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A struggling Seattle-based electric bike company is facing yet another bump in the road as a federal product safety agency warned customers Monday to stop using some of the models due to safety concerns around their batteries.
The lithium-ion batteries used in some Rad Power Bikes products can unexpectedly ignite and explode, and can pose a risk of serious injury and death, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission wrote in a notice.
The federal commission reported the batteries were linked to at least 31 fires, including 12 reports of property damage that totaled about $734,500. Some incidents occurred when the battery, manufactured in China, was not charging, and when the e-bikes were in storage, the commission said.
The commission urged people with certain models of the company's e-bikes to immediately remove the battery and dispose of it using local hazardous waste disposal procedures.
But Rad Power Bikes, headquartered in Ballard, is pushing back against the warning and says its bikes meet or exceed safety standards.
Rad Power Bikes firmly stands behind our batteries and our reputation as leaders in the ebike industry, and strongly disagrees with the CPSC's characterization of certain Rad batteries as defective or unsafe," Kelsey Wolf, the company's director of brand marketing and communications, wrote in a statement Monday.
Wolf added that the company has a "long and well-documented track record" of building safe and reliable e-bikes that have been tested and deemed compliant with industry standards by third-party labs, including during the commission's investigation.
"Our understanding is that the CPSC does not dispute the conclusions of these tests," Wolf wrote. "It is also our understanding that the battery itself was not independently examined per industry-accepted test standards."
While Wolf said the company was "heartbroken" by any incident involving its bikes, they noted the incident rate associated with the batteries is "a fraction of one percent."
Wolf also said it is "widely understood" that all lithium-ion batteries — not just those in e-bikes — can pose a fire risk if damaged, improperly charged, exposed to excess moisture or subjected to extreme temperatures, all of which Rad Power advises against in user manuals.
While the product safety commission warns battery exposure to water and debris can create a fire hazard, Rad Power objected, saying that "mere exposure to water and debris does not create a hazard; rather, significant water exposure, as warned against in our manuals, can pose a hazard."
The federal warning applies to battery model number RP-1304 and HL-RP-S1304 in Rad Power's RadWagon 4, RadCity HS 4, RadRover High Step 5, RadCity Step Thru 3, RadRover Step Thru 1, RadRunner 2, RadRunner 1, RadRunner Plus and RadExpand 5 bikes.
The model number can be found on a label on the back or rear of the battery. The batteries were sold on RadPowerBikes.com, at Best Buy stores and in independent bike shops nationwide for about $550 for a replacement battery, or between $1,500 and $2,000 when sold with the bike, the product safety commission said.
According to the federal warning, Rad Power refused to agree to an "acceptable recall," and that given its financial situation — which has grown precarious in recent years as sales have slowed — the company said it was unable to offer replacement batteries or refunds to customers.
Wolf also disagreed on that front, citing the company's attempts to offer "good-faith solutions to address the agency's concerns," including providing customers with the opportunity to upgrade to its new Safe Shield batteries at a discount.
"CPSC rejected this opportunity," Wolf wrote. "The significant cost of the all-or-nothing demand would force Rad to shut its doors immediately, leaving no way to support our riders or our employees."
The company's Safe Shield batteries were developed in an attempt to "build safer, better batteries" and also passed third-party lab safety tests, Wolf said. Last year, these new Rad Power batteries, which are potted in epoxy to isolate the cells, gained praise as one of the safest e-bike battery designs, according to Micah Toll, an expert on the U.S. e-bike industry and a writer for Electrek, a trade journal covering electric transportation.
Once North America's biggest e-bike brand, Rad Power has struggled in recent years to maintain the surge in demand it saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales boomed in 2020 and 2021 as disruptions hampered mass transit and people opted for other ways to get around.
In the past couple years, product recalls hit the e-bike company, as well as lawsuits related to a battery fire and the death of an 12-year-old rider.
Then this month, Rad Power announced it "may be forced to cease operations" after failing to find outside partners or funding. A notice filed with the state said 64 Seattle-based employees would be laid off.
The recent federal warning will likely further weaken sales and hurt the company's brand image, Toll, of Electrek, wrote in an email Monday. However, he also noted that fire risk exists with almost any e-bike battery, not just Rad Power's, and that the company doesn't make its own batteries; almost no e-bike company does.
"I'm not saying that owners of batteries named in the notice shouldn't take it seriously, but it'd be just as pertinent for all e-bike battery owners to take this notice as a reminder to avoid letting water penetrate inside their battery and to protect it from physical damage," Toll wrote.
Still, he pointed to Rad Power's existing financial challenges and said the company's long-term future was already in trouble before the warning.
"The industry has moved on and while Rad still sells bikes and holds a smaller but not inconsequential place in the market, they simply are no longer a dominant force in the U.S. e-bike landscape," Toll wrote. "With the clock ticking down and no apparent buyers stepping up, I don't think there's a soft landing for the once storied brand.
Information from The Seattle Times archives was included in this story.
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