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Today’s Green Deals are kicking off April with some major savings, led by EcoFlow’s newly launched Easter Sale that is taking up to 60% off power stations, along with scheduled flash sales, free gear at pricing thresholds, and even larger EcoCredit rewards – including bonus savings – than we’ve seen in past sales. Among the lineup, there’s the DELTA 2 Solar Generator bundle that comes with an expansion battery and two 110W solar panels down at a $1,049 low, among many others. We also spotted Lectric’s one-day-only April Fools flash sale that isn’t joking around as its XP 3.0 e-bikes lead a bunch of price cuts and changed-up bundle packages at new $899 and $1,099 lows. Lastly, EGO is continuing its Power+ savings event with its EGO POWER+ 56V 15-inch String Trimmer that comes with a 2.5Ah battery at $159, along with plenty more lawn care solutions at discounted rates. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals are in the links at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s new low price on the NIU BQi-C3 Pro e-bike, the $400 discount on Segway’s latest Max G3 e-scooter, 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.

EcoFlow Easter Sale takes up to 60% off power stations with free gear, increased EcoCredit rewards, more – all from $169

Now that we’ve switched over to April, EcoFlow has launched its Easter Sale through April 14, with up to $3,737 taken off power stations, complete with scheduled flash sales, free gear at certain thresholds, and higher EcoCredit rewards for members than we’ve seen. Of the two web-exclusive offers this time around, we spotted the DELTA 2 Portable Power Station bundle with a smart extra battery and two 110W solar panels for $1,049 shipped. This package would normally run you $2,596 at full price, and we don’t often see this combination of gear all bundled together either – with past sales mostly offering either the panels or the expansion battery. The deal here comes in as a 60% markdown that puts $1,547 back in your pocket to give you the lowest price we have tracked.

There’s some solid additional savings and promotions going on during this sale, starting with you getting a free Power Hat ($129 value) on orders over $500 or two 125W solar panels ($499 value) on orders over $3,000. From there, we’re seeing increased rewards for members (free to sign-up + get 800 EcoCredits), with standard membership giving you 3x EcoCredits and Plus members scoring 3.5x EcoCredits – plus, you can redeem any you already have to get 5% in extra savings off your order at checkout. On top of this, you’ll also be getting an additional 500 EcoCredits for each order you place during the sale’s timeframe.

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EcoFlow’s DELTA 2 power station makes a great companion for outdoor travels, and trips in general – plus, it can certainly handle keeping essentials running at home should you find yourself in a sudden blackout. This bundle starts you off at a 2,048Wh LiFePO4 capacity that you can further expand to 3,072Wh with an additional expansion battery. It boasts 15 output ports, through which it can dish out up to 1,800W of steady power that is able to surge up to 2,200W for larger backup needs.

The increased power output, as well as charging times, are increased from the brand’s X-Boost tech that is present here, giving you an 80% battery in just 50 minutes when plugged into a wall outlet, or you can wait a little longer at 80 minutes for a full battery. The included solar panels in the bundle give you the option to recharge via the sun’s rays, which you can increase up to a maximum of 500W of input. There’s also the option to connect it to your car’s auxiliary port or utilize its max 1,100W of DC input.

EcoFlow Easter Sale DELTA Pro deals:

EcoFlow Easter Sale DELTA Pro 3 deals:

EcoFlow Easter Sale DELTA Pro Ultra deals:

EcoFlow Easter Sale on-the-go power deals:

EcoFlow Easter Sale expansion battery deals:

EcoFlow Easter Sale solar panel deals:

EcoFlow’s other deals:

You can view the entirety of this sale on the landing page here through April 14, and be sure to keep your eyes open for the flash savings that are scheduled to drop on April 4, 7, 10, and 13-14. We spotted the brand’s newest release, the RIVER 3 Plus Portable Power Station, getting its first discount at Amazon a few days ago, which took costs down to a new $189 low for as long as the savings last.

Lectric Xp 3.0 e-bike

Lectric cuts prices on best-selling XP 3.0 e-bikes to new lows starting from $899 (Today only), more

Lectric has launched an April Fools flash sale through the rest of the day that is taking $100 off all its XP 3.0 e-bikes, plus some additional price cuts from previous sales’ higher rates and bundle change-ups on other models – no joke! Through the day until midnight tonight, you can now score the standard XP 3.0 e-bikes for $899 shipped and the XP 3.0 Long-Range e-bikes for $1,099 shipped. These models are getting brought down off their $999 and $1,199 price tags, with no bundles of free gear coming along – though much of the popular gear that usually comes in bundles are discounted on their landing pages. While we saw the long-range models drop to $1,139 at the end of February and ride through March, this is the first price cut we’ve spotted on the standard models, dropping either version of these popular e-bikes to new all-time low prices.

