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Infinite Machine’s debut product looks like it was carved out of a steel block in a dystopian future. The design is bold, brutalist, and unapologetically industrial. As a first product offering, it does a great job of catching people’s attention. Whether you like the look or not is up to you, but there is no denying that it is a head-turner. So when I had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with it, I knew I had to jump at that chance.

And after just an hour of riding the P1 around NYC, I can confidently say this thing turns heads for good reason. It’s fast, futuristic, and fun. This is just a first impression, but I’ll have it for an extended period soon — so stay tuned for a deeper dive and complete review. For now, let’s talk about my experience.

The specs

Let’s start with all the specs on paper, so you can see what we are dealing with. There is a lot to like with the P1 because you get:

Power, battery & tech

  • 6kW rear hub motor
  • Top speed: 65 mph (with Turbo Boost)
  • Up to 60 miles of range
  • 3.2 kWh removable battery (72V 45Ah)
  • Charges with a standard wall outlet
  • 7” touchscreen with a clean, CarPlay-style interface
  • Infinite Machine app: unlock/start, service, rider management, camera access, OTA updates
  • GPS tracking and dual cameras

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Safety & design

  • ABS braking system
  • Fire-resistant battery (UL 2271)
  • Kickstand/Park throttle lock, automatic lock system, real-time alerts
  • Front electronic wheel lock + motor lock
  • Records with both front and rear cameras
  • Room for two passengers
  • No motorcycle license needed up to 30 mph
  • Underseat storage, glovebox, and a bag hook
  • Integrated helmet lock

When you see all this, it could almost be overwhelming — the power, the tech, the modular features. But once you’re on it, the P1 is highly approachable. Everything is integrated and easy to use, even for someone with little to no experience riding this type of vehicle. It’s designed to make city commuting feel seamless from day one.

Ride experience

As I mentioned in the beginning, I only had about an hour with the vehicle, so these are my first impressions. I was able to test two of the three drive modes: Eco and Normal. There is also a Sport mode and a speed boost feature that I will be testing in my full review. I got to about 35 to 40mph for this test drive while navigating the NYC streets. I thought this environment was fantastic to see what the feel would be because this is what the P1’s target customer is. Someone who lives in a densely populated city but still needs to travel a few miles daily and doesn’t want to be stuck in traffic or use public transit like subways and buses. We drove through streets filled with potholes, unpaved sections, cobblestone streets, and cars double-parked everywhere and the P1 handled all of it with ease. The front and rear suspension smoothed everything out, and I never once felt like I was losing control, even over all this urban terrain.

One thing that I noticed after a bit is that because it’s fully electric, the ride is dead silent. No motor noise, no hum, just wind and city sounds. It felt like I was gliding through the streets, which made the ride even more immersive and surreal in the best way.

Tech experience

For me, the tech is half the selling point of a product like this. Of course, ride quality is extremely important, but being used to driving a Tesla, I want my tech experience to be straightforward and work. The P1 does this and does it exceptionally well. Everything is controlled from the Infinite Machine App. I have not gotten to use it on my own phone, but they showed me how it all works, and if you are familiar with the Tesla app, then you will feel right at home. The app allows you to:

  • Use your phone as your key
  • Add additional riders
  • Set up service
  • Access the built-in front and rear cameras
  • Get theft alerts and alarm triggers
  • Receive over-the-air updates

The app allows for everything and syncs beautifully with the 7-inch touchscreen on the P1 itself. The display feels like a mini CarPlay hub, responsive, clean, and easy to navigate.

One thing I did notice, though, is that the speaker under the display is pretty quiet. With how silent the ride is, a more robust built-in speaker system would be awesome. Infinite Machine is already working on a Bluetooth speaker add-on, which could scratch that itch.

Safety & security measures

They thought of everything security-wise. It has auto-lock features that engage when unattended. If someone messes with it, you get an alert, a siren goes off, and the vehicle locks itself down via motor and front wheel locks. It even records video using its dual cameras, a big win for safety and peace of mind. The kickstand and Park mode disable the throttle, so you can’t accidentally start engaging the P1. I would feel confident leaving this parked outside and not worry about someone stealing it. If they somehow can load it on top of it, it has an LTE connection, so I will always know where it is. It even has a backup power source if the battery is removed to power all the P1 controls and features.

