How this adorable little electric mini-street sweeper will enable protected bike lanes
Protected bike lanes — or cycling paths that are physically separated from roadways to keep cars away from more vulnerable micromobility vehicles — are becoming increasingly demanded by a growing population of bike commuters in the US. And in one case, they’re finally being enabled by a surprising source: a cute little electric mini-street sweeper.
The pint-sized electric maintenance vehicle, known as a Westvac LS125, was the last piece of the puzzle missing for Ann Arbor, Michigan’s protected bike lane plan.
The city has hoped to create more protected bike lanes along its roadways by installing bollards or vertical separators. But the narrow lanes would have been too small for the city’s maintenance vehicles to navigate.
Bike lanes, like roadways, require frequent street sweeping to rid them of dangerous debris and obstacles. In fact, such maintenance is perhaps even more critical on paths used by two-wheeled vehicles.
The City Council voted unanimously this week to buy an approximately $250,000 electric mini-sweeper that would enable the city to finally install separators along bike lanes while still maintaining the road surface.
As Council Member Dharma Akmon explained to Michigan Live:
“The purchase is going to allow us to maintain the single-track bike lanes, and that has been an impediment to the installation of bollards. So, very quickly we’re going to be able to put bollards where there aren’t any.”
The 48″ wide (122 cm) mini-sweeper might not be fast at just 15 mph (25 km/h), but it’s built for work — not for speed.
The 62 kWh battery gives it a 9-hour operating time. That means it can work all day, then recharge at night with a standard J1772 connector for Level 2 EV chargers.
The city’s public works manager Molly Maciejewski described how the city’s recently installed bike lanes have suffered from constant encroachment by cars and trucks:
“Since installation, there have been issues with illegal access by vehicles in the bikeways. To combat this issue, the Downtown Development Authority wishes to install centerline delineators along the bikeways. Additionally, the city desires to install bikeways outside of the downtown that are narrower than 10 feet in width.”
As Akmon continued, the new mini-street sweeper is all that was preventing the city from moving forward with its current plan to create the separated bike lines that would keep cars away from bikes, scooters and other micromobility vehicles and their operators:
“In fact, the city has already laid out many of these dedicated lanes, but hasn’t been able to install the delineators because we don’t have the equipment to properly maintain the narrower lanes. The purchase of a new small sweeper will mean we can, in pretty short order, upgrade buffered bike lanes into protected bike lanes by installing the several hundred vertical delineators we already have in inventory and ready for deployment.”
Electric full-size street sweepers exist, but despite their more environmentally friendly design, they are still too wide to fit in most bike lanes.
That’s why miniature versions are critical for being able to carve off sections of roadways for bikes while still leaving access to maintain the quality of the road.
Electrek’s Take
I know it’s a fairly specific niche, but I’m already quite a fan of miniature electric maintenance equipment.
And so if my two passions of biking and mini e-machines can somehow be intertwined into a solution that benefits everyone, well that sounds like a perfect day to me.
When Ann Arbor gets their cute new mini-sweeper in, I’d love to have a go on it!
In all seriousness though, it’s great to see cities finding creative solutions for embracing safer cycling infrastructure. The fact that those solutions themselves are zero-emissions simply makes the whole thing even sweeter.
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Coming in hot… well, as hot as these solar cars can get, upwards of 60 mph.
It’s hard to believe we’re just over a month away from this year’s Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 collegiate solar car track event! In July, some of the greatest engineering minds from universities across North America will roll into Bowling Green, Kentucky, with their respective hand-built solar-powered EVs to go head-to-head in a competition all about pushing the limits of sustainable transport. The goal? Complete as many laps as possible each race day using nothing but sunshine.
The event is open to the public and free to attend. Raycing kicks off on July 3 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT and continues through July 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT. You’re not going to want to miss this!
As a refresher, the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) is held annually and typically acts as a pre-qualifier for the American Solar Challenge (ASC), a cross-country solar car race held every two years. During ASC years, FSGP is where teams prove their vehicles are road-worthy and safe enough to trek over 1,500+ miles from Tennessee to Wyoming on public roads.
This year, however, is an off-year for ASC. Teams will only compete in the track event. Here are last year’s FSGP/ASC results and highlights.
The 2025 Electrek FSGP will again be held at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which, interestingly enough, General Motors occasionally uses for Corvette testing and development. It’s here, students will go head-to-head in a grand prix-style event, competing to complete as many laps as possible using nothing but solar power. It may sound simple, but it’s a test of speed, efficiency, and endurance.
Last year’s event drew a record turnout, with more than 32 teams and 710 student participants from universities across the U.S. and Canada.
