, with a staggered approach, the GTHA — home to over half the province’s vehicle stock — could reach 50% sales for lighter trucks by 2030, helping offset lower adoption rates for heavier trucks.”

So, what’s holding back electric vehicle adoption? According to the study’s authors, it’s a matter of public policy. But without the right policies in place, the study argues, businesses face unnecessary hurdles in making the switch.

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“Our analysis shows that Ontario has a clear path to accelerating the transition to zero-emission trucks — unlocking economic opportunities, improving public health and positioning itself as a leader in clean transportation,” says Adam Thorn, Transportation Director at the Pembina Institute. “With the right policies in place, businesses can reap the benefits of lower costs while the province strengthens its manufacturing sector and energy security.”

We already knew this

Schneider electric semis charging in El Monte, CA; via NACFE.

If all of this sounds a bit familiar, it’s probably because you’ve heard this before. The California Air Resource Board (CARB) came to very similar conclusions in their report, titled, Determining energy use patterns and battery charging infrastructure for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles and off-road equipment.

CARB staff believe that several heavy-duty ZE vocational trucks are ready to be electrified because of their low daily mileage demands (<100 mi). Long-haul Class 8 trucks continue to be a challenge to fully electrify because of the long operation range (300+ mi) and on-demand charging need.

CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCE BOARD

In fact, the California study came to almost the exact conclusion that the Toronto study did when examining the heavy-duty Class 7 and 8 EV market. Which is to say: it’s not a question of capability, but a question of availability.

“The availability of on-road heavy-duty ZE trucks has increased in recent years,” reads the report. “But their numbers remain significantly lower than their diesel and natural gas counterparts. As of 2022, an estimated 2,300 on-road ZE medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are operating in California, with the vast majority located in South Coast Air Bassin (Figure 1). On-road heavy-duty ZE transit buses account for the majority of all on-road heavy-duty ZEVs in California, but, as of 2023, sales of ZE heavy-duty trucks and medium-duty step vans have outpaced other vocations, indicating that these vehicles will be more prevalent in fleets in the near future.”

That’s proven to be true, with sales of Class 2 vans and other medium-duty EVs rapidly outpacing the general public’s adoption of EVs as new options became available in 2024, with no signs of slowing down in 2025 (at least, where the right policies are in place).

Here are some of the key takeaways from the Pembina Institute study from the Toronto truck market. Obviously, it won’t directly translate to every city’s truck fleet – but take a look at Toronto’s demographics and some of the key variables involved (truck size, average loads, miles driven, etc.) and you might be surprised at how similar your city and your fleet might be.

  • Businesses can save up to 40% of fuel and maintenance costs by switching to electric trucks.  
  • Electric trucks eliminate tailpipe emissions, cutting harmful air pollution and improve public health.  
  • Traffic related air pollution in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area leads to 700 premature deaths and 2,800 hospitalizations every year, costing health care system $4.6 billion annually.  
  • Ontario’s Driving Prosperity plan highlights the need for increased electrification, while the City of Toronto is targeting 30% of all registered vehicles to be electric by 2030.  
  • Governments worldwide are embracing electrification, setting ambitious sales targets for zero-emission vans and trucks.  
  • By 2030, jurisdictions like Europe, China, California, British Columbia and Quebec aim for about 35% of new truck sales to be zero-emission, ramping up to nearly 100% by 2040.  

SOURCES: CARB, Pembina Institute, via Electric Autonomy; featured image by PACCAR.

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Tesla’s former head of AI warns against believing that self-driving is solved

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6 hours ago

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June 21, 2025

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Tesla's former head of AI warns against believing that self-driving is solved

Andrej Karpathy

Tesla’s former head of artificial intelligence, Andrej Karpathy, who worked on the automaker’s self-driving effort until 2022, warns against believing that self-driving is solved, and fully autonomous vehicles are happening soon.

Karpathy is a very respected leader in the field of artificial intelligence.

