Early last month, Tesla unveiled the Cybercab, a 2 door vehicle with no steering wheel and pedals, fully reliant on the future of autonomy. Since then, they’ve put the vehicle on display at a couple Tesla showrooms, most recently at the Meatpacking District location in New York City. I went to go take a look, and I have a few thoughts.

Showroom restrictions

First things first, there’s a couple unfortunate limitations at the showroom. You can’t touch the vehicle, sit inside it, nor take a look at the trunk.

The first two are sort of understandable since they’re early vehicles, though even then it’s a little weird since these are the same vehicles they gave test drives in on unveil night. I don’t exactly understand why they won’t open the trunk, as it would’ve been nice to get a look at how much room it offered.

Cybercab impressions

Limitations aside, it was still really nice to get to take a look at the Cybercab. Despite sharing the same “cyber” branding as the Cybertruck, this is still a very sleek looking vehicle, and honestly one of my favorite designs from Tesla.

It’s definitely a smaller vehicle in person than you’d expect – you really need to see it in person to comprehend its size. A couple things stood out to me: legroom, display, and the color.

Though I wasn’t allowed to sit inside, the cabin seemed fairly spacious, despite the vehicles smaller size. Obviously, with it being a two seater without being a compact car, there’s a fair bit of space for additional legroom.

The display is also quite large, taking up a great portion of the dashboard. It’s not necessarily surprising, since in a theoretical world with autonomous driving, there’d be more of an opportunity to watch shows and movies while being driven to your destination.

The color is also gorgeous. It honestly suits this vehicle perfectly, and I’m not sure if it’d work as well on something like the Cybertruck or even the Model 3. It works perfectly here though, and it’s cool to see a unique color that most vehicles don’t offer.

Cool prototype, uncertain future

While it’s really cool to take a look at the Cybercab prototype, it’s still just that – a prototype. As it stands today, the Cybercab has no steering wheel or pedals, and Tesla seemingly has no plans of selling a version of the Cybercab that you can actually drive yourself.

Tesla does plan on selling this vehicle to consumers for potentially $30,000 – as soon as 2026, or rather, “before 2027.” That whole concept hinges on Full Self-Driving getting to a safe enough point where cars could be deployed en mass, without any easy way for riders to take over. Regulators would also have to be on board with it.

I do believe in Tesla’s ability to develop Full Self-Driving, but there’s also the simple fact that interventions would need to be near zero for a no-steering wheel vehicle to be safe. I just don’t think we’ll get there so soon. Even if we do, regulation is a big hurdle for Tesla to jump over – so I just can’t see Cybercab in its current form being on our streets before 2027.

On the optimistic side, Trump’s transition team has stated that they plan to make a framework for autonomous vehicles a priority in the upcoming administration. Maybe that’ll speed things up a little bit, if it comes to fruition. While on the same subject, the aforementioned $30,000 price tag for Cybercab might actually be after incentives, something that the Trump administration plans to swiftly kill off.

Gallery

With all that being said, here are the photos I took at Tesla Meatpacking District. I’d highly recommend going to see it yourself if you’re in the New York City area. We don’t know how long the Cybercab will be on display, so I’d go sooner rather than later if you can.

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According to a leaked letter circulating on social media yesterday, BYD has asked its suppliers to accept price cuts in the coming year – a major signal that the Chinese EV maker is gearing up to intensify the price war in China even further, all while pushing harder into Europe and other markets.

A screenshot of an email from BYD circulated on Weibo yesterday, according to Reuters, demanding “10% price cuts from an unnamed supplier from January.”

BYD’s PR and branding director Li Yunfei responded to the leak in a Weibo post: “Annual bargaining with suppliers is a common practice in the automotive industry,” according to Bloomberg. “We put forward price reduction targets to suppliers. They’re not mandatory requirements. We can negotiate.”

For the past two years or so, BYD has been leading the charge in an intense price war in China, pushing smaller companies to the edge while forcing consolidation.  

In response, Volkswagen and Stellantis have teamed up with Chinese brands Xpeng and Zhejiang Leapmotor to build EVs, while EV maker HiPhi and Shanghai-based WM Motor have filed for bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports.

Leaked email from BYD signals its plan to intensify price war

Meanwhile, BYD is looking large and in charge. It’s currently ramping up production by close to 200,000 units to meet demand, and the company has hired nearly 200,000 new employees over the past three months. Earlier this year, the company led a fresh round of industry-wide price cuts, aggressively slashing prices on its best-selling models, and in turn, gained market share and pushed weaker rivals even further to the brink.

BYD is China’s best-selling car brand, having sold some 3.2 million plug-in hybrids and BEVs this year, including a record-breaking 500K million vehicles in October. Its cars account for more than one-third of the total sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids in China this year.

By the end of this year, it looks to be on track to selling an incredible 4 million units.

In the July-September quarter, BYD’s net profit rose to 11.6 billion yuan ($1.63 billion). Also, third-quarter revenue was up 24% on year $28.24 billion, which outpaced major rival Tesla’s for the first time. Tesla’s revenue for the July-September quarter reached $25.2 billion.

