Rad Bikes recently fell under a lot of scrutiny, and rightly so. Many of the company's bikes were designated a fire risk by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) after lithium-ion batteries with model numbers RP-1304 and HL-RP-S1304 were linked to 31 reports of fire, which included 12 reports of property damage that came to a whopping $734,500. Now, the company that was once the dominant electric bicycle brand in the US has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Public opinion won't be on Rad Bike's side after the CSPC said Rad "refused to agree to an acceptable recall." The company's reasoning is that the batteries were deemed safe by a third party, and it stands by its product, but the models that exploded weren't UL certified. Now, Rad Bikes is for sale.
Court documents show that Rad Power Bikes owns about $32 million in assets and owes nearly $73 million to creditors, of which a large portion—$8 million— is due to unpaid U.S. import tariffs. Racking up more debt is said to be millions owed to overseas manufacturers, along with insurance payouts and legal cases, including individual claims relating to alleged damages. Yeah, it's going to be a tough sell.
