JackRabbit, the leading name in micro e-bikes, has just unveiled two new models that put the micro in micromobility. The new JackRabbit OG2 Pro and JackRabbit XG Pro build upon the success of the company’s existing models, but add more of what the riding community has longed for.

JackRabbit has built quite a name for itself centered around its quirky, lovable design. The brand leans heavily into its small, lightweight form factor. There are tens of thousands of self-styled “Jackos” in the ever-growing rider community whose fan rabidness seems second only to heavyweight Super73. It’s no wonder they proudly slap on the brand’s stickers touting phrases like “Micro and proud” or “Butts love me”.

Those Jackos have long touted the extreme portability of micro e-bikes—which technically aren’t electric bicycles since they lack pedals but otherwise look and handle like a bike. Starting at just 25 lb yet with full-size 20″ bicycle wheels and 20 mph (32 km/h) speeds, the combination of convenience and performance is hard to match—as long as you don’t mind looking different. For many, though, that uniqueness is the biggest plus.

But if there are three things that I regularly hear as the main requests to JackRabbit from the market, it’s a longing for more range, more power, and lower prices. Now, the company has responded with a resounding “We can do two of those things.”

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Meet the new JackRabbit OG2 Pro and XG Pro.

Both are built on the same small-format frames of the already popular OG2 and XG, but have major upgrades to their performance and ride feel.

These will come as a welcome change to those who are already familiar with JackRabbit’s lineup, or as a major surprise to anyone getting ready to throw their leg over the diminutive yet powerful rides for the first time.

JackRabbit OG2 Pro

First of all, the OG2 Pro has seen the OG’s 300W motor swapped out for a more powerful and torquier 500W motor—the same motor found in the XG.

It also comes standard with JackRabbit’s bigger RangeBuster battery, which upgrades the range from 10 miles (16 km) to 24 miles (39 km).

Mid-rise handlebars and bar grips give the OG2 Pro a taller stance without adding more bulk. The handlebars retain the same pivoting design that allows the bike to shrink down to just 7 inches (18 cm) wide, easily slipping into the trunk of a car or under a dorm room bed. Those handlebars also get the XG’s nicer LCD handlebar display.

The upgrades may add another 5 lb (2.2 kg) to the bike, but it still weighs a mere 30 lb (13.6 kg), which is a featherweight in the e-bike world.

The OG2 Pro is priced at $1,649, and it comes in a new fun orange color option as well as a less fun black color option.

JackRabbit XG Pro

Similarly to the over-the-top upgrades on the OG2 Pro, the XG Pro also gets some serious ‘turn it up to 11’ energy.

The 500W motor on the XG has now been boosted to 749W on the XG Pro. It’s also much torquier for better hill climbing. In addition, riders can unlock the 20 mph (32 km/h) top speed to a faster 24 mph (38.6 km/h) in the new off-road mode. Importantly, though, that off-road mode is only available to 18+ riders who sign a waiver and agree to terms, including only using the off-road mode on closed course riding, etc.

Importantly, for a small bike with a faster top speed, larger 180mm brake rotors ensure the JackRabbit XG Pro has just as much stopping power as it has going power.

In fact, off-roading is a major part of the XG Pro’s intended use case. The new 20×2.8″ tires are more aggressive for better trail performance and look more at home on a mountain bike than a micro e-bike. With a nearly 3-inch profile, these tires also add quasi-suspension in the form of a more cushioned ride with more air volume between riders and the road.

Optional accessories for the brand’s other models now come standard on the XG Pro, including JackRabbit’s “Mega Metal Footpegs” that provide a larger foot platform, the high-rise handlebars that give an even more comfortable and upright seating position, and the LED light package that runs off the JackRabbit batteries.

Speaking of those batteries, just like the XG model, there are two battery slots on the XG Pro. However, the XG Pro comes standard with a pair of RangeBuster batteries that provide a combined 48 miles (77 km) of range.

