This is cute little electric street sweeper is somehow cheaper than a lawnmower
When it comes to finding the coolest and/or weirdest EVs in China for the Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column, I’ve never shied away from work vehicles. Whether that’s tiny electric fire trucks or an ice cream van shaped like a 60s VW bus, odd little work vehicles somehow have extra charm. But today’s entry is certainly unique among past offerings, making it one of the cleanest builds yet. Or perhaps the cleanlinest.
We’ve heard about tiny electric street sweepers before, which are particularly useful for reaching bike paths or other areas that wouldn’t fit full-sized machines.
But those are generally priced at closer to a quarter-million dollars.
This bad boy is somehow ultra-budget priced, making it a veritable steal at just $4,000!
Compared to an electric riding lawnmower, that will save a cool thousand bucks.
And while the riding lawnmower might be more useful for your own property, this street sweeper will sure come in handy the next time your neighborhood seems to have let itself go.
Cleaning a 1.9 meter (6’2″) path in front of it, this adorable little street sweeper is ready for an entire day of slow-speed tidying up.
It can travel at up to 12 km/h (7.4 mph), so you’ll be sweeping a beeline to the cul-de-sac in no time!
It also holds up to 180L (47 gallons) of water for a sprayer, meaning you could use it as armor in the next neighborhood super-soaker battle. Those neighbor kids may have an army of water guns, but you brought in the tanks!
For dry cleaning, the 150L (40 gallon) dust bin will make vacuuming up your neighbor’s overgrown petunia’s easier than ever. Hey, it’s their fault for letting those weeds reach the pavement. As the self-appointed neighborhood street sweeper, the road is your domain!
I know you’re probably wondering why the heck I would be interested in a mini electric street sweeper.
You probably think that such things are beneath you. But I dare you to watch the sales video below and not be at least slightly tempted to take a spin in this thing! And when the guy goes full Rambo at 0:32, well I’m sold, buddy!
A hidden 4 kW (5.4 hp) electric motor gives this thing its “oomph”, and a 7.2 kWh battery provides some serious run time. They don’t say exactly how much, but if an electric motorcycle with that size battery can get a range of close to 160 km (100 mi) in the city, then this slow moving street sweeper should be able to reach the state line, even if it takes all week.
And at a mere $4,000 a pop, you could invest in a whole fleet of these things. Clean the city by day, then enter them in a road sweeper street hockey game in the evenings, using a trash can lid as the puck.
Now that’s some action I’d pay to see! You could finance the whole operation with ticket sales. Where’s Steve Wozniak when you need hiim; Segway polo ain’t got nothin on mini-street sweeper hockey!
So while you may reach for the leaf blower next time you need to clean up after some edging, someone will have to hold my beer while I grab my own little electric street sweeper. Or better yet, perhaps I’ll just use the cup holder.
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Executives from TravelCenters America (TA) and BP were joined by local elected officials at a ribbon cutting for the two companies’ first DC fast charging hub on I-95 in Jacksonville, Florida – the first of several such EV charging stations to come online.
Frequent road-trippers are no doubt familiar with TA’s red, white, and blue logo and probably think of the sites as safe, convenient stops in otherwise unfamiliar surroundings. The company hopes those positive associations will carry over as its customers continue to switch from gas to electric at a record pace in 2025 and beyond.
“Today marks a significant milestone in our journey to bring new forms of energy to our customers as we support their changing mobility needs, while leveraging the best of bp and TA,” explains Debi Boffa, CEO of TravelCenters of America. Boffa, however, was quick to – but TA is quick to point out that TA isn’ no’t leaving its ICE customers behind. “While this is significant, to our loyal customers and guests, rest assured TA will continue to provide the same safe and reliable fueling options it has offered for over 50 years, regardless of the type of fuel.”
The charging hub along the I-95 offers 12 DC fast charging ports offering up to 400kW of power for lickety-quick charging. While they’re at the TA, EV drivers can visit restrooms, shop at TA’s convenience store, or eat at fast food chains like Popeyes and Subway. Other TA centers offer wifi and pet-friendly amenities as well – making them ideal partners for BP as the two companies builds out their charging networks.
“As we expand our EV charging network in the US, I am thrilled to unveil our first of many hubs at TA locations,” offers Sujay Sharma, CEO of BP Pulse Americas. “These sites are strategically located across key highway corridors that provide our customers with en route charging when and where they need it most, while offering convenient amenities, like restaurants and restrooms.”
Electrek’s Take
As I type this, BP has more than 37,000 EV charging ports operational globally, and plans to have more than 100,000 in service by 2030. The company made headlines in 2022 when it announced that its EV chargers were “on the cusp” of being more profitable than its gas pumps. Three years on, it seems like that’s a done deal.
As ever, money talks.
SOURCE | IMAGES: BP.
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The new e2500-THL and TS electric Ultra Buggies from Toro offer construction and demo crews a carrying capacity of 2500 lbs. (on the TS model), six-and-a-half foot dump height (on the THL), nearly 13 cubic ft. of capacity, and hours of quiet, fume-free operation.
Despite the second Trump administration’s loosening grip on emissions regulations, the fact remains that a growing number of municipalities in both red and blue regions of the US are continuing to clamp down on noise regulations, which means that construction crews with quiet running electric equipment will be able to get jobs that crews stubbornly holding on to diesel and gas won’t. Toro absolutely gets it, which is why its e2500-THL and TS Ultra Buggy line will be welcomed by smart crews with open arms.
For their open-mindedness, those crews will be rewarded with machines powered by 7 kWh’s worth of Toro HyperCell lithium-ion battery. That’s good enough for up to eight hours of continuous operation, according to Toro – enough for two typical working shifts.
And, thanks to the Toro Ultra Buggies’ narrow, 31.5″ width, they can easily navigate man doors on inside jobs, as well, making them ideal for indoor demolition and construction jobs. A zero-turn radius and auto-return dump mechanism that ensures the tub automatically returns to the proper resting position make things easy for the operator, too.
Toro says that each of its small (for Toro) e2500 Ultra Buggy units can replace as many as five wheelbarrows on a given job site. Pricing is expected to start at about $32,000.
Electrek’s Take
Electric equipment makes job sites cleaner, quieter, and safer than they are under diesel or gas power – and as more municipal and private sector RFPs begin to enforce ZEV requirements and quiet hours, more and more viable electric alternatives to ICE power will start to show up on more and more job sites (regardless of who is in the White House).
SOURCE | IMAGES: Toro, via Construction Equipment.
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