Customers set to be screwed as Rad Power Bikes files for bankruptcy + Former St. Paul Councilmember says a Rad battery fire destroyed his house
From the Minnesota Star Tribune.Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, three weeks after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC") issued a product safety warning urging anyone with certain models of Rad Power e-bike batteries to immediately cease using them and take them to a hazardous waste collection center. The agency was aware of 31 reports of the batteries catching fire, including instances in which the batteries ignited when not in use or being charged. Rad refused to issue a recall and instead stated that they disagreed with the CPSC's warning, saying in a statement, Rad Power Bikes firmly stands behind our batteries."
The company's battery safety claims were put under further scrutiny last week when The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that a Rad Power Bikes battery may have been the cause of a September fire that destroyed the home of Matt Privratsky - formerly an interim City Councilmember in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Star Tribune reported that the fire started in middle of the night while he and his spouse were sleeping. They were able to escape safely with their two dogs, but the fire destroyed nearly everything in the home.
Beeping from a smoke alarm abruptly woke Matt Privratsky. Down in the dining room, he found a single e-bike battery on a metal shelf, smoldering in an orange glow. It looked like magma, and the flames spreading from it quickly lit up the darkness.
By the time the St. Paul Fire Department arrived, about seven minutes later, the windows in the dining room had blown out from the intense heat, Privratsky said. He and his wife and their two dogs were able to escape, but most of their belongings were destroyed by the fire in September.
Privratsky believes the blaze originated in a Rad Power Bikes battery, the same one identified as a fire hazard by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in a public warning last week. The commission urged consumers to immediately stop using certain battery models sold by Rad Power Bikes.
After our initial story about the CPSC warning, Seattle Bike Blog read various comments from people questioning the fairness of the federal agency during an anti-green-tech Trump Administration. However, we strongly urged readers to take the CPSC warning seriously. A review of 2025 CPSC warnings does not show an obvious pattern of targeting green tech products or e-bikes by the agency (see for yourself). So if you disregarded the initial warning, please reconsider. The warning applies to battery models HL-RP-S1304 or RP-1304.
A major part of Rad's response to the CPSC's warning was that issuing a recall would have put the company out of business. Well, that is happening anyway, but now creditors appear positioned to get the first bite rather than Rad customers who were sold potentially deadly batteries. Defending these batteries and actively urging their customers to keep using them also seems likely to set the company up for serious levels of liability - or worse, criminality - if they cause any future fires.
The company's bankruptcy filing lists $32.1 million in assets and $72.8 million in liabilities, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News reported:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection for tariffs ($8,363,749), Bangkok Cycle Industrial Co. Ltd. ($5,353,674), Jinhua Vision Industry Co., Ltd. ($1,414,356), and Fuji-TA Fushida Group Area ($1,223,881) for trade; Commerce Insurance ($1,138,000) and Lisa Gore ($3,200,000) for subrogation; Steve Jay ($1 million) and Susan Luck ($1 million) for damages.
Equity holders are founder Mike Radenbaugh (41.3%), VCVC V LLC (6.6%), Durable Capital Master Fund LP (5.8%), along with other minority holders (46.3%).
As we wrote in November: Rad customers need and deserve a clear resolution. Even if Rad disagrees, asking their customers to keep using batteries that the CPSC says could explode is simply not acceptable." With this bankruptcy, Rad customers deserve a seat at the table. I am not an expert in how corporate bankruptcy works, but someone (perhaps the Washington Attorney General?) needs to step in to protect the interests and safety of Rad customers so they are not shut out of the resources they are owed as the company is liquidated or sold. If Rad has $32.1 million in assets, then I'd say they have enough to replace innocent people's batteries before they burn down more houses. People's safety is more important that a creditor's balance sheet.