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Would you ride in a self-driving car? Or buy an electric truck? Americans are coming around modes of transportation that barely existed a few years ago, and that’s what we’re talking about in today’s newsletter. Plus: The murky bond market, the strong dollar and the Sunshine Protection Act. — Tony Wagner, newsletter editor
A woman walks by a cybertruck parked on the street.
Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images
As diesel prices soar, so do electric truck sales
Improved range and state programs help too, Henry Epp reports.
Truckers and delivery services whose vehicles depend on diesel fuel face a math problem right now. A gallon of diesel costs $6.32 on average right now, according to AAA.

That price tag hit a record high last month, and that cost creates an obvious issue — these drivers can’t just use less fuel . Unless they change the vehicles they drive.

California has committed $1 billion to electric truck rebates through 2030. And Tesla’s semitruck, which can travel up to 500 miles on one charge, just began mass production.

Meanwhile, FedEx has just ordered 2,000 all-electric trucks that should arrive by the end of next year.

Those vehicles come from Harbinger Motors, a company that makes electric versions of those box trucks that FedEx and UPS use. Ever since diesel prices started climbing, CEO John Harris said that the size of customers’ orders has been increasing.

“People that we were talking to about 100, now they want us to quote 500, now they want us to quote 1,000,” he said.

There’s not a lot of price transparency in this market, but electric trucks are generally more expensive than diesel versions — for the truck itself, as well as the charging infrastructure.

On the other hand, electrons right now are a lot cheaper than diesel. And trucking companies are noticing, said Elaine Buckberg, senior fellow at Harvard University’s Salata Institute.

“I think that's going to make them think a lot more about that trade-off between the upfront cost of the truck and the savings they'd get over the life of the truck,” Buckberg said.
READ MORE


 
News you should know
Let’s do the numbers
  • Stocks are back up around all-time records today. The S&P 500 closed up 0.7% and close to its record, the Dow rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq composite surged 1.1% to a new record.

  • The Treasury will auction off a round of new government debt this week. Even if you aren’t buying, you should keep an eye out. Here’s why.

  • Speaking of debt… the U.S. dollar is the strongest it’s been since April 2025. That’s partly driven by high bond yields encouraging global investment.

  • Lawmakers are vowing to investigate after a Guardian investigation found major convenience store chains Circle K and 7 Eleven regularly overcharged customers.
Tech
  • One in 5 people have ridden in a self-driving car, according to a new survey, and most said they came away impressed. Here’s what the other 4 in 5 are worried about.

  • In Minneapolis, where I live, the city council voted to require human monitors in all self-driving cars. The mayor vowed to veto that rule, calling it a nonsensical “backdoor ban.”

  • How do AI researchers reconcile fears — all too common, we’ve learned — that they’re building humanity’s doom? We asked an anthropologist.


Marketplace's Kimberly Adams interview Scott Van Campen (right)
Alex Schroeder/Marketplace
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The stuff where we need to manipulate and to make decisions quickly and accurately — I don't think that robots are actually going to replace us.”
— Scott Van Campen executive director of MakerSpace NYC
As the multitrillion-dollar race to build an AI future accelerates, some creative people are looking for ways to slow down. At MakerSpace NYC, creators get their hands dirty welding, sewing, cutting and drilling. Most are entrepreneurs with growing businesses, but not the tools to make it happen.
HEAR MORE
President Donald Trump looks directly into an ecclipse.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
Final note
Things are getting dark
President Donald Trump posted the personal phone number of Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on social media over the weekend. What’s the hot-button issue that would cause the leader of the free world to dox the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee? Daylight saving time, of course.

Clocks are set to “fall back” in much of the country Nov. 1, but the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act would make DST permanent. The bill is with the Senate after passing the House this summer, and polling shows most Americans don’t like the current system.

The biannual time change is annoying, but the ripple effects of ditching it may be worse. Experts warn of health impacts from weird sleep schedules, as well as practical problems for kids waiting for the school bus with hours to go before dawn. That’s why many Americans hated it when Congress tried this 50 years ago.
 
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