In 2017, Musk poached him from OpenAI and he quickly became the head of Tesla’s AI effort, including leading neural nets for Autopilot and Full Self-Driving.

He left Tesla in 2022 and return briefly to OpenAI in 2023 before starting his own in AI education company, Eureka Labs.

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The Slovak-Canadian computer scientist is widely regarded as one of the top computer vision experts and he pioneered Tesla’s vision-only approach to self-driving.

Karpathy gave a talk at Y Combinator’s AI Startup School event this week and made some interesting comments about self-driving.

He recounted when a friend working at then Google self-driving company, now Waymo, gave him a ride in a self-driving car in 2013:

We got into this car and we went for an about 30-minute drive around Palo Alto, highways, streets and so on, and that drive was perfect. Zero intervention. And this was 2013. It was about 12 years ago.It kind of struck me because at the time when I had this perfect drive, this perfect demo, I thought “well, self-driving is imminent because this just work. This is incredible.” But here we are, 12 years later, and we are still working on autonomy. We are still working on driving (AI) agents. Even now, we haven’t actually solved the problem.

12 years later, Waymo currently operates over 1,000 vehicles in California, Arizona, and Texas where it completes hundreds of thousands of autonomous rides with paying customers every week, but Karpathy explains that this doesn’t mean autonomy is solved.

He continues:

You may sees Waymos going around and they look driverless, but there’s still a lot of teleoperation and lot of humans in the loop in this driving.

Waymo has confirmed that it uses some teleopeartion, but it’s not clear to what level. It’s clear that it at least communicates commands to the vehicles remotely when they get stuck.

Kaparthy adds:

We still haven’t declared success, but I think it’s definitely going to succeed at this point, but it just took a long time.

The engineer added that “software is tricky” and that he believes that “AI agents”, which is a term often use to describe AIs that can perform tasks for humans, like driving a vehicle, are going to take time. He believes this is not the year of AI agents, but the decade of AI agents.

Here’s the full presentation:

Electrek’s Take

While Kaparthy didn’t name Tesla, the timing of his comments as Tesla is launching its “Robotaxi” service this weekend is interesting.

It certainly contracdits what his former boss, Elon Musk, is saying: that self-driving is solved.

He highlights the fact that humans are still “in the loop” in Waymo’s vehicles, but we recently learn that this is even more true with Tesla’s Robotaxi launch, which involved not only teleoperation like Waymo, but there’s also a Tesla employee in the front passenger seat ready to press a kill switch.

As we have often highlighted in recent weeks, Tesla’s Robotaxi launch is simply a game of optics for Tesla to be able to claim a win in self-driving after years of broken promises and missed deadlines just as Waymo is rapidly expanding its own self-driving services.

I think Kaparthy, who led Tesla’s computer vision effort behind self-driving, knows that has yet to solve the problem and will require human supervision for a while longer.

Based on the best data available, Tesla currently achieves a few hundred miles between critical disengagement with FSD and it needs to get into tends of thousands of miles to achieve a true level 4 autonomous systems.

We are still a few years away from that at best.

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Environment

How regime change in Iran could affect global oil prices

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8 hours ago

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June 21, 2025

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How regime change in Iran could affect global oil prices

Iran could return to 2019 playbook and hit crude oil targets in Middle East, says RBC's Helima Croft

Senior Israeli officials said this week that their military campaign against Iran could trigger the fall of the regime, an event that would have enormous implications for the global oil market.

The oil market has reacted with remarkable restraint as Israel has bombed the third-largest crude producer in OPEC for eight straight days, with no clear sign the conflict will end anytime soon.

Oil prices are up about 10% since Israel launched its attack on Iran a week ago, but with oil supplies so far undisturbed, both U.S. crude oil and the global benchmark Brent remain below $80 per barrel.

Rising risk

Still, the risk of a supply disruption that triggers a big spike in prices is growing the longer the conflict rages on, according to energy analysts.