There’s a reason Lectric’s XP 3.0 e-bikes are the best-selling in America: not only do they offer reliable commuting power, but they do so at a far more affordable rate than most other brands on the market – plus, with these price cuts, the pot is only being sweetened further. The folding frame on any of these e-bikes house a 500W hub motor that peaks at 1,000W, delivering 20 MPH speeds unless you live within a state that permits the higher 28 MPH speeds.

The big difference (and big choice) here will depend entirely on just how far you need it to carry you throughout the day, with its pedal assistance providing you with 45 miles of travel riding the standard models and up to 65 miles of travel riding the long-range models. Yes, don’t worry, there are throttles to go entirely electric, though keep in mind doing so will decrease your traveling range. Along with the free add-on gear, you’ll also enjoy some quality stock features, like the integrated rear cargo rack, puncture-resistant tires, 180mm hydraulic disc brakes, the previously mentioned foldable body, an LCD display, and more.

Lectric XP 3.0 e-bike price cuts – no jokes here! (Today only):

Lectric XPedition 2.0 offers with up to $654 bundles:

Lectric XPress 750 Commuter e-bikes with $557 bundle

Lectric ONE LR e-bike with $467 bundle

Lectric XP Trike with $420 bundle

Lectric XPeak 2.0 offers with up to $316 bundles and price cuts:

Lectric XP Lite 2.0 offers with up to $177 bundles:

EGO 56V 15-inch split-shaft cordless string trimmer

Get those weeds under control with EGO’s 56V 15-inch cordless split-shaft string trimmer at $159

Amazon is offering the EGO POWER+ 56V 15-inch String Trimmer with 2.5Ah battery for $159 shipped. Coming down off its more recent $180 rate that is down from its original $200 price tag, this package has mainly kept to its MSRP for most of the last year, with discounts dropping things lowest to $149 back in May 2024 and completely skipping over it for Black Friday and Christmas sales. Today’s deal shaves $21 off the recent going rate ($41 off in total) to give you the third-lowest price we have tracked, sitting just $10 above the low from last summer’s start.

With spring here and many folks jumping back into outdoor upkeep around the home, this is a great opportunity to do away with the noise and fumes of gas guzzlers for an electric solution. This split-shaft string trimmer from EGO delivers a 15-inch cutting swath that is easier to replace broken lines thanks to the rapid-reload head. It also comes with a variable speed control for more versatility in the jobs your tackling, as well as an IPX4 weather resistance that can handle sudden weather changes while you’re still working.

Other notable EGO lawncare deals:

We’ve covered a lot of amazing deals from EGO over the last few weeks that are still going strong. Be sure to check them out before the savings abruptly end:

Best New Year EV 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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Opinion: it’s time to start recommending some Tesla alternatives

Published

3 hours ago

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May 24, 2025

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Opinion: it's time to start recommending some Tesla alternatives

buy this not that - buy these cars instead of tesla

For years, Tesla has been the go-to EV recommendation for “normals” looking for a painless, low-effort experience from their first electric cars. In light of questionable recalls and its CEO’s recent involvement in controversial politics, however, people are starting to distance themselves from the trailblazing company.

All that begs the question: what should we recommend to EV noobs now?

Despite early quality issues and ongoing service headaches, the groundbreaking S3XY lineup of EVs have always had a secret weapon in the form of the Tesla Supercharger network.

That network of dependable high-speed chargers, paired with solid app integration that makes it easy for Tesla drivers to find available chargers just about anywhere in the US, gave the brand a leg up – but no more. By opening up the Supercharger network to brands like Ford, Hyundai, Kia, and others, Tesla has given away its biggest competitive advantage.

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Add in charging and route-planning apps like Chargeway, that make navigating the transition from CCS to NACS easier than ever with its intuitive colors and numbers and easy on/off switch for vehicles equipped with NACS adapters, and it feels like the time is right to start suggesting alternatives to the old EV industry stalwarts. As such, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Here, then, are my picks for the best Tesla S3XY (and Cybertruck) alternatives you can buy.

Less Model S, more Lucid Air

Lucid-$20K-EV
Lucid Air sedans; via Lucid.