Final take

The Infinite Machine P1 is a very cool and unique-looking e-scooter that checks off most boxes people would want out of a high-end and premium electric scooter. It’s a bold, tech-driven, design-first approach to urban mobility that seems to deliver.

Yes, it’s early days. Yes, it’s a startup. Yes, it’s expensive at a $10,000 starting price. But if this is their first swing? I’m excited to see what comes next. As I stated, I will have a full review coming soon when I get the chance to actually live with the P1 and see what its like to use it daily.

Let me know what questions you would want answered from a full review.

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Trump’s penalty threat puts India in a bind over Russian oil

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Trump's penalty threat puts India in a bind over Russian oil

The Reliance Industries Ltd. oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, on Saturday, July 31, 2021.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

India is navigating a tricky balancing act after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a “penalty” over its continued imports of Russian oil — a trade that New Delhi appears reluctant to end anytime soon.

Despite Trump telling reporters Friday that he “heard” India would halt purchases, officials in New Delhi have remained noncommittal. Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the country decides its energy import sources “based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time.”

“The Indians must be having some confusion” following Trump’s threat — a reversal from the more tolerant approach taken under the Biden administration, Bob McNally, president of consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“Now we’re flipping around and saying, ‘What are you doing taking all this Russian oil?'” McNally said.

In March 2022 — a month after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — Daleep Singh, a former U.S. deputy national security adviser for international economics in the Biden administration, reportedly said that “friends don’t set red lines” and “there is no prohibition at present on energy imports from Russia.” 

“What we would not like to see is a rapid acceleration of India’s imports from Russia as it relates to energy or any other exports that are currently being prohibited by us or by other aspects of the international sanctions regime,” Singh said.

On July 30, Trump announced that India would face a 25% tariff beginning Aug. 1, along with an unspecified “penalty” for buying Russian oil and military equipment.

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But analysts suggest that India, which is the third-largest energy consumer in the world, isn’t blinking. Reuters reported that there are no immediate changes planned to India’s long-term contracts with Russian suppliers, citing two anonymous Indian government sources that did not wish to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Russia has become the leading oil supplier to India since the war in Ukraine began, increasing from just under 100,000 barrels per day before the invasion, or a 2.5% share of total imports, to more than 1.8 million barrels per day in 2023, or 39%. According to the International Energy Agency, 70% of Russian crude was exported to India in 2024.

India’s energy minister Hardeep Singh Puri defended New Delhi’s actions in a July 10 interview with CNBC, saying that it helped stabilize global prices and was even encouraged by the U.S.

“If people or countries had stopped buying at that stage, the price of oil would have gone up to 130 dollars a barrel. That was a situation in which we were advised, including by our friends in the United States, to please buy Russian oil, but within the price cap.”

Russian oil exports had been capped at $60 per barrel in December 2022 by the Group of Seven nations, representing the world’s top economies, while the European Union had lowered the price cap to just above $47 per barrel in July.

Still, pressure is mounting. Vishnu Varathan, Managing Director at Mizuho Securities, said that the U.S. threats present a “clear and present danger” to India. He said that New Delhi is likely to remain non-committal on oil purchases as it assesses the trade-offs of this “Russia option” as a bargaining chip.

India will need to scour the global market for comparable oil bargains with Russian oil, Varathan, who is also the head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan, added.

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New Delhi could explore alternatives, including Iran — if an exemption from the U.S. can be negotiated — as well as a few other producers “either within or outside of the OPEC+ that have been pressured by the U.S,” Varathan said.

The OPEC+ bloc had agreed on Sunday to raise output by 547,000 barrels per day in September, as concerns mount over potential supply disruptions linked to Russia.

India is going to face a tough choice, Rapidan’s McNally said.

“Trump is serious. He’s frustrated with Putin… India is going to have a tough choice to make, but it’s hard to see them continuing to import that a million and a half barrels [of] Russian crude if Donald Trump decides to really put the whole relationship on the line over it.”

India's purchases of Russian oil helped to stabilize global oil prices: Hardeep Singh Puri

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Forbidden fruit: new Volkswagen Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions

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Forbidden fruit: new Volkswagen Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions

Wagons don’t get a lot of love Stateside, with American buyers choosing SUVs over – well, pretty much every other type of vehicle imaginable. That’s our loss, as the latest plug in hybrid versions of the Volkswagen Passat are here to prove.