President Donald Trump has threatened the life of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and is considering helping Israel destroy the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. For its part, Iran’s leadership is more likely to target regional oil facilities if it feels its very existence is at stake, the analysts said.

Israel’s primary aim is to degrade Iran’s nuclear program, said Scott Modell, CEO of the consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group. But Jerusalem also appears to have a secondary goal of damaging Iran’s security establishment to such an extent that the country’s domestic opposition can rise up against the regime, Modell said.

“They’re not calling it regime change from without, they’re calling it regime change from within,” said Modell, a former CIA officer and Iran expert who served in the Middle East.

Official denial

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies that regime change is Israel’s official goal, telling a public broadcaster on Thursday that domestic governance is an internal Iranian decision. But the prime minister ascknowledged Khamenei’s regime could fall as a consequence of the conflict.

Defense Minister Israel Katz on Friday ordered Israel’s military to intensify strikes on Iran with a goal to “destabilize the regime” by attacking the “foundations of its power.” Israel reportedly sought to kill Khamenei in the opening days of its campaign, but Trump vetoed the plan.

There are no signs that the regime in Iran is on the verge of collapse, Modell said.

But further political destabilization in Iran “could lead to significantly higher oil prices sustained over extended periods,” said Natasha Kaneva, head of global commodities research at JPMorgan, in a note to clients this week.

There have been eight cases of regime change in major oil producing countries since 1979, according to JPMorgan. Oil prices spiked 76% on average at their peak in the wake of these changes, before pulling back to stabilize at a price about 30% higher compared to pre-crisis levels, according to the bank.

For example, oil prices nearly tripled from mid-1979 to mid-1980 after the Iranian revolution deposed the Shah and brought the Islamic Republic to power, according to JPMorgan. That triggered a worldwide economic recession.

Anoop Singh: Energy shipping costs are increasing due to perceived risk

More recently, the revolution in Libya that overthrew Muammar Gaddafi jolted oil prices from $93 per barrel in January 2011 to $130 per barrel by April that year, according to JPMorgan. That price spike coincided with the European debt crisis and nearly caused a global recession, according to the bank.

Bigger than Libya

Regime change in Iran would have a much bigger impact on the global oil market than the 2011 revolution in Libya because Iran is far bigger producer, Modell said.

“We would need to see some strong indicators that the state is coming to a halt, that regime change is starting to look real before the market would really start pricing in three plus million barrels a day going offline,” Modell said.

If the regime in Iran believes it is facing an existential crisis, it could use its stockpile of short-range missiles to target energy facilities in the region and oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, said Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

Tehran could also try to mine the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow body of water between Iran and Oman through which about 20% of the world’s oil flows, Croft said.

“We’re already getting reports that Iran is jamming ship transponders very, very aggressively,” Croft told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Wednesday. QatarEnergy and the Greek Shipping Ministry have already warned their vessels to avoid the strait as much as possible, Croft said.

“These are not calm waters even though we have not had missiles flying in the straits,” she said.

Oil has a $10 geopolitical risk premium; China wants the Strait of Hormuz to stay open: Dan Yergin

Greater than even odds

Rapidan sees a 70% chance the U.S. will join Israeli airstrikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Oil prices would probably rally $4 to $6 per barrel if Iran’s key uranium enrichment facility at Fordow is hit, Modell said. Iran will likely respond in a limited fashion to ensure the regime’s survival, he said.

But there is also a 30% risk of Iran disrupting energy supplies by retaliating against infrastructure in the Gulf or vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, according to Rapidan. Oil prices could surge above $100 per barrel if Iran fully mobilizes to disrupt shipping in the strait, according to the firm.

“They could disrupt, in our view, shipping through Hormuz by a lot longer than the market thinks,” said Bob Bob McNally, Rapidan’s founder and former energy advisor to President George W. Bush.

Shipping could be interrupted for weeks or months, McNally said, rather than the oil market’s view that the United States Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, would resolve the situation in hours or days.

“It would not be a cakewalk,” he said.

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