Developed by OG Tesla Model S engineers with tunes from Annie Get Your Gun playing continuously in their heads, the Lucid Air promises to be the car Tesla should and could have built, if only Elon had listened to the engineers.

With panel fit, material finish, and overall build quality that’s at least as good as anything else in the automotive space, the Lucid Air is a compelling alternative to the Model S at every price level – and I, for one, would take a “too f@#king fast” Lucid Air Sapphire over an “as seen on TV” Model S Plaid any day of the week. And, with Supercharger access reportedly coming later this quarter, Air buyers will have every advantage the Supercharger Network can provide.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Less Model 3, more Hyundai IONIQ 6

Hyundai-free-charger-EVs-IONIQ-6
2025 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited; via Hyundai.

Hyundai has been absolutely killing it these days, with EVs driving record sales and new models earning rave reviews from the automotive press. Even in that company the IONIQ 6 stands out, with up to 338 miles of EPA-rated range and lickety-quick 350 kW charging available to make road tripping easy – especially now that the aerodynamically efficient IONIQ 6 has Supercharger access through a NACS adapter (the 2026 “facelift” models get a NACS port as standard).

The company’s sole electric sedan hasn’t seen the same sales success as IONIQ 5, of course – but that has more to do with America’s insatiable lust for crossovers and SUVs than any shortcoming inherent in the IONIQ 6 itself. All the same, Hyundai is helping dealers clear out its remaining 2024 and ’25 models with 0% financing for up to 48 months through June 2nd.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Less Model X, more Volvo EX90

2025 Volvo EX90; via Volvo Cars.

Once upon a time, Mrs. Jo Borrás and I were shopping three-row SUVs and found ourselves genuinely drawn to the then-new Model X. Back then it was the only three-row EV on the market, but it wasn’t Elon’s antics or access to charging, or even the Model X’s premium pricing that squirreled the deal. It was the stupid doors.

We went with the similarly new Volvo XC90 T8 in denim blue, and followed up the big PHEV with a second, three years later, in Osmium Gray. When it’s time to replace this one, you can just about bet your house that the new 510 hp EX90 with 310 miles of all-electric range will be near the top of the shopping list.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Less Model Y, more Kia EV6

Kia-EV6-GT-lease
2024 Kia EV6 GT; via Kia.

If half the fun of driving a Model Y is terrifying your passengers with its straight-line speed, then the Kia EV6 has to be a serious contender for a replacement.

The sporty EV6 GT made its global debut by drag racing some of the fastest ICE-powered cars of the day, including a Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG GT, a Porsche, even a turbocharged Ferrari – and it beat the pants off ’em. Combine supercar-baiting speed with an accessible price tag, NACS accessibility, $10,000 in customer cash on remaining 2024 models ($3,000 on 2025s) and just a hint of Lancia Stratos in the styling, the EV6 is tough to beat.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Less Cybertruck, more therapy

Image created by Chat GPT.

It’s not bulletproof, it’s not easy to upfit, it shouldn’t be used for towing, and it won’t win in a straight fight against a vinyl picket fence. By just about every standard “truck” metric, the Tesla Cybertruck falls short against the competition from Chevrolet, Ford, and Rivian. On a more subjective front, the Cybertruck has become a symbol for a conservative movement that is (depending on your point of view) either making America great again or plunging a once-great democracy into an era of fascist oligarchy and widespread stupidity.

In short, it’s probably best to skip the CT.

If you disagree with that statement and feel like driving a new Tesla Cybertruck is the key to happiness, I’m not sure an equally ostentatious GMC Hummer EV or more subtle Rivian R1T will help you scratch that particular itch – but maybe therapy might!

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Original content from Electrek.

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Republicans won’t defeat EVs – but in fighting them, may kill US auto industry

Published

7 hours ago

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May 24, 2025

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Republicans won't defeat EVs - but in fighting them, may kill US auto industry

BYD's-largest-car-transport-ship
BYD Shenzhen, the world’s largest car transport ship (Source: BYD)

Republicans launched multiple attacks against EVs, clean air and American jobs this week, at the behest of the oil industry that funds them. These attacks won’t be successful, and EVs will continue to grow regardless, and inevitably take over for outdated gasoline vehicles.

However, these republican attacks on EVs will still have some effect: they will diminish the US auto industry globally, leading to job losses and surrendering one of the jewels in the crown of American industry to China, where there is no similar effort to destroy its own domestic EV industry.

