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It’s the beginning of the Black Friday home stretch, with today’s Green Deals being led by exclusive deals on Anker’s SOLIX C300 90,000mAh Power Stations (and coming along with $49 in free gear) that start at $143. Right behind them are a collection of AeroGarden’s indoor hydroponic systems and multi-pod seed kits at new Black Friday lows, with the Harvest 2.0 model down at $45, among others. We also have Black Friday savings across a huge lineup of Greenworks electric mowers, trimmers, chainsaws, bundles, and more – all at up to 46% off and starting from $29. Lastly, we spotted a new all-time low price on Anker’s popular PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Bank Station that has dropped to $80. Plus, all the best hangover Green Deals from last week are in the links at the bottom of the page, including all the major Black Friday sales on EVs, power stations, and more that are collected together in our Electrified Weekly roundup coverage.

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.

Anker SOLIX C300 power station

Featured deal: With more than 130 years in the bicycle business, Huffy is well-known across the market, especially for its large lineup of kid-friendly models. For Black Friday, the brand is providing some exclusive savings on its iconic Electric Green Machine Trike at $419, after using the promo code ELECTREKGM at checkout for 30% off. Ideal for riders aged 8+ and falling under the 180-pound max weight, it gives kids the chance to experience 15 MPH top speeds thanks to its 250W front hub motor alongside the 36V battery. This model will also grow with your child, as its seat provides three different adjustable settings to keep them safe while they tear up the pavement with plenty of spins and drifts.

Anker SOLIX C300 power station

Featured deal: Buzz Bicycles is bringing readers an exclusive promotion this Black Friday to save $400 on its Centris class 2 folding e-bike that drops costs to the best price of the year on top of including a free accessory – all for $799, after using the promo code ELECTREK200 at checkout. Featuring a step-thru and folding frame, you’ll enjoy cruising through the streets at 20 MPH top speeds for up to 40 miles, making it a great entry-level model for new riders as well as veteran riders seeking a more affordable option. There are two colorways here to choose from, and plenty of solid features like the 4-inch fat tires, front suspension, front and rear lighting – and even front and rear cargo racks too. Adding an electric solution to your commuter needs doesn’t have to break the bank with this deal.

Anker SOLIX C300 power station

Exclusive deals on Anker’s SOLIX C300 90,000mAh power stations offer $49 in free gear starting from $143

Wellbots is offering two exclusive deals on the Anker SOLIX C300 DC and AC 90,000mAh Power Stations for Black Friday, with the DC version dropping to $143.10 shipped, after using the promo code 9TO5ANKER10 at checkout, while the AC version is hitting $179.10 shipped, after using the promo code 9TO5ANKER10 at checkout. These two units normally fetch $200 and $250, respectively, with these discounts bringing costs down among the lowest prices we’ve seen – the second-lowest for the DC and a new all-time low for the AC, though the pot is sweetened here thanks to the free carry straps and USB-C cords (valued at $49) that you’ll get alongside your purchase. All-in-all, you’ll be saving $106 and $120 with these deals while they last.

The next generation of Anker’s compact and totable power stations, the SOLIX C300 units give you a solid 90,000mAh/288Wh LiFePO4 capacity to cover your on-the-go device charging needs. You’ll get up to a 300W power output with the Anker SOLIX C300 DC power station, with its recharging hitting 280W through the use of its two bi-directional 140W USB ports at once. This model also comes equipped for campsite illumination thanks to the integrated LED pop-up light. On the flip side, Anker’s SOLIX C300 AC power station tosses out the need for bi-directional charging, hitting the same 280W speeds when plugged into a wall outlet, with the same 300W output rate, and a switched out light bar on its front facing panel instead of the pop-up lighting.

AeroGarden hydroponic systems and seed pod kits

AeroGarden’s 6-plant Harvest 2.0 indoor hydroponic system hits new $45 Black Friday low

As part of its ongoing Black Friday sale, Amazon is offering the AeroGarden Harvest 2.0 Indoor Hydroponic System for $45 shipped. Normally fetching $90 at its usual full price, in 2024 we’ve been seeing it mainly stay above $80, with occasional periods of it falling lower – we spotted it hitting $50 over the summer and more recently dropping to $60 during last month’s Prime Day event. These low prices are getting beaten out here today though, with folks benefitting from the 50% off Black Friday markdown here, saving you $45 and giving you a new all-time low price – plus, it comes ahead of the brand’s inevitable disappearance come 2025.

