A few years ago, the Sur-Ron Light Bee made a huge splash in the US. At the time, there was a big gap in the electric dirt bike options that were available. The only competition at the time were models that were large and expensive (Like the Zero FX, or the “now defunct” Alta Redshift), or…they were very small and obviously made for kids. The Sur-Ron filled that middle gap and was a HUGE success. Soon afterwards, a competitor arose, called the Talaria Sting (click here). They were both about the same size, same weight, and roughly the same price ..read more

When the Sur-Ron 60V “Light Bee” electric dirt bike came out in January of 2018, it was an instant hit with high sales because it was much more affordable compared to the Alta and the Zero off-road motorcycles. Then, a new competitor showed up a short time later, the 60V MX-4 Talaria Sting (to see that article from April 2023, click here). I wrote about the benefits of the Talaria Sting which was mainly an improved modern “IPM” style of motor that could handle future performance upgrades, compared to the old-style SPM. Electric hot-rodders have typically taken one of two ..read more

A while back, we wrote about the latest hot news concerning electric aircraft that were under development, and I noticed that one of them had a back-up generator as a range extender (to see that article, click here). I have friends that think a hybrid is the “worst of both worlds” but as I’ve said before concerning EV cars, I still believe that a hybrid drivetrain is a viable option for the next decade, or at least it is in some applications (to see our hybrid EV article, click here). Well I recently began seeing lots of announcements about hybrid ..read more

As soon as I saw this, I knew it would be cool to post it. I don’t know if this sidecar can easily attach to any other available ebike frame, but it exists right now, and it can be found at the website for Mod-Bikes.com __________________________________________________ Features As of October 2024, the listed price is around $4300 for both the ebike and sidecar, and their website claims it will be available in November of 2024. Right now, the color selections for the sidecar are black and Army green. It appears as though all models have dual disc brakes, which I ..read more

If you are tired of seeing clickbait titles about some new battery chemistry, I actually want to tell you that there will be no huge sudden change, except for the upgrades I recently wrote about. A few months ago in July, we wrote about how nearly everyone is adding silicon to the anodes of lithium batteries (to see that, click here), because it dramatically improves the speed that the battery can be charged at, and it also increases the energy density of those same batteries. Just before that in June, we wrote about how the Chinese company CATL was now ..read more

Batteries have reached a tipping point this year because silicon anodes are actually being produced and they do two things. They double the range of battery packs, and they allow incredibly fast charging. First let me say that just about any advance in batteries involves some basic chemistry that was known decades ago. Lithium, Silicon, Sodium, and Sulfur were all identified as fantastic battery materials. However, the problem is always in the details. All of these have been experimented with, and it was just sheer luck that in the 1990’s Lithium-Ion cathodes and graphite anodes turned out the ..read more

CATL is now the biggest EV battery producer in the world. A little over 15 years ago, a lot of deep pockets decided to spend a ton of money on battery improvements, and we are now seeing the results of those investments. In 2007, the EV industry got a boost when a man named Wan Gang became China’s minister of science and technology. Wan had been a big fan of EVs, and then he drove Tesla’s first EV Roadster as soon as it came out in 2008. He was a key influence in China making the national decision to go all-in on electric vehicles. Wan Gang, China’s minister of Science and Technology From 2009 ..read more

There’s a lot of discussion about tariffs right now to keep out products that would disrupt domestic products, like vehicles from Tesla, Ford, GM, and Dodge. A tariff is a tax that makes imported products more expensive. There are several companies in China that are making cheap EV’s, but make no mistake, any talk about tariffs is because of BYD. They are selling about 10,000 cars a month around the world, roughly split between electric cars and hybrid gas/electric. Most of our readers are from the USA, and you may not have heard of BYD. They have been leaving the EU and the US for last, due t ..read more

When Rivian was first announced, I didn’t know if they were going to survive or end up like Fiskar, Faraday, Alta, and Canoo. However, they seem to be selling well, and Ford has invested $500-Million in Rivian. Also, Amazon has ordered 100,000 delivery vans, so…lets take a look. _______________________________________________ Rivian R1S, the “big” SUV At this point, I believe Rivian will survive and even become quite successful. The products from Tesla have a forward-thinking and modern look, but the Rivian models appeal to a customer who wants an EV that is slightly more conventional-looking ..read more

I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen, because…I knew something like this was eventually going to happen. It’s a second-gen 2007 Toyota Prius, and it clocked a verified ONE MILLION kilometers on the original battery pack and engine (621,000+ miles). First, I’m going to list some info about what a Prius is, and then I’ll list a few hybrids that made it to very high miles, so we can see if there’s any pattern that we can learn from. _________________________________________________ Toyota Prius, Gen-1 (1997-2003) In 1995, Toyota premiered their prototype hybrid Prius at the Tokyo m ..read more