Republican attacks on clean air this week included moves to block funding that has led to a renaissance in US manufacturing and also to illegally block clean air laws. They also moved forward with a procedural step towards increasing US fuel costs by $23B, an effort which the former reality TV contestant posing as the head of the DOT announced in January.

These moves shouldn’t be a big surprise – republicans have opposed clean air and American jobs for many years now, and they’re doing it because they want to maintain the bribes they get from the oil industry.

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But they should inspire worry for Americans, because they will only harm the country’s domestic manufacturing base in the face of a changing auto industry.

Republicans keep trying to kill clean cars

The last time a republican occupied the the White House, we saw similar efforts to try to raise fuel and health costs for Americans, and to block superior EV technology from flourishing. That didn’t work in the end, and EVs continued to grow both during that period and after.

All the while, fossil fuels have maintained their privileged policy position, being allowed to pollute with impunity and costing the US $760 billion per year in externalized costs. Much of that subsidy is accounted for in the cost of pollution from gas cars, which are one of the primary uses of fossil fuels, which means that, in fact, gasoline vehicles receive much more subsidy than EVs do.

And yet, EVs still managed to grow substantially, despite these headwinds. EV sales have continued to grow, both in the US and globally, even as headlines incorrectly say otherwise. The republican party’s attempts to kill them were futile, and will continue to be.

It didn’t work, but it did delay progress

However, anti-EV actions from Mr. Trump and the republican party did manage to delay progress from where it could have been if America actually instituted smart industrial policy earlier.

What if, instead of the bumbling, idiotic nonsense we went through the last time Mr. Trump squatted in the White House, we could have had something more like President Biden’s EV policy, which created hundreds of thousands of jobs and attracted hundreds of billions of dollars of manufacturing investment?

Surely the American auto industry would be ahead of where it is now if those investments had had time to come online. But instead, republicans are currently trying to kill those jobs, which has already led to several manufacturing projects being cancelled this year, depriving Americans of the economic boost they need right now.

Meanwhile, there’s one place that this sort of stumbling isn’t happening: China.

China is taking advantage

China has spent more than a decade focusing on securing material supply, building refining capacity, developing their own battery technology, and encouraging local EV manufacturing startups.

This has paid off recently, as Chinese EVs have been rapidly scaling in production in recent years. It took a lot of the auto industry by surprise how rapidly Chinese companies have scaled, and how rapidly Chinese consumers have adopted them, after having an initially slow start.

But that adoption hasn’t just been local, it’s also global. Last year, China became the largest auto exporter in the world, taking a crown that Japan had held for decades. But the change was even more dramatic than that – as recently as 2020, China was the sixth-largest auto exporter in the world, just behind the US in 5th place.

China’s dramatic turn upward started in 2020, and now it’s in first place. Meanwhile, because of all the faffing about, the US remains exactly where it was in 2020 – still in fifth place. Well, sixth now, since China eclipsed us (and everyone else).

Tariffs won’t fix it

The reaction of the rest of the world’s automaking countries has been to put tariffs on Chinese autos, hoping to forestall the country’s dramatic rise to dominance. (Although, due to Mr. Trump’s idiotic flailing, Europe is already talking about removing these trade barriers with China)

But tariffs have been tried before, and they didn’t work. When Japan had a similarly meteoric rise to global prominence as an auto manufacturer in the 1970s and 80s, largely due to their adoption of new technology, processes, and different car styles which incumbents were ignoring, the US tried to stop it with tariffs.

All this did was make US manufacturers complacent, and Japan still managed to seize and maintain the crown of top auto exporter (occasionally trading places with Germany) from then until now.

Then as now, the true way to compete is to adapt to the changing automotive industry and take EVs seriously, rather than giving the auto industry excuses to be complacent. But instead, republicans aren’t doing that, and in fact are working to ensure the American auto industry doesn’t adapt, by actively killing the incentives that were leading to a boom in domestic manufacturing investment.

US auto industry jeopardized by republicans

Make no mistake about it: destroying EV incentives, and allowing companies to pollute more and innovate less, will not help the US auto industry catch up with a fast moving competitor.

As we at Electrek have said for years, you cannot catch up to a competitor that is both ahead of you and moving faster than you.

This applies to individual companies, which took their sweet time responding to the challenge from electric upstarts like Tesla, and have now lost market share to said upstarts and let a competitor establish itself in a big way (even though Tesla’s CEO is now trying desperately to harm his own company specifically, and the US EV industry as a whole, by being the largest funder of the party working to destroy said industry).