The latest Passat Variant eHybrid (or, in some markets, Vario, which is what the Europeans like to call wagons) is different from the version we get in the US. Unlike the domestic version which is based on a low-cost platform specific to the US and China, the Euro-market version is built on the MQB platform that underpins VW’s flagship Arteon four-door coupe and both VW‘s and Audi’s entry-luxe SUVs.

That might seem weird, since VW has sold more than 34 million units sold worldwide and the Passat is the second top-selling Volkswagen of all time (behind the Golf and ahead of the Beetle). It’s understandable, then, that the European execs are pretty proud of their Passat.

The latest evolutionary stage of the modular transverse matrix (MQB evo)forms the highly innovative technical basis of the ninth Passat generation. Thanks to the significant economies of scale of the MQB evo, Volkswagen has again democratised numerous high-tech developments and made them available for hundreds of thousands of drivers. The two completely newly developed plug-in hybrid drives (eHybrid) are a perfect example of this. In combination with a new battery, they make all-electric ranges of around 100 km possible. This distance turns the new Passat Variant into an electric vehicle for everyday life – this is additionally ensured by short charging times as the battery can now be charged at AC charge points with 11 kW instead of the previous 3.6 kW. The Passat Variant eHybrid can even be charged with up to 50 kW at DC fast charging stations. In addition, the combination of electric drive motor and new economical turbocharged petrol engine provides overall ranges of around 1,000 km.

KAI GRÜNITZ
Member of the Brand Board of Management, VW

In case the jealous American wago-philes reading this aren’t jealous enough, Volkswagen has announced new Passat eHybrid Match and Black Editions that add nearly £5k of options for the new model year effectively for free.

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“Match is better equipped than the outgoing Life, with additional features including metallic paint, VW’s IQ.Light LED matrix headlights, tinted rear windows and an ‘assistance pack’ which adds area view and emergency assist,” reports Alastair Crooks, from the UK car site AutoExpress. “The new Black Edition comes with metallic paint, 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic sunroof, tinted rear windows (darker than the Match’s), heated front and rear seats, a head-up display, a 15-inch central touchscreen and the same assistance pack as the Match.”

The entry-level Match replaces the previous Life trim, but costs the same £45,555 (about $60,500), while the Black Edition costs the same as the outgoing R-Line, from £48,900 (about $64,950). The order books open 14 August.

You can take a look at some of the VW press photos of the European Passat wagon Variant, below, then let us know if you’d rather have this for $60K or the discount American version in the comments.


SOURCE | IMAGES: VW, via AutoExpress.


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E-quipment highlight: Wirtgen Vögele launches new electric MINI pavers

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E-quipment highlight: Wirtgen Vögele launches new electric MINI pavers

Wirtgen Vögele recently revealed the battery-powered MINI 500e and the MINI 502e electric pavers. With an electrically heated screed, a range of paving widths, and zero-emission operations, they’re paving a greener, cleaner path.

Co-developed by Wirtgen Vögele and Italian road equipment manufacturer C. M. S.r.l., the new electric pavers will enable contractors to bid on construction projects that are subject to even the strictest noise and emission limits – but the company is quick to point out that they’re capable enough to serve on conventional job sites.

“These pavers excel on small-scale construction projects and jobs covering a small area – the type of work for which paving crews would not previously have been able to use machines,” reads the official Wirtgen Vögele copy. “Thanks to their elimination of manual labor, among other benefits, the new MINI pavers improve the efficiency and quality of asphalt paving, particularly in the construction of sidewalks and drains, as well as in tight downtown locations.”

The new Wirtgen MINI 502e (the one with wheels) and the MINI 500e (the one with crawler tracks) offer pave widths from 0.25 to 1.8 m, feature a battery-electric drive outputting 22.8 kW (30 hp), and your choice of either a 15 kWh or 22 kWh 48V li-ion battery – good enough battery capacity for up to 16 hours of continuing paving. Both versions can be fully charged on a conventional 110/120 “L1” power socket in about eight hours.

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Electrek’s Take


Wirtgen Vögele MINI 500e; via Wirtgen.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the federal EV incentives are or even what the guys on your crew want to operate. What matters is that construction noise upsets Mrs. Clancik’s terrier, and she will force the town council to keep the noise down all by herself.

If your construction company wants to bid on any municipal work, that means you’re gonna have to stay quiet. Maybe even keep the smells to a minimum, too. Buying electric equipment means you can do both.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Wirtgen, via Construction Equipment International.


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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.

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