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Nascent solar electric catamaran manufacturer ZEN Yachts has announced the closing of a Series A funding round totaling 5.5 million euros ($5.86M), sponsored entirely by Ocean Zero, LLC. The zero emissions boatbuilder looks to use the fresh round of funding to continue construction of the first hulls of its ZEN50 solar electric catamaran, of which additional preorders have now been secured.

The ZEN Yachts name stands for “Zero Emission Nautic Ltd. – an ocean-conscious boatbuilder founded as recently as 2021 that is headquartered in Spain. To help propel the popularity of zero-emission yachts and maximize their performance, the company has combined both wind sailing with electric propulsion.

Its voyage into the marine market begins with the ZEN50, a 50+ foot solar electric catamaran currently being built near Barcelona. The 12-passenger electric yacht features 2 x 50kW brushless DC motors, powered by a 160 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack.

The main pack is supported by an entire rooftop of solar panels, offering a peak power of 16 kW, allowing the ZEN50 to cruise at 4.5-5 knots using the power of the sun alone and 14+ knots using the electric motor and wingsail combined. The Oceanswings wingsail comes from AYRO, making the ZEN yacht the first series production leisure craft to feature this fully-automated wingsail technology.

Last spring, we shared specifications of the all-electric ZEN50, in addition to word that ZEN Yachts had secured its first pre-order. The company has since pivoted its hull construction strategy, but has completed a successful round of Series A funding to get it there.

  • ZEN yachts
  • Zen Electric Yacht
  • ZEN electric yacht

ZEN gains funding, but electric yacht construction delayed

ZEN Yachts announced the funding round today, committed entirely by Ocean Zero, LLC, which invests specifically in young companies working to decarbonize transportation across the planet’s oceans, rivers, and seas.

Ocean Zero’s operating partner is former Washington Post Magazine editor-in-chief Stephen Petranek, who is supported by managing partner Chris Anderson, curator of the TED conferences and the TED Countdown Initiative. Petranek spoke to the fund’s investment in ZEN’s electric yacht technology:

Ocean Zero seeks visionaries who have a realistic shot at making a significant leap in scale and impact to change the overall emissions of CO2 and other pollutants incurred by sea shipping, ferries and recreational boats. Decarbonizing sea transport and recreational boating no longer requires a leap in imaginative engineering and science. It’s possible right now. And time is running out. Boats produce more atmospheric CO2 each year than all the airlines in the world. This is a massive problem that has solutions that can be adopted immediately. We need innovative companies like Zen Yachts to lead us into the new world of boat electrification.

During the announcement, ZEN Yachts shared that it has garnered three additional pre-orders, meaning its first four solar electric catamaran reservations are spoken for. In speaking with the team, we learned that the boatbuilder decided to invest in series production molds and has consequently, experienced a carbon hull production delay.

The new molds are currently being produced, but deliveries of hulls 1 and 2 are now expected to arrive in Q1 and Q2 of 2024 respectively, due to production pivot. Looking ahead, ZEN Yachts intends to officially debut during the International Multihull Show at La Grande Motte in France in mid-April.

After that, ZEN has announced its inaugural Community Days planned for June 8-9 at his headquarters in Barcelona.

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Tesla offered many Cybertruck trade-ins above purchase price in apparent glitch

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Tesla offered many Cybertruck trade-ins above purchase price in apparent glitch

Over the weekend, Tesla began offering many Cybertruck trade-in estimated values above the original purchase price, apparently due to a glitch in its system.

Tesla offers online trade-in estimates for individuals considering purchasing a vehicle from them.

Over the last few days, Cybertruck owners who submitted their vehicles through the system were surprised to see Tesla offering extremely high valuations on the vehicle, often above what they originally paid for the electric truck.

Here are a few examples:

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  • $79,200 for a 2025 Cybertruck AWD with 18,000 miles. Since this is a 2025 model year, it was eligible for the tax credit and Tesla is offering the same price as new without incentive.
  • Here Tesla offered $118,800 for a 2024 Cybertruck ‘Cyberbeast’ tri-motor with 21,000 miles.
  • In this example, Tesla offers $11,000 more than the owner originally paid for a 2024 Cybertruck.

The trade-in estimates made no sense. Tesla has been known to offer more attractive estimates online and then come lower with the official final offer, but this is on a whole different level.

Some speculated that Tesla’s trade-in estimate system was malfunctioning, while others thought Tesla was indirectly recalling early Cybertrucks.

It appears to be the former.

Some Tesla Cybertruck owners who tried to go through a new order with their Cybertruck as a trade-in were told by Tesla advisors that the system was “glitching” and they would not be honoring those prices.

Tesla told buyers that it would be refunding its usually “non-refundable” order fee.

Electrek’s Take

That’s a weird glitch. I assume that it was trying to change how the trade-in value would be estimated and the new math didn’t work for the Cybertruck for whatever reason.

It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.

The Cybertruck’s value is already quite weird due to the fact that Tesla still has new vehicles made in 2024, which are not eligible for the tax credit incentive, while the new ones made in 2025 are eligible.

There’s also the Foundation Series, which bundles many features for a $20,000 higher price.

All these things affect the value and can make it hard to compare with new Cybertrucks offered with 0% interest.

