Electric vehicles are pulling a Toby Keith and crowing, “How do you like me now?!” While Americans aren’t running out en masse to buy EVs, those already in the market for a car are finding compelling reasons to choose electric amid rising gas costs and competitive pricing.

Not about going green, just saving green

“Higher oil prices always help the transition to electric vehicles,” Asian Development Bank Chief Economist Albert Park told Bloomberg. While the argument used to be that EVs could save money over time by being cheaper to run, but they cost a lot more up front, there now exists a solid used market for electric passenger vehicles, meaning more consumers can enter the space at different price points, according to the head of insights for Edmunds online car marketplace.

The EV credit is dead. Long live the EV credit: While President Trump nixed the $7,500 federal EV-buying tax incentive, manufacturer and dealer incentives are helping to convince buyers. The Wall Street Journal reported this weekend on the deals to be found, highlighting a 33-year-old sales engineer who bought a 2026 Chevrolet Equinox EV a few weeks ago for $23,991 (plus $3,579 in taxes and mandatory fees)—more than 50% off its $48,269 sticker price.

The newest EV fans are…semitruck drivers

Tesla recently expanded its one-month pilot tests of its first semitruck, called…Semi, allowing select drivers to try its big automatic (but not autonomous) truck. It’s getting rave reviews. The company plans to begin shipping the mass-produced Semis this summer, totaling 15,000 by the end of 2026, and then delivering 50,000 per year after that.

The development is well-timed. Owner-operator truckers are among the earliest Americans to feel the adverse effects of the Iran war on their wallets. One independent trucker told the WSJ that diesel price increases cost him $300–$400 extra each week.

Zoom out: It typically takes three to six months of persistently higher gas prices for consumers to start considering more cost-effective alternatives, according to former chief economist of GM Elaine Buckberg.—HVL

ICE agents assisting TSA amid staffing shortages. US Border Czar Tom Homan told CNN yesterday that he was working on a plan that would deploy ICE agents to large airports starting today, where they would assist with security at airport entrances and exits, but probably wouldn’t work the X-ray machines. The TSA staffing issues stem from the partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, which began in mid-February and persists due to congressional disagreements. As a result, TSA agents have not been paid for weeks. Many have called off sick, and more than 400 of them have quit altogether.

Former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III died at 81. Mueller, a decorated Marine veteran, returned home from the Vietnam War and pursued a law career. He became FBI director the week before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Mueller was highly regarded for reforming the FBI into a 21st-century intelligence operation and for his bipartisanship. He remained in the role and at the bureau until 2013. In 2017, he was appointed special counsel by then-US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a Trump appointee, to oversee the investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The investigation made him a political lightning rod. The most famous line from his 448 pages of findings was, “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

Banksy’s true identity confirmed, and art collectors aren’t mad about it. At least not all of them. Following a new report by Reuters that adds to the growing tranche of evidence that the surreptitious street artist is Robin Gunningham, a guy in his 50s, there’s really no mystery left as to who the “Girl with Balloon” painter is, but that hasn’t taken the metaphorical air out of the inflatable for everyone. Collector Peter Brant, who runs a gallery in New York, told the Wall Street Journal that he had never purchased Banksy’s work before because of the artist’s elusive identity, but now, “I feel more comfortable knowing who he is.” The WSJ expects Banksy valuations to skyrocket. Makes sense. If you’re going to pay $25 million for a painting, you’d probably want to know it wasn’t done by your middle-school bully.—HVL

We may never see that Smiley rollback guy chop a paper tag in half again. That’s because Walmart plans to switch all its US stores over to easily updatable digital price labels by the end of the year. And last week, news broke that the retail giant secured patents to help inject enough machine learning and automated systems into price management that even Bob Barker might have trouble keeping up.

Great(ish?) Value: Digital shelf labels (DSLs), which Kroger has also experimented with, are easier for employees to update than paper tags. But that also means it’s easier to raise prices, stoking concerns among consumer advocates that stores, like airlines, could quickly change prices in response to demand—like how alcohol prices would probably spike after every New York Jets game. Walmart’s recent patents also lay the groundwork for using customer data and AI in tandem. Per the Financial Times:

• Earlier this month, Walmart obtained a patent for a method to predict demand and recommend prices.
• In January, the company obtained a patent for a way to “dynamically and automatically” update prices to mark down items on its website.

Walmart has insisted that DSLs won’t be used for dynamic or surge pricing and that recent patents will be used for markdowns and to help human employees make decisions.

Some lawmakers aren’t convinced. Legislation has been introduced in Congress and in several states that would require paper shelf-pricing for large grocery stores.—BC

Hearing things: Anthropic faces off against the US government in court tomorrow. The AI company is challenging the Department of Defense’s decision to designate it as a supply chain risk. Tomorrow’s hearing will focus specifically on Anthropic’s request for a preliminary injunction, which would block the designation from taking effect until the larger legal battle over whether the government has the authority to make the designation is resolved. It all stems from Anthropic’s public breakup with the Pentagon over how the military might use AI tools.

Sentimental about gas prices: The University of Michigan will release its final consumer sentiment data for March on Friday. Between airport security lines and rising gas prices, consumers have had a lot to think about in the past few weeks. We’ll also get a check of the labor market on Thursday, when initial jobless claims numbers are released.

Play ball: Baseball is back, in more ways than one. The new MLB season technically starts on Wednesday night with a Netflix-exclusive matchup between the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees. But the real Opening Day (emphasis on day) is on Thursday, when nearly two dozen teams will take the field. Baseball has enjoyed a recent surge in popularity, between the excitement of the World Baseball Classic and last season’s World Series, the latter of which saw a 19% increase in ratings over the previous year. After signing every player in the country, the Los Angeles Dodgers are favored to win it all again.

But wait, there’s more:

• OG memestock GameStop will report Q4 earnings tomorrow. Year over year revenue was down 4.6% in Q3.
• Sweet niblets. The Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special streams on Disney+ tomorrow.
• The March Madness women’s tournament finishes the Round of 32 tonight, and the Sweet 16 starts on Friday. The men’s tournament resumes on Thursday with its Second Round. Make sure to set aside some time to watch your flaming brackets turn into a smoldering pile of ash throughout the weekend.
• Palm Sunday kicks off Christianity’s Holy Week on…Sunday.

Cargill has a bone to pick. Per the Financial Times, the beef-processing giant is using AI technology to scan cattle carcasses for “tiny flecks of meat” that might have been missed during the butchering process.

Early tests show the process may allow Cargill to recover up to 0.5% more meat per animal. If you apply that to the 11 billion pounds of beef that Cargill processes annually—and add the fact that beef prices are at record highs—that’s about $200 million in extra product. Then again, that’s about $200 million less meat for your dog to gnaw on.—BC