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Tesla Robotaxi hero

Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) this morning to dismiss Waymo’s progress in autonomous driving, claiming that the Alphabet-owned company “never really had a chance against Tesla” and that this will be “obvious in hindsight.”

The comment came as a direct response to a discussion about Waymo’s newly released safety data—a level of transparency that Tesla has yet to match.

The exchange started when Google DeepMind Chief Scientist Jeff Dean pointed out the massive disparity in validated autonomous mileage between the two companies. Dean noted that Tesla doesn’t have “anywhere near the volume of rider-only autonomous miles that Waymo has,” citing Waymo’s fresh milestone of 100 million rider-only miles.

Musk, who has promised a fleet of “1 million robotaxis” by the end of 2020 (a deadline that passed five years ago), responded with his usual bravado:

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“Waymo never really had a chance against Tesla. This will be obvious in hindsight.”

In fact, Tesla has zero Robotaxi miles with rider-only as its service still has in-car safety supervisors. Despite the safety drivers preventing an untold number of accidents, Tesla has a much higher accident rate with its supervised robotaxis than Waymo or average human drivers.

Even with this worrying situation, Musk said yesterday that Tesla plans to remove the safety drivers in the Austin Robotaxi within 3 weeks.

Musk’s comment is particularly ill-timed given the context. Waymo just released a massive tranche of safety data covering its operations across San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin. 

The data show that Waymo’s Driver avoids crashes at a rate significantly better than human drivers, with a 91% reduction in serious injury-causing crashes compared to human benchmarks.

Meanwhile, Tesla has yet to deploy a single vehicle without supervision for a commercial ride or even share anywhere near the amount of data Waymo shares..

While Tesla regularly releases a “safety report”, it was widely criticized by safety experts for being an “apples-to-oranges” comparison. Tesla’s report relied on airbag deployments as a proxy for crashes and lacked the granular injury data that Waymo provided. Furthermore, Tesla’s data covers a system that is supervised by a human 100% of the time, making it impossible to isolate the safety performance of the software itself.

Tesla frames the data as proving “FSD is better than human drivers”, but in truth, if you take the data, it faces value; it only compares “FSD with human supervision to human drivers.”

Electrek’s Take

I find it increasingly difficult to reconcile Elon’s statements with reality. Waymo is currently operating fully driverless commercial services in multiple major cities. Tesla is still testing a Level 2 driver-assist system that requires constant human attention.

Apple and oranges.

We are looking at two companies. One has nearly 100 million miles of documented, driverless driving with specific, published safety data showing it is safer than humans. The other has zero driverless miles, vague safety reports that rely on proxies like airbag deployments, and a CEO who has been promising “next year” for a decade.

For Elon to look at Waymo, which is currently operating the exact service Tesla has been trying to build for years, and say they “never had a chance” is baffling.

To put it in terms that a racing enthusiast like Elon might understand: He thinks Tesla is leading the race because he can see Waymo in his rear-view mirror. What he doesn’t realize is that he isn’t ahead; he’s actually being lapped.

When a car is a full lap ahead of you, it appears behind you on the track. But that doesn’t mean you are winning.

I understand that he believes that Tesla’s cheaper system will enable it to scale faster once it solves unsupervised self-driving, but there’s simply no evidence of that.

If Tesla removes the safety drivers from its fleet in three weeks, as Musk claims, which is a big if, it will officially be about 5 years behind Waymo and will still need to prove safety without a supervisor and then scale.


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Ford won’t give 2026 Mustang Mach-E buyers a frunk for free

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December 11, 2025

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Ford won't give 2026 Mustang Mach-E buyers a frunk for free

Ford-Mustang-Mach-E-2026

The 2026 Mustang Mach-E will not come with a standard frunk, but Ford says you can pay for it.

Ford drops free frunk from 2026 Mustang Mach-E

Because electric vehicles don’t require a massive internal combustion engine, the frunk, or front trunk, is an added bonus.