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At $28,000 off, is the Jeep Wagoneer S the best EV deal going? [update]

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At $28,000 off, is the Jeep Wagoneer S the best EV deal going? [update]

Like a 90s “gifted” kid that was supposed to be a lot of things, the electric Jeep Wagoneer S never really found its place — but when dealers started discounting the Jeep brands forward-looking flagship by nearly $25,000 back in June, I wrote that it might be time to give the go-fast Wagoneer S a second look.

This month, the discounts are even better.

UPDATE 23AUG25: I found you some even better EV deals!


Whether we’re talking about Mercedes-Benz, Cerberus, Fiat, or even Enzo Ferrari, outsiders have labeled Jeep as a potentially premium brand that could, “if managed properly,” command luxury-level prices all over the globe. That hasn’t happened, and Stellantis is just the latest in a long line of companies to sink massive capital into the brand only to realize that people will not, in fact, spend Mercedes money on a Jeep.

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That said, the Jeep Wagoneer S is not a bad car (and neither is its totally different, hideously massive, ICE-powered Wagoneer sibling, frankly). Built on the same Stellantis STLA Large vehicle platform that underpins the sporty Charger Daytona EVs, the confusingly-named Wagoneer S packs dual electric motors putting out almost 600 hp. That’s good enough to scoot the ‘ute 0 to 60 mph in a stomach-turning 3.5 seconds and enough, on paper, to convince Stellantis executives that they had developed a real, market-ready alternative to the Tesla Model Y.

With the wrong name and a sky-high starting price of $66,995 (not including the $1,795 destination fee), however, that demand didn’t materialize, leaving the Wagoneer S languishing on dealer lots across the country.

That could be about to change, however, thanks to big discounts on Wagoneer S being reported at CDJR dealers in several states:

  • Jeff Belzer’s in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $39,758 ($28,032 off)
  • Troncalli CDJR in Georgia has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,590 MSRP for $42,697 ($24,893 off)
  • Whitewater CDJR in Minnesota has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $43,846 ($23,944 off)
  • Antioch CDJR in Illinois has a 2025 Wagoneer S Limited with a $67,790 MSRP for $44,540 ($23,250 off)

“Stellantis bet big on electric versions of iconic American brands like Jeep and Dodge, but consumers aren’t buying the premise,” writes CDG’s Marcus Amick. “(Stellantis’ dealer body) is now stuck with expensive EVs that need huge discounts to move, eating into already thin margins while competitors focus on [more] profitable gas-powered vehicles.”

All of which is to say: if you’ve found yourself drawn to the Jeep Wagoneer S, but couldn’t quite stomach the $70,000+ window stickers, you might want to check in with your local Jeep dealer and see how you feel about it at a JCPenneys-like 30% off!


Original content from Electrek; images via Stellantis.


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New 50-ton SANY reach stacker brings Formula 1 tech to the job site

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New 50-ton SANY reach stacker brings Formula 1 tech to the job site

Multinational equipment brand SANY just launched a clever new 50-ton reach stacker that pairs gravity and an F1-style KERS system to generate electricity, improve operating efficiency, and reduce costs. The best part: they’re putting that smart tech to work by helping clean up (and shore up) the grid.

Short for Kinetic Energy Recovery System, KERS was a staple of Formula 1 in the late aught and 2010s. Essentially an advanced form of regenerative braking, KERS captured the kinetic energy of a car at speed that would normally be lost as heat when the brake pads pressed against the brake discs. Instead of heat, KERS converted that energy into electricity (storing it in a battery or flywheel), to be deployed later.

Sebastian Vettel explains KERS


4x WDC Sebastian Vettel explains KERS.

In practice, KERS gave drivers an extra boost of horsepower at the push of a button, enabling them to attack or defend their position on track and adding a fresh strategic element to the sport. In SANY’s case, that stored power is fed back into the reach stacker’s electric hydraulic system, reducing pressure loss across the high-pressure setup by 50%, and lowering the machine’s overall energy consumption by more than 60%.

Energy recovery is a key feature. The potential energy of the boom, lifting gear and energy storage cabinets during the boom’s descent can be recovered efficiently with an overall recovery efficiency of over 65%. That means every 1 kWh of consumption in lifting can be recovered by 0.4 kWh during descent.

SANY

The 50t reach stacker is available with a 512 kWh swappable battery pack that’s compatible with other SANY heavy equipment assets, and supports both DC fast charging when swapping isn’t practical or (for whatever reason) desirable.

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On a single charge and backed by the onboard KERS, that’s good enough for the machine can lift and move containers for more than 7 continuous hours, which SANY claims significantly reducing downtime for charging compared to other, similar equipment assets.

The new SANY reach stacker can stack six 50-ton containers, greatly enhancing a site’s container and battery storage density within a limited space. The first units will reach unnamed customers building out a utility-scale energy storage project by the end of this month.

Electrek’s Take


50 tonne electric reach stacker; via SANY.

All the great stuff I was saying about the new 65-tonne XCMG still holds true for the SANY (especially when they take the wraps off their own 65t BESS-specific unit later this year), but the SANY adds smart battery swap tech and what seems to be more efficient operations, too.

Regardless of which one you choose, it seems like the available options for reach stacker operators are just getting better and better!

SOURCE | IMAGES: SANY.


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