If you weren’t aware, AeroGarden announced back in October that its doors will shut forever in 2025, so now is the best time to stock up on devices and seed pods – and at such low prices too. Tossing out the need for messy soil, this popular device allows for the growth of six veggies, herbs, or flowers up to 12 inches tall inside the grow deck, supported by its water bowl design. It’s been equipped with a 15W grow light that provides an automatic on/off timer that simulates the natural daily lighting of the sun, germinating them ”up to 5x faster than in soil” – and there’s even a nutrient reminder to add plant food and keep the growth on schedule. Along with the unit itself, you’ll also be receiving a growing starter kit that includes plant food, grow sponges, and lettuce seeds.

More AeroGarden Black Friday hydroponic system deals:

  • Sprout: $30 (Reg. $60)
    • 3-plant system
    • comes with 3-pod Gourmet Herb Seed Kit
  • Harvest Elite: $60 (Reg. $120)
    • 6-plant system
    • comes with Seed Pod Kit
  • Bounty: $115 (Reg. $230)
    • 9-plant system
    • Wi-Fi and Alexa compatability
    • 9-Pod Gourmet Herb Seed Pod Kit
  • Bounty Elite: $130 (Reg. $260)
    • 9-plant system
    • Wi-Fi and Alexa compatability

AeroGarden Black Friday seed kit deals:

Greenworks Black Friday

With its Black Friday sale in full swing, Amazon is offering up to 46% in major savings across a huge lineup of Greenworks electric lawn care solutions, like the 40V 16-inch Cordless Electric Lawn Mower for $209.99 shipped. This affordable model is coming down from its $299 price tag here, which we’ve mainly seen fall to $250 over 2024, though we did spot it hitting its $199 low back in July. Today, you’re getting the opportunity to score it with a 30% markdown that saves you $89 and lets you upgrade from your gas-guzzler at the second-lowest price we have tracked.

This electric lawn mower arrives sporting the brands brushless motor design all powered by the 4.0Ah battery, giving it a 60-minute runtime on a single charge (with recharging only taking 2 hours). It sports a five-position height adjustment to achieve the perfect adaptable cut between 1-1/4-inch and 3-3/8-inch heights while also featuring an easy-to-do push start button and a foldable frame for easier storage when its not in use. You’ll also have two options for collection while mowing – either mulching or rear bagging – which provides better versatility over single-functionality models.

Best Greenworks Black Friday lawn care deals:

Best Greenworks Black Friday lawn care bundle deals:

Best Greenworks Black Friday pressure washer deals:

Best Greenworks Black Friday snow-clearing deals:

Geenworks Black Friday accessory deals:

Anker SOLIX C300 power station

Anker’s PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh power bank station hits new $80 low for Black Friday (Save $70)

Riding Amazon’s Black Friday sale wave, Anker’s storefront is offering its PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Bank Station for $79.99 shipped, after clipping the on-page $10 off coupon. Normally sitting at its $150 price tag, we saw it hit its previous lowest rate during last month’s Prime Day event, lasting for a short time before jumping back to its full price – with a secondary short-lived repeat at the tail-end of October. Thanks to the Black Friday savings train, you’re getting an even better opportunity to score it for your personal device charging needs at a combined 47% markdown, saving you $70 while scoring it at a new all-time low price.

Since it was first released during the summer of 2023, Anker’s PowerCore Reserve has been a popular companion for day-to-day charging needs with its 60,000mAh/192Wh battery on top of the 5 pound weight and compact design that slips right into your bag. It dishes out power through the two USB-A ports and two USB-C ports, with it rated to keep an iPhone 14 recharged over 10 times or a MacBook Air for up to 2.9 times. Aside from its standard wall outlet recharging, you’ll also be able to utilize solar charging here with the addition of a 60W solar panel (sold separately). One of its much-loved features is the built-in retractable light that provides two brightness levels and even an S.O.S. button to flash out though the darkness in times of emergency (which has been passed on to its descendants).

