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Swedish electric vehicle maker Einride will supply two of its heavy-duty trucks to PepsiCo as part of an expansion into the U.K.

Einride

Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer Einride has signed a deal with PepsiCo to supply electric trucks that would transport Walkers chips in the U.K.

It marks Einride’s first move into the U.K. market, with two of the company’s electric semitrucks being sold to PepsiCo to transport goods starting in July, the company said. The deal will give Einride a foothold in the U.K., while also furthering PepsiCo’s aim of decarbonizing its fleet operations.

Stockholm-based Einride was founded in 2016. Its aim is to replace the diesel engines that dominate the heavy freight business with electric — and eventually, autonomous — trucks.

Home appliances company GE Appliances began testing an Einride vehicle without a safety driver on board on U.S. public roads in October 2022. Einride said its U.K. vehicles will be driven by human operators.

Einride’s vehicles compete with Tesla, which has its own line of Semi heavy-duty electric trucks. Tesla began deliveries of its big rigs to customers including PepsiCo in December, after delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and battery supply issues, among other things.

How it’ll operate in the UK

As part of its U.K. expansion, Einride will establish its own so-called freight mobility grid, which, according to CEO Robert Falck, allows logistics partners to “optimize routes, improve fuel efficiency, and reduce emissions, while also providing real-time visibility and transparency into the delivery process.”

Operating electric trucks to ship goods across countries at scale is a tough thing to accomplish. It requires having enough charging stations and other infrastructure to ensure a full journey can be completed without running out of battery.

Einride invests in charging infrastructure from other firms, Falk said — but it also uses its software to figure out how to get the most of the vehicles it has in deployment. That’s different from traditional trucking operators, he said, explaining that the standard fill rate — or how many trucks are being used as a percentage of total inventory — in the industry is less than 30%.

“So we’re looking at a transport system, where the efficiency is 6%,” Falk said. “So that means that you are at 94% waste of the potential of the transport system itself. And that kind of inefficiency creates a lot of challenges, or both the cost of pricing, but also the efficiency of the system itself.”

Unlike Tesla, which sells trucks it has built itself, Einride’s trucks are manufactured by partners like Daimler and Skoda and its focus is on developing the technology inside the vehicles. Falk compared its model with that of Apple, which designs its iPhones but contracts electronics products manufacturer Foxconn to make them.

Einride said its U.K. mobility grid will start in central England, initially with a route running from Leicester to Coventry, and later extend along some of the U.K.’s busiest motorways connecting major metropolitan cities.

The firm aims to reduce fossil fuel-powered distances by over 250,000 miles annually, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,623 tons over three years, and put the U.K. on a path to net zero, according to a statement.

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China’s nationwide ‘cash for clunkers’ trade-in program causing huge e-bike boom

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China's nationwide 'cash for clunkers' trade-in program causing huge e-bike boom

While much of the Western world is still figuring out how to get more people on electric bikes, China just flipped a switch, and the results are staggering. Thanks to a generous nationwide trade-in program rolled out around six months ago, China has seen an explosive surge in electric bicycle sales, with over 8.47 million new e-bikes hitting the road in the first half of 2025 alone.

The program, which offers subsidies to riders who trade in their old, often outdated electric bikes for newer, safer, and more efficient models, has sparked a new e-bike sale boom in a country already dominated by e-bike travel. In major provinces like Jiangsu, Hebei, and Zhejiang, over one million new e-bikes were sold in each region in just six months. That’s a tidal wave of e-bike sales.

The incentives vary depending on location and the model being traded in, but for many consumers, the subsidies cover a substantial portion of a new e-bike’s price – enough to turn a “maybe next year” purchase into a “right now” upgrade. And these aren’t just budget bikes either. The program has driven demand for higher-quality models with better batteries, safer braking systems, and more reliable electronics, accelerating both adoption and innovation across the industry.

The move has proven successful in replacing the millions of older models with lower-quality lithium-ion batteries that had posed safety risks around the country. Instead, China has pushed for higher-quality lithium-ion batteries, a return to a newer generation of higher-performance AGM batteries, and even interesting new sodium-ion battery options.

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Most e-bikes in China look more like what we’d consider seated scooters

According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, more than 8.4 million consumers have participated in the e-bike trade-in program so far, contributing to a sales increase of 643.5% year-over-year and more than doubling sales month-over-month. Meanwhile, production of new electric bicycles rose by nearly 28%, as manufacturers scrambled to meet demand. The sales boosts have already been seen in the financial reports of major industry players like NIU.

And it’s not just the big players benefiting – over 82,000 small independent e-bike dealers reported average sales increases of ¥302,000 (around US $42,000), giving a serious boost to local economies.

What’s particularly striking here is how fast this happened. The program was officially launched late last year as part of a broader effort to stimulate domestic consumption and phase out outdated vehicles and appliances. But while most analysts expected gradual growth, the e-bike sector responded much more quickly. In less than a year, the trade-in subsidies have reshaped the electric bicycle market, creating a consumer-driven boom that shows no signs of slowing.

For those of us watching from outside China, it’s hard not to wonder what might happen if other countries tried something similar. While most families in Chinese cities already own an electric bike and thus see this as an opportunity to trade it in for a newer model, Western countries like the US are still figuring out how to stimulate commuters into buying their first e-bike.

It’s too soon to know exactly how long the boom will last or whether the momentum will carry into 2026 and beyond. We’ve seen bicycle industry bubbles grow and burst before. But one thing’s clear: with the right incentives, even modest ones, it’s possible to ignite real, large-scale change. China just proved it with nearly 8.5 million new e-bikes to show for it.

And if you’re wondering what it looks like when a country takes electric micromobility seriously, this is it.

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Day 1 of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 [Gallery]

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Day 1 of the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025 [Gallery]

Today was the official start of racing at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix 2025! There was a tremendous energy (and heat) on the ground at NCM Motorsports Park as nearly a dozen teams took to the track. Currently, as of writing, Stanford is ranked #1 in the SOV (Single-Occupant Vehicle) class with 68 registered laps. However, the fastest lap so far belongs to UC Berkeley, which clocked a 4:45 on the 3.15-mile track. That’s an average speed of just under 40 mph on nothing but solar energy. Not bad!

In the MOV (Multi-Occupant Vehicle) class, Polytechnique Montréal is narrowly ahead of Appalachian State by just 4 laps. At last year’s formula sun race, Polytechnique Montréal took first place overall in this class, and the team hopes to repeat that success. It’s still too early for prediction though, and anything can happen between now and the final day of racing on Saturday.

Congrats to the teams that made it on track today. We look forward to seeing even more out there tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some shots from today via the event’s wonderful photographer Cora Kennedy.

Stay tuned for more!

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Tesla sold 5,000 Cybertrucks Q2, Optimus is in chaos, plus: the Infinity Train!

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Tesla sold 5,000 Cybertrucks Q2, Optimus is in chaos, plus: the Infinity Train!

The numbers are in and they are all bad for Tesla fans – the company sold just 5,000 Cybertruck models in Q4 of 2025, and built some 30% more “other” vehicles than it delivered. It just gets worse and worse, on today’s tension-building episode of Quick Charge!

We’ve also got day 1 coverage of the 2025 Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix, reports that the Tesla Optimus program is in chaos after its chief engineer jumps ship, and a look ahead at the fresh new Hyundai IONIQ 2 set to bow early next year, thanks to some battery specs from the Kia EV2.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.


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