When Himiway proposed launching special US state versions of its e-bikes, the company hosted a poll to see what its users wanted most. California and Florida scooped up the most votes, and now we’re looking at what could be the first-ever US state e-bikes. And they look pretty cool, if you’re into sunny states.
Both models are based on the Himiway Zebra, itself a high-powered fat tire electric bike.
The bike can reach speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h) and includes a high-capacity 48V 20Ah battery. That 960Wh battery claims a maximum range of 80 miles on pedal assist, though you’re more likely to get less than half of that on throttle-only riding.
Even so, the Zebra has proven popular as an adventure-style fat tire e-bike that can handle street and trail riding. California and Florida are both known for having plenty of both, and so it seems like a fitting model to customize for the two states.
So just what goes into Himiway’s special-edition versions?
Special-edition California e-bike
The California e-bike has a purple gradient base color that is said to have been inspired by the evening sky over Southern California.
Famous Golden State landmarks grace the bike’s tubes, including San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge on the left and a Venice Beach sunset on the right.
The top tube features Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, with Himiway’s updated version of the star now featuring a bicycle.
Special-edition Florida e-bike
The Florida special-edition e-bike includes a shirtless Florida man with a mullet wrestling an alligator one-handed while trying not to spill his beer in the other hand.
Just kidding! Though there is an alligator! It’s one of several animals that represent the diverse wildlife that calls the Sunshine State home.
The local flora is also included, such as South Beach’s palm trees and the state’s famous orange blossoms that have become an iconic Florida symbol.
Key West’s Conch Republic gets a shoutout in Himiway’s custom paint job, showing off the southernmost point in the continental United States.
The entire scene is painted on top of an ocean blue seascape emblematic of the beautiful shallow waters around the state.
The two e-bike models go on sale today, and Himiway expects them to begin shipping by the end of March.
The bikes are priced at $2,299, which is a $300 premium over the base models that come in the comparatively bland color options of gray or white.
Only 100 units of each bike will be produced, so you better act fast if you want to make one yours. If you happen to miss it though, might I suggest a DIY version with this pack of stickers instead?
Electrek’s Take
That’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.
As someone who believes we are still early in the e-bike revolution, I like the idea of some of these special-edition e-bikes one day becoming collector’s items. I don’t know if it will happen, but I’d love to see it.
Considering so many e-bikes are produced, I imagine record-keeping could be difficult. There must be close to 100,000 RadRover e-bikes out there, for example. In another 20 or 30 years, how will we know which model year they were or when they were made (outside of their obvious production run timeline)?
But when you roll up to Barret Jackson’s auction block in a few decades on a Florida-themed limited- edition Himiway and there are only 99 others in existence, that might mean something. Maybe.
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National Grid Renewables has broken ground on its 100 MW Apple River Solar Project in Polk County, Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin solar farm, which will use US-made First Solar Series 6 Plus bifacial modules, will be constructed by The Boldt Company, creating 150 construction and service jobs. Apple River Solar will generate over $36 million in direct economic benefits over its first 20 years.
Once it comes online in late 2025, Apple River Solar will supply clean energy to Xcel Energy, which serves customers throughout the Upper Midwest. According to National Grid Renewables, the solar farm will generate enough energy to power around 26,000 homes annually. It will also offset about 129,900 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year – equivalent to taking 30,900 cars off the road.
“We are excited to see this project begin as it underscores our dedication to delivering clean, reliable and affordable energy to our customers,” said Karl Hoesly, President, Xcel Energy-Wisconsin and Michigan. “This project is an important step in those goals while bringing significant economic benefits to Polk County and the local townships.”
Electrekreported in February that Xcel Energy, Minnesota’s largest utility, expects to cut more than 80% – and possibly up to 88% – of its emissions by 2030, putting it on track to hit Minnesota’s goal of net zero by 2040. It also says it’s on track to achieve its clean energy goals for all the Upper Midwest states it serves – Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Michigan.
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Tesla has announced that it will finally deliver 500 kW charging as it is about to install its long-awaited V4 Supercharger cabinets.
The rollout of Supercharger V4 has been a strange one, to say the least.