Now available to order, the JackRabbit XG Pro is priced at $2,249 and comes in a never-before-seen Army Green and an unfortunately-seen-before black color.

Electrek’s Take

To look at this another way, the new OG2 Pro is basically the guts of an XG packaged into the more compact frame of an OG2, giving riders more performance with less bulk (and for $100 less than an XG).

The XG Pro, on the other hand, is basically an XG inside a fever-dream, with just about everything boosted way up. More power, more speed, more range, more craziness.

Now, let’s get to my opinion. First of all, I love the upgrades. More power, more speed, more range? Yes, yes, and yes! Then with the new and more comfortable handlebars included standard, the bikes are better than ever. Instead of sacrificing performance and ride comfort for a smaller size, now riders can get both. The XG Pro is especially interesting with its larger tires and all of those included accessories like the from-the-battery LED lights, the double big-boy batteries, the high-rise bars, etc.

I really like the OG2 Pro’s new orange colorway, and the Army Green is an interesting and likely welcome choice for the XG Pro. I made a couple of jokes about the black colorways in the article above merely due to my preference for the brighter color options that I’ve long enjoyed from JackRabbit, but I understand that not everyone wants to stand out. I don’t understand why, but I at least accept that those people exist. In my opinion though, if you’re going to get a unique ride like this, you want it to pop. If someone buys a Lamborghini, they get it in a fun color like yellow, red, bright blue, etc. You ever see a black Lambo? They exist, but they just don’t look as good. They’re muted and dull. Fun vehicles deserve fun colors, and that’s why I always preferred the original yellow from JackRabbit, though that orange is giving me some lip-biting action as well.

The killer here, though, which is likely to rain on more than a few parades, is the price. At $1,649 and $2,249, these are expensive. Not even a little bit, they’re downright pricey. And I think that’s going to cut into sales. Now I know we’re staring down the barrel of new (and potentially ever-increasing) tariffs, and it is also absolutely fair to say that JackRabbit has an edge with their unique design and one of the few options for such cool micro-rides like these. But JackRabbit also has to spend more money building many of their own parts. They don’t benefit from using the same cookie-cutter e-bike frame chosen from page 325 of a massive Chinese e-bike factory’s catalog. They don’t get to enjoy selecting whatever cheap battery they can purchase off-the-shelf that is already produced by the millions. They have to invest in their own tooling and build their own parts to fit their unique design. And that costs money.

The problem is, that simply might not matter to many folks. In my opinion, too many riders seem to only look at watts and dollars, ignoring dozens of other specs and touchpoints. I’m not trying to look into anyone’s wallet, and which e-bike you can afford is a deeply personal decision. But for the undiscerning folks who merely look for the price-per-watt comparison, JackRabbit will never win. The company simply can’t and won’t compete in that category. But for those who are prepared to pay a premium for a bike that is smaller, lighter, more convenient, and frankly more fun in many aspects, JackRabbit has a leg up. Now the question is whether folks are prepared to pay for it.

Let’s hear your thoughts on the new bikes in the comments below, and stay tuned for my review of the XG Pro coming in the next day or two! Spoiler alert: it’s a wheelie-inducing, tire-spinning, freakin’ incredible ride!

This white Hyundai IONIQ 5 is single-handedly rewriting the rules on EV longevity by driving over 360,000 miles on its original battery. What’s even wilder? The battery still had 87% battery health, despite the owner exclusively using DC fast charging to charge the car to 100%.

That was more than 50,000 miles ago, and the car is still going strong!

Take a good look at that digital dashboard display up there, and you might notice the Hyundai IONIQ 5’s odometer is sitting pretty at 666,255 km. That’s over 413,990 miles, and the South Korean EV is, reportedly, still racking up miles — and fast! Over at the Facebook Group Mileage Impossible, the car’s owner claimed he covered all those miles in less than three-and-a-half years … which works out to just under 10,000 miles per month! (!!!) 

