Elgo-Plus Springer Max-EB electric micro excavator asks: Can you dig it?
If you’re a middle-aged suburbanite looking to throw down the landscaping gauntlet on a rival dad, the Elgo-Plus Springer Max-EB battery electric micro excavator is absolutely the one-up yard machine you’ve been waiting for.
Picture the scene. You’ve just put your new wide-deck electric Deere to bed after one of the first mows of the season, and you look across the street and see Electrek‘s own Micah Toll, rolling a freakin’ Chinese electric excavator off a container making you look like a chump. What are you gonna do now? Dig with a shovel?
Imagine what your wife would say – or your kids! Who are you kidding? They’re his wife and his kids now. He has won.
If you’re under forty I’m sure all that seems like crazy gibberish, but I assure you: suburban gardening and landscaping is a subtle, competitive, and brutal determiner of the social pecking order in huge swaths of middle America, and I guarantee at least one of Micah’s neighbors clenched their jaw in rage when they saw those electric excavators and wheel loaders turn up. And for those dear weirdos, my dear weirdos, I have found the appropriate response: the Elgo-Plus Springer Max B electric excavator.
European design, American hardware
The Elgo-Plus Springer Max is sold throughout Europe with Vanguard V-twin power, but the Spring Max-EB ditches the 14 hp ICE deal in favor of a 3 kW 48V electric motor from Benevelli powered by a pair of 5 kWh Briggs & Stratton Vanguard Lithium-Ion batteries that are Made in the USA, and good for up to five hours of continuous work with a four hour charge time on 220/240V Level 2 power.
And if that’s not good enough for you, there’s a newer model reportedly in development that uses two Vanguard 48V 7.0-kWh fixed battery packs (Fi7.0) capable of fully charging in under two hours.
“Having already worked with Briggs & Stratton for more than three years, we had every confidence in choosing their Vanguard batteries to power our electric mini-digger,” Andrzej Zielinski, CEO of Elgo-Plus told Power Progress. “The Vanguard Fi7.0 batteries answered every requirement and have delivered excellent results in terms of productivity and performance.”
The Elgo-Plus Springer Max-EB electric excavator is available now throughout mainland Europe, and ships with a Danfoss Turolla shhark [sic] 6cc hydraulic pump, Vanguard 1050W onboard charger, along with three buckets (incl. a 70 cm grading bucket), a ripping tool, LED lights, and a charging cable for 20,800 Euro (!).
It’s not cheap, but it’s bound to raise the bar in the suburban landscaping world, while its smooth, quiet, and vibration-free operation will surely make it a favorite on construction sites, as well.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Elgo-Plus.
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The 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 SEL is more expensive than the more basic SE, but it’s a better lease deal this month – here’s the lowdown.
The 2025 IONIQ 5 SE Standard Range is the cheapest lease deal right now because it can be leased for $199 per month over 24 months with $3,999 due at signing.
If you want to drive the 2025 IONIQ 5 SE Long Range, which adds an extra 73 miles of range and 57 horsepower, the monthly payment rises to $229 per month over 24 months, with $3,999 due at signing. As CarsDirect points out, that puts the effective monthly cost at $396, and that’s a fantastic deal relative to the SE Long Range’s price of $48,125.
But when we look at the SEL trim, things get interesting: You can upgrade to the $51,075 SEL model for just $10 more per month.
Hyundai cut $40 off the lease price of the 2025 IONIQ 5 SEL in March, giving it a monthly price of $406. CarsDirect reports that Hyundai is able to offer this great deal on the SEL trim because of the comparably high residual value (65% vs. 63%) and $750 more in lease cash ($12,250 vs. $11,500) factored into the payment than the SE Long Range.
The SEL and SE Long Range have the same powertrain, but that extra $10 a month gets you projector headlights, roof rails, a hands-free power liftgate, a power passenger seat, heated rear seats, rear climate control vents, a heated steering wheel, and other goodies.
These 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 offers are advertised in Los Angeles and are valid through March 31.
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Environment
Tesla is banned from Canada EV rebate program, gov freezes suspicous $43 million in rebates
Tesla has been banned from upcoming federal EV rebate programs in Canada as the government freezes the suspicious $43 million in rebates that Tesla claimed days before the program was paused earlier this year.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Tesla claimed $43 million in government rebates from the iZEV federal EV rebate program in Canada just a few days before the program was paused due to a lack of funds.
The move was suspicious as it would have required Tesla to deliver over 8,000 vehicles at just 4 locations on a weekend, which is physically impossible.
It is believed that Tesla preemptively filed for thousands of rebates after being made aware of the pause to ensure it wouldn’t run out in an anticipated surge in demand due to the program’s pause.
However, this tactic proved problematic. The government told other car dealers who actually delivered EVs before the end of the program that they couldn’t get the rebates, which were already applied to the customer purchases, as Tesla took most of the money for vehicles it likely didn’t deliver.
Today, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s new transport minister, confirmed that the funds have been frozen until it can investigate precisely what happened with Tesla’s rebates.
Furthermore, Freeland confirmed that Tesla will be banned from future federal rebates for electric vehicles. In this case, it has more to do with the trade war launched by President Trump, whose biggest political donor is Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
She said (via the Toronto Star):
No payments will be made until we are confident that the claims are valid. I also directed my department to change the eligibility criteria for future iZEV programs to ensure that Tesla vehicles will not be eligible for incentives so long as the illegitimate and illegal U.S. tariffs are imposed against Canada.
The federal government is following the same strategy as some provinces. British Columbia has recently banned Tesla products from its EV charger rebate. Nova Scotia just announced that it has excluded Tesla from its $2,000 rebate at the purchase of a new EV.
Quebec just relaunched its own EV incentive program today. It will come into effect next week, and so far, Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y vehicles are still included in the list of eligible vehicles.
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XCharge North America (XCharge NA) and Hypercharge Networks are bringing bidirectional DC fast chargers to Canada, starting in British Columbia and Ontario.
The partnership will introduce XCharge NA’s battery-integrated GridLink 300 kW DC fast chargers that improve grid stability.
GridLink chargers are bidirectional, so they allow power to flow back into the grid or act as an off-grid energy source, contributing to overall grid stability. With a battery storage capacity of 215 kilowatt-hours (kWh), expandable up to 430 kWh, GridLink helps businesses avoid expensive grid upgrades and demand charges.
The chargers are capable of integrating directly with renewable energy sources like solar panels. This makes them ideal for regions still building out their electrical infrastructure to support rapid EV growth, particularly rural areas.
Under the deal, XCharge NA will supply the GridLink chargers, while Hypercharge will distribute them to automotive dealerships and other commercial customers throughout Canada. Hypercharge will manage software, customer support, and routine maintenance, and its team will receive special training from XCharge NA for more technical hardware repairs.
The partnership aims to address Canada’s rising demand for EV charging by making infrastructure more accessible and reliable. “We look forward to seeing how our GridLinks can help strengthen Canada’s grid stability, particularly in rural deployments, while also addressing the region’s growing demand for EVs and supporting electric transportation needs,” said Aatish Patel, cofounder and president of XCharge NA.
Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles
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