BYD still sells more than 90% of its vehicles in China, but it is pushing hard into Europe and other markets, despite higher tariffs. The automaker is looking to double exports to 450,000 vehicles this year.

Photo credit: BYD

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This year’s shopping holidays are set to reveal some of the best electric bicycle and e-scooter sales we’ve ever seen thanks to the perfect storm of overstocked models, meeting year-end sales targets, and good ol’ relentless competition. The e-bike industry has been hammered for a couple of years now, and while that has put many companies in a squeeze, the upside is consumers are getting some of the best deals we’ve ever seen. With countless electric bicycle brands operating now in the US and even more models to choose from, here’s some help separating the wheat from the chaff.

It’s nearing the end of November, and that means my inbox has been absolutely flooded by Black Friday deal pitches from dozens upon dozens of e-bike and e-scooter companies.

There’s a whole section of this site dedicated to ramming as many of those deals as possible into our readers’ eyeballs. For me though, I’ve always tried to take a more targeted approach to recommend models based on substance, and so here are the Black Friday deals that actually mean something to me. As someone who has likely reviewed more electric bikes than just about anyone on the internet, these are all models I’m actually considering for myself or my family because I know they’re a combination of good quality and good pricing. And if I’d put myself or a family member on it, I’d put you on it too.

Lectric Ebikes Sales

Lectric is basically my go-to brand when someone asks me for the best bang-for-their-buck in the world of electric bikes. I’ll never tell you that these are the best e-bikes in the world. On the quality spectrum, they’re mid-level, at best. And for most people, that’s exactly the right level. Not everyone needs a $3,000 or $6,000 e-bike, especially not when an $800 or $1,300 e-bike will fit their needs. Plus, Lectric is known for standing behind its products with a great customer service team (and is incredibly generous, too). Put it all together and you can see why Lectric often floats to the top of my list.

You can find all of Lectric’s sales here to peruse at your leisure. Many of them are based around popular bundles with tons of free accessories. But to guide you a bit better, here are some of the highlights:

• Lectric XP 3.0 folding e-bike: Save $454 on a great bundle
• Lectric XP Trike: Save $419 on the best-selling electric trike
• Lectric XP Lite 2.0: Save $365 on the best-performance lightweight folding e-bike
• Lectric XPress 750: Save $365 on what is likely soon to be the best-selling commuter e-bike
• Lectric XPedition 2.0: Save $296 on the first cargo e-bike I recommend to nearly everyone

Ride1Up E-Bike Sales

San Diego-based Ride1Up has consistently been another value leader in the US e-bike market. While the company doesn’t have the size of Lectric, it has perhaps an even broader selection of e-bikes ranging from cruisers and off-roaders to urban bikes and even high-power electric mopeds. The recently released Ride1Up Revv1 DRT is a great example of how the company took its existing SUPER73-style moped and turned it into essentially an off-road scrambler electric motorbike.

Even more impressive is the pricing on the Ride1Up Portola, designed to be an entry-level folding e-bike that offers much better performance and ride quality than anyone would have expected in this budget class.

Many of Ride1Up’s deals are either outright discounts on their bikes, bundles of free accessories/spare batteries, or both. Below are some of the highlights, but it’s worth checking out their entire list of Black Friday deals here.

• Ride1Up Prodigy XC: Save an incredible $900 on this mid-drive electric mountain bike
• Ride1Up Portola: Save $100 and get 50% off of some accessories
• Ride1Up Cafe Cruiser: Save up to $350 and get 50% off a second battery
• Ride1Up LMT’D V2: Save $400 on this awesome commuter e-bike for urban riding

Velotric E-Bike Sales

Velotric burst onto the scene with some very nice initial offerings several years ago. Ever since, I’ve been watching closely as Velotric continuously improves its models, resulting in today’s highly refined offerings. Their more premium models are where I send friends and family who want something a bit nicer than Lectric or Ride1Up, including features like tracking for anti-theft as well as more app connectivity and features you might not expect – such as fully submersible batteries.

Velotric has a bunch of great Black Friday sales, mostly centered around deeply slashed price tags. Here are some of the highlights, but you can check out all of the deals here.

• Velotric Discover 1 Plus: Save $550 (plus even more on accessories)
• Velotric Fold 1: Save $350 on this 750W folding e-bike
• Velotric Packer 1: Save $650 on this highly refined cargo e-bike
• Velotric Nomad 1 Plus: Save $550 on this go-anywhere off-road e-bike

Priority Bicycles Sales

Priority Bicycles is my go-to brand for higher-end electric bikes. When someone wants a model that uses higher-tier components (the kind of stuff bike shop folks consider ‘the good stuff’), this is the company to consider. Priority Bicycles was started by actual bike shop folks, but the kind that enjoy an electric bike as much as a good old-fashioned acoustic bike.

My favorite of Priority’s electric models is the Priority Current, which offers great value for a mid-drive commuter-style e-bike. The company has since added the Priority E-Coast electric cruiser which is a beautiful e-bike that embodies Priority’s higher quality ethos in a more affordable package. The Priority E-Classic Plus takes that idea even further, giving us an affordable commuter-style bike with a much sleeker design – and belt drive, to boot! In fact, all three models feature belt drive for a cleaner and quieter pedaling experience (though you’ll be glad to know there are throttle options too!).

