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French automaker Peugeot is certainly not a newcomer to the electric bicycle world like many other automakers that have only begun dipping their toe in the e-bike waters. Peugeot has a long history producing bicycles that dates back over a century under its PEUGEOT Cycles division. Now the company has just released its latest line of electric bikes and they sure are headturners.

Among the three new e-bikes models are a city commuter e-bike, a long tail cargo e-bike, and a front loader cargo e-bike.

All three offer modern design takes, though the commuter bike is the most eye-catching of them all.

The company explained that the new e-bike models will usher in several new features to Peugeot’s lineup:

“At the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024, PEUGEOT Cycles will expand its range of electrically assisted bicycles with several new innovative models benefiting from the best connected technologies. These, through a new dedicated smartphone application, offer users when it is launched, among other things, adaptive electric assistance, an anti-theft system, an alarm, bike geolocation, real-time navigation, weather forecasts at destination, route statistics, etc.”

The newly revealed Peugeot city e-bike, known as the Digital E-Bike, features an exaggerated downtube that bisects a disconnected and minimized top tube.

A mid-drive motor appears to be tied into the rear wheel by a belt drive system, which replaces a classical chain drive found on most of Peugeot’s other e-bikes.

The bike features tight-hugging fenders, swept back handlebars and hydraulic disc brakes.

peugeot electric bike

Peugeot’s longtail cargo bike, named the Digital e-Longtail, is described by the company as “a bike whose elongated rear can comfortably accommodate up to two children or a load, particularly suitable for family use.”

The bike features a more classically-designed front end with a stretched rear able to accomodate a long rack with a pair of padded bench seats. A child carrier is designed to hold kids or cargo on the long rear rack, and a wheel skirt keeps small, dangling feet from contacting the rear wheel.

A full wraparound running board on either side of the rear wheel looks like it will work in concert with protrusions on the upper rack deck to allow the e-bike to be parked vertically on its tail, similar to the popular Tern cargo e-bikes. This would help the bike take up considerably less space in a garage or apartment.

The third e-bike on display by Peugeot is a front loader e-bike described as “a bike with an extended front wheelbase to accommodate a crate for transporting up to three children or heavy loads, suitable for family or professional use.”

Listed as the Digital e-Front Load, this type of cargo e-bike is quite popular across Europe where it is used similarly to the way SUVs and large cars are used in the US: for moving several children around town or carrying a large amount of cargo such as when grocery shopping.

Peugeot hasn’t announced prices for the new e-bikes yet, but the company will be showing off the new designs next month at the PRO-DAYS show from July 2 to 4, 2023, in Paris Exhibition, Porte de Versailles.

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Amazon puts first electric semi trucks into ocean freight operation

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Amazon puts first electric semi trucks into ocean freight operation

Southern California truck spotters will have plenty of electric semi trucks to watch out for as Amazon adds fifty Class 8 EVs to its commercial fleet.

The fully electric Volvo semi trucks purchased will haul both heavy cargo containers and customer package loads in Amazon’s first- and middle-mile operations in California. The trucks will join the hundreds of last-mile electric vans from Ford and Rivian that are already delivering packages across the golden state.

These are the first-ever electric trucks in the company’s ocean freight operations, also known as drayage operations. They’ve already started hitting the road at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, with a dozen expected to be in service by the end of the year.

“We’re proud to launch our largest fleet of electric heavy-duty vehicles yet in California,” said Udit Madan, vice president of Worldwide Amazon Operations. “Heavy-duty trucking is a particularly difficult area to decarbonize, which makes us all the more excited to have these vehicles on the road today. We’ll use what we learn from deploying these vehicles as we continue to identify and invest in solutions to reduce emissions in our transportation network, and to impact sustainability in the trucking industry more broadly.”

Amazon picks Volvo VNR Electric semi

Volvo VNR Electric heavy-haul Class 8 BEV; via Amazon.

Amazon’s electric semi of choice this time is the Volvo VNR Electric. These class 8 trucks have a range of up to 275 miles with a gross combined vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 82,000 pounds. The heavy-duty Volvo trucks ship with a number of safety features that will be familiar to Volvo Car owners, including active collision mitigation, blind-spot detection, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, and adaptive cruise control.

Altogether, the Volvo VNRs Amazon just added to its fleet are projected to travel more than 1 million miles each year with zero harmful carbon and diesel particulate emissions coming out of their exhaust pipes.

Electrek’s Take

Volvo VNR Electric in oceanside drayage operation; via Amazon.

On the one hand, Amazon is making a big deal out of buying electric drayage trucks – which isn’t really big a deal in 2024, since that’s a legal requirement at this point. You literally can’t buy a new, internal combustion drayage truck in California as of this year.

That said, I’m a “celebrate every positive change” kind of guy, and the people who live and work around Amazon’s operations will be literally and figuratively breathing easier with these trucks in operation. As such, I’m willing to give California Governor Gavin Newsom a victory lap.

“California continues to lead the way in setting world-leading climate goals. No other state has created the kind of environment where Amazon and other businesses can lead on sustainability and take major steps forward like deploying this fleet of electric trucks,” said Gavin, in a statement. “California’s climate action continues powering our economy and creating jobs.”

SOURCE | IMAGES: Amazon.

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Polestar 2 lease price drops to $299 a month thanks to new $10k discount

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Polestar 2 lease price drops to 9 a month thanks to new k discount

Thanks to the $10,000 Polestar Clean Vehicle Incentive introduced last week, 2024 Polestar 2 lease prices are now over $120 a month cheaper.

CarsDirect reports that through May 31, the 2024 Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor can be leased for $299 for 27 months with $3,299 due at signing. 

The auto research portal says that’s a $50 drop in the monthly payment with $2,050 less required at signing. As a result, the effective cost fell $126, from $547 per month to $421 before taxes & fees.

The Polestar 2 Dual Motor – list price $55,300 – is a much better deal to lease than the Single Motor model – list price $49,900 – because amazingly, they have the same lease price. That’s basically a free upgrade to the Dual Motor model.

The Polestar 2 first made its debut in 2019 as the automaker’s first fully electric car. It launched in mid-2020 and the milestone 150,000th car rolled off the assembly line in August 2023.

The Polestar 2 is expected to be phased out in 2027, and company says the Polestar 7 will succeed it.

Click here to find a local dealer that may have the Polestar 2 in stock. –affiliate*

Read more: 2024 Polestar 2 first drive: Dual motor shines on the road, but the single motor’s range is a big win


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When will Tesla cars be capable of unsupervised full self-driving (SAE Level 5)?

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