Nearly 400 miles per day

Like any vehicle being driven extreme miles, Hyundai’s excellent IONIQ 5 isn’t perfect. That means a bunch of stuff broke, including the car’s Integrated Charging Control Unit (ICCU), which means it can’t currently be charged on AC (L1/L2) charger. And, while electric cars don’t need oil changes, they do need other types maintenance, and the differential oils and brake fluids have been regularly changed on this car — which, no doubt, has contributed to its longevity.

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The most significant repair to date was the battery replacement at 360,000 miles (almost 55,000 miles ago, by my math). Remarkably, Hyundai covered the cost of the replacement despite the battery being way, way beyond its original 10 year/100,000 mile warranty.

The most impressive part of all this? Even after enduring 360,000 miles and countless fast-charging cycles, the battery reportedly retained 87% of its original health. (!)

Electrek’s Take

We’ve written about high-mileage Teslas in the past, but stories like this are massively important to people who are still on the fence about EVs. And, with the average age of vehicles on US roads creeping up on 13 years, it’s hard to argue with the relevance of those long-term drivability and dependability concerns.

And now, with this 400,000 IONIQ 5, Hyundai has a shining example of the fact that its soon-to-be American-made EVs can go the distance.

Hyundai is still offering 0.99% APR financing for 60 months on all versions of the hot-selling 2025 IONIQ 5, as well as up to $7,500 in Retail Bonus Cash, which (when combined with other incentives in certain markets) can make a huge difference to customers’ bottom line. It doesn’t look like the two offers can be combined, however, so be sure to do the math and see which deal makes the most sense for you.

SOURCES | IMAGES: 수와호수스와호수 and Mileage Impossible; via InsideEVs and Torque News.

Porsche is launching a new EV battery recycling pilot to recover valuable raw materials from its cars’ high-voltage battery packs at the end of their useful life in vehicles. The new pilot hopes to develop a “closed-loop” raw material cycle that would have new batteries made from old batteries without the need for new, high carbon cost mineral mining.

The German company best known for building ultra high-performance sports and racing cars has an equally long history in engineering and innovation, and has fully embraced EVs in recent years – launching all-electric versions of its Macan compact crossover and, of course, the excellent Porsche Taycan.

With this new initiative, Porsche engineers hope to address the growing importance of recycled battery raw materials and promote the responsible handling of high-voltage batteries at the end of life.

In the long term, a recycling network for EV batteries is planned to be established in collaboration with external partners.

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“With the help of innovative recycling processes, we strive to increase our independence from volatile and geopolitically unstable raw material markets,” says Barbara Frenkel, Executive Board Member for Procurement at Porsche. “Circular Economy is a core pillar of our sustainability strategy, and with this pilot project, we want to underscore our ambitions.”

Three phase plan

Porsche is advancing its commitment to sustainability by embracing the principles of, “reduce, reuse, recycle.” The company is developing more efficient electric vehicles with longer-lasting batteries, which are repurposed in “Second Life” Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) like the one implemented at its Leipzig plant (above). Now, through a new closed-loop recycling pilot, Porsche is emphasizing that “recycle” part by approaching the project in three phases.

In the first project phase, EV batteries from development vehicles are mechanically shredded at the end of their use-phase and processed into “black mass” that contains valuable raw materials like nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium. So far, the program has produced about 65 tons of processed black mass.

In the next phase, the black mass is further separated and refined until the materials reach both the levels of quality and purity Porsche demands from the “virgin” materials it buys for its new batteries.

In the third phase, Porsche takes the raw materials recovered from its decommissioned high-voltage batteries and makes new batteries with them, demonstrating Porsche’s, “holistic understanding of the circular economy.”

Porsche hopes its new pilot will help prepare the company for upcoming regulatory changes – for example, the expected requirements for batteries in the European Union by 2031. By adopting recycled materials early, the company says it intends to make an active contribution to the technology while further reducing its environmental impact.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Porsche.