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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Renewables generated 24.2% of US electricity in 2024 – EIA data

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February 28, 2025

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Renewables generated 24.2% of US electricity in 2024 – EIA data

renewables 2024 Texas solar farm
Photo: Clearway Energy Group

Renewables increased their output by almost 10% and provided nearly a quarter of US electrical generation in 2024, according to newly released US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

Solar was still No 1

Solar remained the US’s fastest-growing source of electricity in 2024. Utility-scale and “estimated” small-scale (e.g., rooftop) solar combined increased by 26.9% in 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, according to the SUN DAY Campaign, which reviewed EIA’s “Electric Power Monthly” report data.

Utility-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic expanded by 32%, while small-scale solar increased by 15.3%. Together, solar was nearly 7% (6.91%) of total US electrical generation for the year.

In December alone, electrical generation by utility-scale solar expanded by 42% compared to December 2023.

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Small-scale solar (systems <1 MW) accounted for 27.9% of all solar generation and provided 1.9% of the US electricity supply in 2024. In fact, small-scale solar PV generates over five times more electricity than utility-scale geothermal.

2024 renewables milestones

The electrical output of US wind farms in 2024 grew by 7.7% year-over-year. Wind remains the largest source of electrical generation among renewable energy sources, accounting for 10.3% of the US total.

Wind and solar combined provided more than 17.2% of US electrical generation during 2024. The mix of all renewables – wind, solar, hydropower, biomass, geothermal – provided 24.2% of total US electricity production in 2024 compared to 23.2% of electrical output a year earlier.

Between January and December, electrical generation by renewables grew by 9.6% compared to the same period the year before – nearly three times the growth rate of natural gas (3.3%) and over 10 times that of nuclear power (0.9%).

In December alone, electrical generation by renewables grew by 10.1% compared to December 2023.

Wind and solar together produced 15.9% more electricity than coal and came close to matching nuclear power’s share of total generation (17.2% vs. 17.8%).

The mix of renewables reinforced their position as the second largest source of electrical generation, behind only natural gas.

“Renewable energy sources now provide a quarter of the nation’s electricity,” said the SUN DAY Campaign’s executive director, Ken Bossong. “Consequently, the rash efforts of the Trump Administration to undermine wind, solar, and other renewables will have serious negative consequences for the nation’s electricity supply and the economy.”

Read more: Renewables provided 90% of new US capacity in 2024 – FERC

If you live in an area that has frequent natural disaster events, and are interested in making your home more resilient to power outages, consider going solar and adding a battery storage system. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. They have hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*

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Tesla applies for ride-hailing service in California, but with human drivers

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10 hours ago

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February 27, 2025

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Tesla applies for ride-hailing service in California, but with human drivers

Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta Hero

Tesla has applied for a permit to operate a ride-hailing service in California, but it will be using human drivers rather than the promised robotaxi.

Last year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that Tesla would launch “unsupervised self-driving in Texas and California in Q2 2025.”

However, we suspected that this would not be “unsupervised self-driving’ in customer vehicles like Tesla has been promising since 2016, but an internal fleet with teleoperation support in a geo-fenced area for ride-hailing services, much like Waymo has been doing for years.

Sure enough, Musk confirmed last month that this was the plan for Austin in June. We describe this as a “moving of the goal post” for Tesla.

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With the focus on Austin in June, Tesla stopped talking about California, which was announced to happen at the same time as Texas last year.

Now, Bloomberg reports that Tesla has applied for a ride-hailing permit in California:

The electric vehicle manufacturer applied late last year for what’s known as a transportation charter-party carrier permit from the California Public Utilities Commission, according to documents viewed by Bloomberg. That classification means Tesla would own and control the fleet of vehicles.

But this application is for a regular ride-hailing service, like Uber, albeit for an internal fleet rather than vehicles operated by customers.