Nearly every EV has a frunk, but Ford reportedly won’t offer one for the 2026 Mustang Mach-E, at least not for free.

Speaking with The Electric Duo on YouTube recently, Teddy Ankeny, Ford’s new Mustang Mach-E brand manager, said drivers were not using it as much as the company expected.

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To save buyers a little money, Ford made it optional. Ankeny explained that Ford revised pricing across the Mach-E lineup to better align with what buyers were looking for. As a result, the 2026 Mustang Mach-E GT is about $1,000 cheaper than the outgoing model, starting at $53,395.

The 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E Select starts at $37,795, the same as the outgoing model. A new California Edition joins the Mach-E lineup for the first time, starting at $55,890.

Ford-Mustang-Mach-E-free-frunk
The 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT California Special (Source: Ford)

To give it its own identity, separate from the two-door Mustang, Ford gave the Mach-E California Edition a distinct Rave Blue color scheme.

The special edition model is built on the Mach-E GT with 280 miles of EPA-estimated driving range, 480 horsepower, and 700 lb-ft of torque.

Ford-Mustang-Mach-E-frunk-2026
Ford-Mustang-Mach-E-California-Special

The 2026 Mustang Mach-E is available to pre-order online and will begin arriving at dealerships in early 2026. Just how much the frunk will cost has yet to be announced.

In terms of specs, the 2026 model year is about the same as the 2025 Mustang Mach-E, but Ford is looking to cut costs anywhere it can, hence the optional Frunk.

Ford-Mustang-Mach-E-California-Special-interior
The interior of the 2026 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT California Special (Source: Ford)

Ford is offering other ways to save for those looking to go electric, including through its Ford Power Promise initiative.

The offer includes a free Level 2 home charger (plus standard installation), 24/7 live electric vehicle support, roadside assistance, and an 8-year, 100,000-battery warranty. If you already have a home charger, you can opt for a $2,000 cash bonus.

Interested in a test drive? With the 2026 models coming, Ford is heavily discounting 2025 Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning models with leases starting as low as $219 per month. You can use the links below to find the 2025 and 2026 models in your area.


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Jackery Christmas Sale takes up to 57% off power stations, Rad Power e-bikes up to $500 off, Exclusive refurbished Anker SOLIX, more

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2 hours ago

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December 11, 2025

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Jackery Christmas Sale takes up to 57% off power stations, Rad Power e-bikes up to 0 off, Exclusive refurbished Anker SOLIX, more


This week’s Thursday edition of Green Deals is following the trend of being headlined by another power station brand, as Jackery has launched its Christmas Holiday Sale with up to 57% discounts on units, complete with two extra savings codes starting from $79. Right behind it, we also have Rad Power Bikes’ Christmas e-bike sale with up to $500 discounts and new low prices starting from $1,399, as well as $1,280 exclusive savings on a refurbished Anker SOLIX F3800 Portable Power Station at a new $1,399 low, several Mammotion robot lawn mower deals, Goal Zero’s multi-purpose Torch 500 Light low, two unique cordless electric pressure washer deals from Fanttik, and much more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals collected together at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s Bluetti power station Christmas sale with up to 55% initial discounts and up to 8% exclusive bonus savings, Anker’s SOLIX 72-hour flash deals that end tonight, 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.

Jackery Christmas Holiday power station sale banner

Save up to 57% on Jackery power stations + bonus savings during its Christmas Holiday Sale – deals start from $79

Jackery has officially launched its Christmas Holiday Sale with up to 57% discounts, and two different thresholds to receive extra savings, as we saw during Black Friday. The brand’s newest HomePower 3600 Plus Portable Power Station can be scored during this event at $1,614.05 shipped, after using the code OFFER5 at checkout for an additional 5% off, which beats out Amazon’s pricing by $85. Only on the market since September, we’ve been getting plenty of deals bringing costs down from its $2,799 full price, with today’s rate matching its Black Friday pricing and only being beaten out by the $1,599, $1,519, and $1,499 rates that all popped up in various stages of Prime Day savings over one week in October. You’re getting the next-best price outside of those Prime Day deals here, with $1,185 total savings. Head below to learn more about it and browse the full lineup of Christmas Holiday savings.