Tesla has been deploying the new charging stations for two years and calling them “Supercharger V4”, but it has only been deploying the charging stalls.
Supercharger stations are made of two main parts: the stalls, which are where the charging cable is located, and the cabinets, which are generally located further back and include all the power electronics.
For all these new “Supercharger V4”, Tesla was actually using Supercharger V3 cabinets. This has been limiting the power output of the charging stations to 250 kW – although
Today, Tesla officially announced its “V4 Cabinet”, which the automaker claims will enable of “delivering up to 500kW for cars and 1.2MW for Semi.”
Here are the main features of the V4 Cabinet as per Tesla:
Faster charging: Supports 400V-1000V vehicle architectures, including 30% faster charging for Cybertruck. S3XY vehicles enjoy 250kW charge rates they already experience on V3 Cabinet — charging up to 200 miles in 15 minutes.
Faster deployments: V4 Cabinet powers 8 posts, 2X the stalls per cabinet. Lower footprint and complexity = more sites coming online faster.
Next-generation hardware: Cutting-edge power electronics designed to be the most reliable on the planet, with 3X power density enabling higher throughput with lower costs.
Tesla reports that its first sites with the new V4 Cabinets are going into permitting now. The company expects its first sites to open next year.
We recently reported about Tesla’s new Oasis Supercharger project, which includes larger solar arrays and battery packs to operate the charging station mostly off-grid.
Early in the deployment of the Supercharger network, Tesla promised to add solar arrays and batteries to all Supercharger stations, and Musk even said that most stations would be able to operate off-grid.
While Tesla did add solar and batteries to a few stations, the vast majority of them don’t have their own power system or have only minimal solar canopies.
Back in 2016, I asked Musk about this, and he said that it would now happen as Tesla had the “pieces now in place” with Supercharger V3, Powerpack V2, and SolarCity:
It took about 8 years, but it sounds like the pieces are now getting actually in place with Supercharger V4, Megapacks, and this new Oasis project.
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Hyundai has a new secret weapon it’s about ready to unleash. To revamp the brand in China and counter BYD’s surge, Hyundai is launching a new AI-powered EV next year. The new model will be Hyundai’s first dedicated electric car for the world’s largest EV market.
With the help of Haomo, a Chinese autonomous startup, Hyundai will launch its first EV equipped with generative AI. It will also be its first model designed specifically for China.
A Hyundai Motor official said (via The Korea Herald) the company is “working to load the software” onto the new EV model, “which will be released in the Chinese market next year.” The spokesperson added, “The level of autonomous driving is somewhere between 2 and 2.5.”
In comparison, Tesla’s Autopilot is considered a level 2 advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) on the SAE scale (0 to 5), meaning it offers limited hands-free features.
With Autopilot, you still have to keep your eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel, or the system will notify you and eventually disengage.
Haomo’s system, DriveGPT, unveiled last spring, takes inspiration from the OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT.
The system can continuously update in real-time to optimize decision-making by absorbing traffic data patterns. According to Haomo, DriveGPT is used in around 20 models as it looks to play a bigger role in China.
Hyundai hopes new AI-powered EV boosts sales in China
Electric vehicle sales continue surging in China. According to Rho Motion, China set another EV sales record last month with 1.2 million units sold, up 50% from October 2023.
Over 8.4 million EVs were sold in China in the first ten months of 2024, a notable 38% increase from last year.
BYD continues to dominate its home market. According to Autovista24, BYD accounted for 32.9% of all PHEV and EV (NEV) sales in China through September, with over half of the top 20 best-selling EV models.
Tesla was second with a 6.5% share of the market, but keep in mind these numbers only include plug-in models (PHEV).
Like most foreign automakers, Hyundai is struggling to keep up with the influx of low-cost electric models in China. Beijing Hyundai’s sales have been slipping since 2017. Through September, Korean automaker’s share of the Chinese market fell to just 1.2%.
According to local reports, Hyundai is partnering with other local tech companies like Thundersoft, a smart cockpit provider, and others in China to power up its next-gen EVs
With its first AI-powered EV launching next year, Hyundai hopes to turn things around in the region quickly. The new model will be one of five to launch in China through 2026.
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