The ASC and FSGP are organized by the Innovators Educational Foundation (IEF), a 501c3 non-profit providing hands-on, multidisciplinary learning opportunities for college students. In 2023, Electrek announced the signing of a five-year title sponsorship agreement with the IEF, which will guarantee funds to host the yearly races through 2028.
This was a natural fit. EVs, solar power, sustainable transport, and collaboration—this is what we’re all about at Electrek, and we’re thrilled to once again be a part of such an incredible event.
Other 2025 Electrek FSGP sponsors include Altair, Blue Origin, MathWorks, Generac, and in previous years Tesla, which have used the event as prime recruiting grounds. In fact, in past years, one recruiter even told Electrek that “getting great employees at the Formula Sun Grand Prix was like shooting fish in a barrel” and added “students at these events are orders of magnitude more likely to yield successful hires than typical campus recruiting events.”
And when it comes to industry talent, FSGP/ASC has serious roots.
JB Straubel, Tesla’s co-founder, ex-CTO, and current sitting board member, got his start in the Stanford Solar Car program. While he currently serves as CEO of lithium-ion battery materials company Redwood Materials, Straubel talks about how many of Tesla’s early hires came straight out of that same solar car team in the video below.
If you’re interested in joining us in sponsoring these events, please get in touch here!
We’ll continue to post more details, including the full schedule, as the race nears! Keep an eye on the website as well.
2024 Electrek FSGP/ASC recaps
Below are the full recap videos from the Formula Sun Grand Prix/American Solar Challenge. The event’s official Flickr page has also amassed more than 1,500 photos. Check them out—they’re super cool!
More details and full results on last year’s Electrek American Solar Challenge and Formula Sun Grand Prix can be found on the event’s website.
Note: The Formula Sun Grand Prix is not in any way associated or affiliated with the Formula 1 companies, FORMULA 1 racing, or the FIA Formula One World Championship.
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The struggling carmaker is urgently cutting costs as it looks to turn things around. Nissan is offering buyouts to US workers at its Canton, Mississippi, plant, citing it as a “crucial” part of its comeback plan.
Nissan offers buyouts for US workers at its Canton plant
Nissan has been in the spotlight over the past few weeks for all the wrong reasons. It began earlier this month, following the company’s announcement that it was abandoning plans to build a new EV battery plant in Japan.
The facility was set to produce lower-cost LFP batteries, which have been key to BYD and other Chinese EV brands’ rapid rise in the global auto industry. With an annual production capacity of up to 5 GWh, the plant was expected to slash EV battery costs by 20% to 30%.
Facing slumping sales, lower profits, and more competition, Nissan launched its new recovery plan, dubbed “Re:Nissan,” earlier this month.
The comeback strategy involves cutting 20,000 jobs, or around 15% of its global workforce, by 2027. Nissan is also closing several plants to slash costs by 250 billion yen as it aims to return to profitability by fiscal year 2026.
According to an internal email, viewed by Reuters, Nissan is offering buyouts for US workers at its Canton plant. The email also stated that merit-based pay increases are suspended globally.
Christian Meunier, Nissan America’s chairman, said the buyouts are “crucial for Nissan’s comeback” in the US, its most important market.
“While substantial efforts have been made in the US to help right-size Nissan, we need to take additional, limited, strategic action here at a local level,” Meunier said in an email.
Nissan announced a voluntary separation program for a select number of US salaried employees. Since the plan is still ongoing, Nissan didn’t provide any further details.
On Wednesday, a separate report from Bloomberg News claimed that Nissan is looking to raise over 1 trillion yen ($6.9 billion) with the help of the UK government to repay a massive loan due next year.
Nissan invested $500 million to upgrade its Canton plant for electric vehicle (EV) production in the US. Although it initially planned to begin building EVs in the US this year, Nissan delayed production until at least 2028.
Later this year, Nissan will launch the upgraded LEAF, now with a longer driving range, an NACS charging port, and a more SUV-like design. It will be one of ten new Nissan or Infiniti models to launch by 2027.
Electrek’s Take
As Electrek reported yesterday, Nissan’s comeback plan hinges on its upgraded e-Power technology. The only issue is that the system is designed for hybrids.
Nissan is following in Toyota and Honda’s footsteps by advancing new hybrid and plug-in hybrid tech, but the company is already two steps behind.
Doubling down on hybrids and PHEVs while delaying more EV projects will likely only set Nissan up for failure over the next few years.
The Japanese automaker is already losing market share in some of its biggest markets, like China and Southeast Asia.
Can Nissan turn things around in the US, its most important market? Or, will it continue to fall out of favor with lower-cost, more advanced EVs on the way from brands like Rivian and Lucid? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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