As we saw during Jackery’s Black Friday events, we’re seeing the continuance of the two bonus savings codes that turn on once your cart reaches certain pricing thresholds. The code OFFER5 provides an extra 5% savings on orders of $1,500 to $2,499, while orders over $2,500 can use the code OFFER7 to score 7% extra savings.

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Jackery’s newest HomePower 3600 Plus station came along to fill the gap between the previously released HomePower 3000 station and the brand’s Explorer 5000 Plus station, which boasts the most expansive capabilities amongst the bunch. It does so with a 3,584Wh LiFePO4 starting battery capacity that can climb up to 21kWh with expansion accessories added on, and delivers up to 3,600W of power (surging as high as 7,200W) through its 10 output ports.

Like its predecessor, this new model has also been given an expanded tally of recharging options, with a standard AC outlet putting it back to full capacity in around 2.5 hours. You can also use both AC and DC charging simultaneously, connect a gas generator to take advantage of its bypass charging feature, plug into your car’s auxiliary port, or connect up to 1,000W of solar input.

***Note: None of the prices below have had any extra savings factored into their costs, so be sure to use one of the two above codes when your cart becomes eligible to get the absolute best deals during Jackery’s Christmas Holiday Sale!

Jackery’s Christmas Sale HomePower 3600 Plus offers:

Jackery’s other Christmas Sale critical load offers:

Jackery’s Christmas Sale appliance backup offers:

Jackery’s Christmas Sale outdoor adventure offers:

Jackery solar panel/expansion battery offers:

Jackery’s other device deals:

man and woman riding Rad Power e-bikes through forest

Rad Power’s Christmas Holiday Radness sale drops Radster Trail & Road e-bikes to new $1,599 lows (Save $400), more

Rad Power Bikes has officially launched its Christmas Holiday Radness Sale with up to $500 savings across multiple e-bikes – plus, a shipping deadline of December 16 to receive your order ahead of Christmas. Among the bunch, we spotted the latest Radster Trail Off-Road e-bike at $1,599 shipped, with its counterpart Radster Road Commuter e-bike also down at $1,599 shipped. Part of Rad’s new wave of e-mobility solutions, these e-bikes saw a permanent price cut from their original $2,199 MSRPs to $1,999 back in August, with discounts since having taken costs as low as $1,699 during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Now, you’re looking at an even greater $400 markdown while supplies last, landing these models down at new all-time lows.

If you want to learn more about these particular e-bikes, or browse the full lineup of deals, be sure to check out our original coverage of this Christmas sale here.

family walking towards RV with Anker SOLIX F3800 power station

Get a refurbished Anker SOLIX F3800 power station with $1,280 exclusive savings at a new $1,399 low

We have secured an exclusive deal from Wellbots on a refurbished Anker SOLIX F3800 Portable Power Station for $1,399 shipped, after using the exclusive code 9TO5XMAS100 at checkout for an additional $100 savings. This deal already starts off lower than ever, as the usual $2,679 price tag has been cut down to $1,499, but the exclusive savings our readers are getting take things even further. In our previous early Black Friday exclusive deal on this unit, the cost was taken down to $1,597, but today’s deal goes lower by $98 ($1,280 total savings) and marks a new all-time low for this renewed backup power solution.