Tesla has yet to apply for a permit to operate driverless vehicles:

In its communications with California officials, Tesla discussed driver’s license information and drug-testing coordination, suggesting the company intends to use human drivers, at least initially. Tesla is applying for the same type of permit used by Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s robotaxi business. While Tesla has approval to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver in California, it doesn’t have, nor has applied for, a driverless testing or deployment permit from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, according to a spokesperson.

Musk claimed that he believes Tesla will be able to achieve “unsupervised self-driving” in California by “the end of the year”, but he has claimed that every year for the past decade.

The latest available data shows that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system is achieving about 500 miles between critical disengagement. Tesla has stated that it believes it needs to reach 700,000 miles between critical disengagement to be safer than humans.

Electrek’s Take

This is just a step for Tesla to test ride-hailing services ahead of autonomy. A nothing burger, really, since ride-hailing has obviously been solved already by several companies, Lyft, Uber, Didi, etc.

What needs to be solved is autonomous driving.

As I have been saying for the last year, I am sure Tesla will be able to launch an internal fleet with teleoperation support in a geo-fenced area for a ride-hailing service in California later this year like it plans to do in Austin in June, but that’s nowhere near what Tesla promised since 2016.

It’s a moving of the goal post, and it’s basically just proving that Tesla is able to do something similar to Waymo – 5 years later.

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Tesla drivers are racking up fines using FSD in China

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10 hours ago

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February 27, 2025

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Tesla drivers are racking up fines using FSD in China

Tesla drivers in China are using the new Full Self-Driving update and are racking up fines as the system drives in bike lanes and makes illegal turns.

As we reported earlier this week, Tesla has started to release advanced driver-assist features sold under its Full Self-Driving (FSD) package in China.

The feature is called “Autopilot automatic assisted driving on urban roads” as Tesla seems more cautious about using the term “Full Self-Driving” in China, but it is a feature known for being in the FSD package everywhere else.

Tesla has been facing a lot of issues in releasing FSD features in China. The automaker has been limited in its neural net training due to restrictions about data coming in and out of the country, and it found it difficult to adapt to regulations regarding bus lanes and other China-specific road rules.

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CEO Elon Musk warned that FSD in China would be a problem during Tesla’s earnings call last month due to the different rules. He mentioned bus lanes as an example:

By the way, were about the biggest challenges in making FSD work in China is the bus lanes are very complicated. And there’s like literally like hours of the day that you’re allowed to be there and not be there. And then if you accidentally go in that bus lane at the wrong time, you get an automatic ticket instantly. So, it’s kind of a big deal, bus lanes in China.

The automated ticketing system is not just for bus lanes and Tesla owners are learning about it the hard way.

Tesla owners have been testing out the features in live streams on social media and some of them are reporting getting numerous tickets for using FSD.

For example, this Tesla driver received 7 tickets in the space of a single drive because the FSD drove in bike lanes and made illegal maneuvers:

Car News China tracked several live streams and customer feedback on Chinese social media, and the consensus appears to be that it’s “pretty good, but with lots of bugs”.

The drivers are particularly impressed with how “natural” FSD drives, but they also noted that it still

Where the system lacks is the understanding of local traffic rules (such as no use of shoulder/bike lanes on turns, similar to the bus lane rules that Elon talked about in the most recent earnings call) and the sporadic use of wrong lanes (e.g. going straight in a left or right turn only lane) or navigation showing the vehicle in one lane when in fact it’s in another or wrong perception of objects (red balloons as traffic lights). Many of the live streams counted the number of traffic violations from the vehicle and the number of points that would have been taken off or licenses suspended (12 points = suspension) as a result.

Chinese media websites are now getting flooded with Tesla vehicles running red traffic lights, failing to recognize green lights, and driving on restricted lanes, like the video above.

The report also highlights how Tesla is facing strong competition in ADAS in China, with competitors like Nio, Xpeng, BYD, and others launching competitive products, which is not necessarily the case in other markets for Tesla.

Electrek’s Take

I feel like this is likely going to result in bad PR for Tesla in China. You can’t have drivers losing their licenses because FSD doesn’t recognize bike lanes.

Now, of course, Tesla will say that the driver remains responsible, but I don’t know how good Tesla’s messaging is on that front in China.

It’s going to be an interesting story to track in the coming months.

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