It also applies to nations, which could have spent the last decade doing what the Chinese auto industry has been doing, but instead non-Chinese automakers have been begging their governments for more time, even though it’s not the regulations that threaten them, it’s competition from a new and motivated rival that is moving faster and in a more determined manner towards the future.

The way that we get around this should be clear: take EVs seriously.

But that’s not what republicans are doing, and in doing so, they are signing the death warrant for an important US industry in the long term.

Another thing republicans are trying to kill is the the rooftop solar credit, which means you could have only until the end of this year to install rooftop solar on your home before the cost of doing so goes up by an average of ~$10,000. So if you want to go solar, get started now, because these things take time and the system needs to be active before you file for the credit.

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. It has 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 Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here. – ad*

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Environment

Heavy equipment space race heats up with new Vermeer lunar excavator

Published

7 hours ago

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May 24, 2025

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Heavy equipment space race heats up with new Vermeer lunar excavator

Vermeer collaborates on moon excavator prototype

International equipment manufacturer Vermeer has unveiled a full-scale prototype of its Interlune excavator, a machine designed to ingest 100 metric tons of rocks and dirt per hour, extracting valuable helium as it makes its way across the surface … of the Moon.

Helium plays a critical role in the manufacturing of semiconductors, chips, optics, and all the other stuff that makes EVs, autonomy, the Internet, and the rest of twenty-first century life possible. The problem is that, despite being the second-most common element in the universe, helium is pretty rare on Earth – and we are rapidly running out. As such, there are intense economic and political pressures to find new and reliable sources of helium somewhere, anywhere else, and that demand has sparked a new modern space race focused on harvesting helium on the Moon and getting it back home.

To that end, companies like American lunar mining startup Interlune and the Iowa-based equipment experts at Vermeer are partnering on the development of suite of interplanetary equipment assets capable of digging up lunar materials like rocks and sand from up to three meters below the surface, extract helium-3 (a light, stable isotope of helium believed to exist in abundance on the Moon), then package it, contain it, and ship it back to Earth.

“When you’re operating equipment on the Moon, reliability and performance standards are at a new level,” says Rob Meyerson, Interlune CEO. “Vermeer has a legacy of innovation and excellence that started more than 75 years ago, which makes them the ideal partner for Interlune.”

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Enter: Japan

Komatsu lunar excavator; photo by the author.

America isn’t the only spacefaring nation eyeing a helium mine on the Moon. Japan announced similar plans back in 2023, with Japanese construction giant Komatsu announcing plans to develop a fully electric excavator capable of operating on the lunar surface.

The company showed a scaled prototype of the machine at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (above), emphasizing the need to develop new ways to operate equipment assets in the extreme temperatures of extraplanetary environments beyond diesel or even hydrogen combustion.

On the airless surface of the moon, it would be impossible for an internal combustion engine to operate on the moon’s surface because there is no oxygen for combustion. Electrically powered machines seem the obvious solution with solar power generation supplying the electricity. But the answer is not that simple.

Temperature changes on the surface of the moon are extreme. They can soar to 110° C and plummet to -170° C. Developing electric construction machinery to perform in this environment is no easy task, but Komatsu is tackling issues one by one as they appear. Using thermal control and other electrification technologies, we are engineering solutions.

KOMATSU

Despite Komatsu’s apparent head start, however, Vermeer seem to pulled ahead – not just in terms of machine development, but in terms of extraction potential as well.

“The high-rate excavation needed to harvest helium-3 from the Moon in large quantities has never been attempted before, let alone with high efficiency,” said Gary Lai, Interlune co-founder and CTO. “Vermeer’s response to such an ambitious assignment was to move fast. We’ve been very pleased with the results of the test program to date and look forward to the next phase of development.”

Interlune is funded by grants from the US Department of Energy and NASA TechFlights. In 2023, the company received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research award to develop the technology to size and sort lunar regolith (read: dirt). Interlune has raised $18 million in funding so far, and is planning its first mission to the Moon before 2030.

Electrek’s Take

Interlune helium harvester concept; via Interlune.

We’ve got space travel, weird mineral extraction from another planet that’s essential for our technology, and a rapid, unchecked proliferation of AI. All we need now is big worms, a whole bunch of hallucinogenic narcotics, and the will to smash up a bunch of data centers with baseball bats – then we’ll have a pretty decent Dune LARP going. Yee-ha!

SOURCE | IMAGES: Interlune.

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