If you want to learn more about this power station, be sure to check out our original coverage of this exclusive deal here.

father and dauther planting tree in yard with Mammotion robot lawn mower tending to grass

Gift autonomous lawn care support with up to 35% off Mammotion robot mowers – all starting from a $649 low

By way of its official Amazon storefront, Mammotion is offering up to 35% discounts across a collection of its robot lawn mowers, with most down at their next-best rates since Black Friday, while the YUKA Mini 500H Robotic Lawn Mower has returned to its best price of $649 shipped. Coming down from its $999 price tag here, we saw costs taken down to this same low rate back during the brand’s Black Friday sale event two weeks ago. For those who didn’t jump on the deal then, you’re getting another chance here today, thanks to the 35% markdown cutting $350 from the going rate to land back at the all-time lowest tracked price.

If you want to learn more about this robot lawn mower’s capabilities, or browse the full lineup of discounts on other models, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here.

man using Goal Zero Torch 500 multi-purpose light while working on car

Pick up Goal Zero’s solar-charging 500-lumen Torch Light and 5,200mAh power bank at $36 annual low

Through its official Amazon storefront, Goal Zero is offering the best price of the year on its Torch 500 Multi-Purpose Light at $35.89 shipped. It goes for $50 at full price, which we’ve been seeing regularly drop down to $38 over 2025, even during both Prime Day events. While it did go lower in 2024, you’re looking at the best price that we have tracked this year, giving you a multi-functional tool with $14 savings.

You can learn more about this handy tool by checking out our original coverage of this deal here.

man using Fanttik cordless electric pressure washer to clean patio furniture

Save up to 50% on Fanttik’s unique NB8 Fold and Ultra cordless electric pressure washers starting from a $130 low

Through the official Fanttik Amazon storefront, you can pick up the unique NB8 Fold Cordless Electric Pressure Washer for $129.99 shipped. It’s dropping down from its $210 full price, which we saw go as low as $150 in the first half of 2025, while the latter half has seen drops to $140, as well as the one-time previous fall to this same rate during Black Friday events two weeks ago. It’s coming back around for the second time here today, giving you $80 in savings to the best price that we have tracked. If you’re looking for something with a little more power, but still providing unique portability, the brand’s NB8 Ultra 4-gallon Cordless Pressure Washer is down at its second-lowest price of $199.99 shipped, too.

If you want to learn more about this unique electric pressure washers, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here.

Best Winter 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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Trump willing to seize more oil tankers off Venezuela coast, White House official says

Published

2 hours ago

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December 11, 2025

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Trump willing to seize more oil tankers off Venezuela coast, White House official says

U.S. preparing to seize more ships transporting Venezuelan oil: Reuters

President Donald Trump is willing to seize more oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela, a White House official told CNBC on Thursday.

The U.S. seized a tanker on Wednesday that had allegedly transported oil from Venezuela to Iran. The action comes as Trump escalates pressure on President Nicolás Maduro.

The White House official told CNBC that the Trump administration is always looking to enforce the law.

The oil market has been focused on Ukraine peace talks and so far is not indicating a risk of a major supply disruption. U.S. crude oil fell 86 cents, or 1.47%, to close at $57.60 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent settled at $61.28, down 93 cents, or 1.49%.

Sources told Reuters earlier that U.S. is expected to target more ships transporting Venezuelan crude in the coming weeks. The Treasury Department updated its Venezuela sanctions list on Thursday to include more than a dozen additional people, companies and tankers.

The tanker seized on Wednesday was a Very Large Crude Carrier, or VLCC, identified as the Skipper, Matt Smith, head U.S. analyst at energy consulting firm Kpler, told CNBC. It was loaded covertly with 1.1 million barrels in mid-November and appeared on course for Cuba, Smith said.

The tanker will be taken to a U.S. port and the oil will be seized, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. “However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed,” Leavitt said.

The tanker seizure comes amid a major U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean. The Trump administration has launched a series of deadly strikes in recent months on boats that it says were trafficking drugs to the U.S. Those strikes have been the subject of intense scrutiny in Congress over their legality.

Venezuela is a founding member of OPEC and has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It is exporting about 749,000 barrels per day this year, with at least half that oil going to China, according to data from Kpler.

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