Priority Bicycles’ Black Friday Sale is very simple this year, creating a tiered discount based on the order total. You can learn more about it here, but the basic summary is that you’re getting around 15-25% off of everything!

JackRabbit Micro E-Bike Sales

If you don’t know about JackRabbit yet, boy are you in for a treat! These micro-ebikes are technically more of a seated e-scooter due to the lack of pedals, but everything else about them feels like an e-bike. You get the same stable seating position, 20″ bike wheels for a nimble yet taller (than a scooter) ride, and even bicycle handlebars.

The main difference is just that the entire thing is more compact and lighter, making it easy to stow away when you aren’t using it. The handlebars even pivot 90 degrees so the entire JackRabbit is around 7 inches wide! Try to stash a typical e-bike behind a couch or under a bed – you could never get it as compact as a JackRabbit.

These aren’t the best bang-for-your-buck since you pay a bit of a premium for the novel design and innovation that comes with producing a unique, purpose-built micro e-bike instead of just choosing parts out of a catalog. But I think these are absolutely worth it for folks who prize the type of portability offered by JackRabbit’s various models.

Speaking of the options, there are multiple JackRabbit models available but the XG and OG2 are both on sale with a great Black Friday deal providing a free RangeBuster battery that offers 240% more range!

Check out JackRabbit’s Black Friday deal here, and be sure to use the code BF24 to get the free RangeBuster battery.

VMAX Electric Scooter Sales

I’ve been following VMAX more closely over the past year and have enjoyed getting the chance to test out multiple models of electric scooters from this Switzerland-based electric scooter company. After expanding into the US market, VMAX has really made a name for itself with an impressive combination of performance and affordability. Their scooters are also UL-compliant and SGS-certified for safety and integrity.

When testing both the mid-range VX2 Extreme and the budget-priced VX5, I found myself accidentally popping Wheelies, that’s how powerful and torquey these e-scooters are in their max power setting. But they’re also quite controllable (and you don’t HAVE to use the max power mode!).

I also really like that the same scooters are often available with two or three different battery sizes, meaning you can save money on a lighter and lower range model, or you can decide to spend a bit more to get twice or more range. That kind of customization is almost never seen in the e-scooter industry, and definitely not at this price range.

Below are some of my favorite VMAX deals this Black Friday, but you can check out their entire page of sales here.

VMAX VX5 / VX5 Pro: Starts at just $249, which is an insane deal for these scooters

VX2 Extreme: $799 marked down from $999, and a scooter I just spent several days commuting around LA on

MOD Bikes Sales

MOD Bikes is an Austin-based electric bicycle retailer that offers national service yet has a local bike shop feel. The company’s bikes are admittedly more expensive than others, but they come with more features (like cool helmet-mounted turn signals) and heavier-duty designs than most other e-bikes in this price range.

MOD makes one of the only sidecar electric bikes available in the US, which I’ve personally tested out with my nephews and the family dog as willing passengers, and it rocks!

The company is also dedicated to other innovations, such as a really cool charging station designed for safely locking and storing e-bike batteries, all developed in-house.

MOD’s Black Friday sales cover nearly everything in their lineup, so you’ll want to check out the entire list here.

Aventon E-Bike Sales

Aventon is another one of those electric bike makers that has simply gotten more and more refined as time has gone on. Each new launch showcases more of the brand’s chops, combining power and performance with style and design.

This year I’m particularly glad to see sales on several of the brand’s commuter e-bikes, which have long been Aventon’s forte. You can check out all of Aventon’s Black Friday sales here.

• Aventon Soltera.2: Save $300 on this super-affordable metro-styled commuter e-bike
• Aventon Abound: Save $300 on Aventon’s premier cargo e-bike
• Aventon Aventure.2: Save $400 on this step-through adventure-style fat tire e-bike

Rad Power Bikes Sales

While Rad Power Bikes has certainly slipped from its once-leading position in North American e-bike sales, the company still has some promising offerings. With Black Friday pricing, those e-bikes are moving back towards the value proposition they once offered before the company began slowly walking prices up into the mid-range tier from their former budget-range glory.

This year, the company’s Black Friday deals include a free SafeShield battery with the purchase of several models, and deep discounts on other e-bikes.

The RadExpand 5 is now priced at just $1,099, which is an awesome price for this folding utility e-bike. The RadRunner 2 is down to $1,299, which is the price that the original RadRunner was launched for way back in 2019!

For more of the company’s sales, check out the entire range of models here.

I’ll keep an eye out for any other great Black Friday sales in the e-scooter and e-bike world. Like I said at the top of this article, there are hundreds of sales out there, and so this isn’t an exhaustive list.

Rather, these are several of the companies and sales I think are actually worth considering closely based on my experience covering the entire industry.

There are, of course, plenty of other good models out there, and you might find something great for you that wasn’t even on this list. That’s awesome! The important thing is that we’re all out there riding and having a good time. More two-wheelers and fewer four-wheelers is the name of the game, folks!