Earlier this month we covered the infringement lawsuit brought against Himiway by JackRabbit after the former released a very similarly styled micro electric bike. Now that e-bike, known as the Himiway Pony, is being recalled and Himiway is issuing an apology.
The JackRabbit, which is technically better classified as a seated electric scooter due to its lack of pedals, has been a popular product in the micro e-bike category for several years.
I’ve tested one myself on multiple occasions and found it to be a fun and convenient little electric two-wheeler, even for international travel thanks to its small size and easy packability.
You can see the bike being tested in my own review video below.
The incredibly short wheel base, distinctive frame and handlebar design, and the folding pegs sandwiched between 20″ wheels have become a hallmark of the JackRabbit.
With a lightweight setup at just 25 lb. (11.5 kg) yet capable of 20 mph (32 km/h) speeds, it has been praised for its combination of bicycle-like ride comfort and scooter-like portability. In fact, the $999 micro e-bike seems to have developed something of a cult-following with its riderbase, something rarely seen outside of lifestyle e-bikes like those from SUPER73.
In its official statement, Himiway acknowledges the similarity between its Pony electric micro-bike and the JackRabbit, as well as acknowledges that its model infringes upon the JackRabbit:
“We want to take a moment to apologize for the inconvenience caused by our Pony Model. We’ll take full responsibility for it.
Our product team was inspired by children’s balance bikes and aimed to create a low-cost, affordable option for our customers. In so, we relied on available parts and components from our suppliers to design the Pony Model, which we believed would be different from anything else on the market.
However, we discovered that our design, while structurally different, shares some similarities with existing products in the market, which infringed on their design. Despite the design, costs, and experience, we have failed to recognize the similarities and have unintentionally violated some design rights.”
The Himiway team then goes on to announce that it will be recalling its Pony bikes:
“We are aware of our mistakes and want to make them right. Therefore, we are recalling all the Models. Furthermore, we want to assure you our team values integrity and transparency, and we recognize that our customer’s trust is of the utmost importance.”
Lastly, Himiway released a few forward-looking statements about its commitment to preventing a repeat occurence of this event:
“We recognize that we still have to learn and grow as a company, and we will continue to provide low-cost options for our customers. We understand that it may take us longer to launch new products. Still, we will prioritize transparency and integrity development process to ensure that we deliver only the best quality products.
In conclusion, we realize that we are not perfect, and we continue to learn from our mistakes. We apologize sincerely for any inconvenience caused. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any further concerns.”
Himiway produces a wide range of electric bike models, though this was its first attempt at a small-format and lightweight e-bike. If the company decides to try again, it sounds like they’ll be a lot more careful next time.
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On today’s episode of Quick Charge we explore the uncertainty around the future of EV incentives, the roles different stakeholders will play in shaping that future, and our friend Stacy Noblet from energy consulting firm ICF stops by to share her take on what lies ahead.
We’ve got a couple of different articles and studies referenced in this forward-looking interview, and I’ve done my best to link to all of them below. If I missed one, let me know in the comments.
New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.
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EV sales kept up their momentum in December 2024, with incentives playing a big role, according to the latest Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book report.
December’s strong EV sales saw an average transaction price (ATP) of $55,544, which helped push the industry-wide ATP higher, according to Kelley Blue Book. The December ATP for an EV was higher year-over-year by 0.8%, slightly below the industry average, and higher month-over-month by 1.1%. Tesla ATPs were higher year-over-year by 10.5%.
Incentives for EVs remained elevated in December, although they were slightly lower month-over-month at 14.3% of ATP, down from 14.7% in November.
EV incentives were higher by an impressive 41% year-over-year and have been above 12% of ATP for six consecutive months. Strong sales incentives, which averaged more than $6,700 per sale in 2024, were one reason EV sales surpassed 1.3 million units last year, according to Cox Automotive, a new record for volume and share.
(My colleague Jameson Dow reported yesterday, “In 2024, the world sold 3.5 million more EVs than it did in the previous year … This increase is larger than the 3.2 million increase in EV sales from the previous year – meaning that EV sales aren’t just up, but that the rate of growth is itself increasing.”)
Kelley Blue Book estimated that in December, approximately 84,000 vehicles – or 5.6% of total sales – transacted at prices higher than $80,000 – the highest volume ever. KBB lumps gas cars and EVs together into this luxury vehicle category, so this is where Tesla Cybertruck is slotted.
However, Tesla bundles sales figures of Cybertruck with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi(!) into a category it calls “other models,” so we don’t know for sure exactly how many Cybertrucks Tesla sold in Q4, much less in December. However, Electrek‘s Fred Lambert estimates between 9,000 and 12,000 Cybertrucks were sold in Q4, and that’s not a stellar sales figure.
What will January bring when it comes to EV ATPs? What about tax credits? Check back in a month and I’ll fill you in.
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Tesla is now claiming that Cybertruck was the ‘best-selling electric pickup in US’ last year despite not even reporting the number of deliveries.
There’s a lot of context needed here.
As we often highlighted, Tesla is sadly one of, if not the most, opaque automakers regarding sales reports.
Tesla doesn’t break down sales per model or even region.
For comparison, here’s Ford’s Q4 2024 sales report compared to Tesla’s:
You could argue that Tesla has fewer models than Ford, and that’s true, but Tesla’s report literally has two lines despite having six different models.
There’s no reason not to offer a complete breakdown like all other automakers other than trying to make it hard to verify the health of each vehicle program.
This has been the case with the Cybertruck. Tesla is bundling its Cybertruck deliveries with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi deliveries.
Despite this lack of disclosure, Tesla has been able to claim that the Cybertruck has become “the best-selling electric pickup truck” in the US in 2024:
It very well might be true. Ford disclosed 33,510 F-150 Lightning truck deliveries in the US in 2024 while most estimates are putting Cybertruck deliveries at around 40,000 units.
Those are global deliveries, but Tesla only delivered the Cybertruck in the US, Canada, and Mexico in 2024, and most of the deliveries are believed to be in the US.
First off, Tesla had a backlog of over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck that it has been building since 2019. This led many to believe Tesla already had years of demand baked in for the truck and that production would be the constraint.
However, based on estimates, again, because Tesla refuses to disclose the data, Cybertruck deliveries were either flat or down in Q4 versus Q3 despite Tesla introducing cheaper versions of the vehicle and ramping up production.
Again, that’s after just about 40,000 deliveries.
Furthermore, with almost 11,000 deliveries in Q4 in the US, Ford more likely than not outsold Cybertruck with the F-150 Lightning in Q4.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla is in damage control here. There’s no doubt that it is having issues selling the Cybertruck.
Inventory is full of Cybertrucks and Tesla is now discounting them and offering free lifetime Supercharging.
Tesla is great at ramping up production, and it’s clear the Cybertruck is not production-constrained anymore. It is demand-constrained despite having over 1 million reservations.
Again, those reservations were made before Tesla unveiled the production version, which happened to have less range and cost significantly more.
The upcoming cheaper single motor version should help with demand, but I have serious doubts Tesla can ramp this program up to more than 100,000 units in the US.
As a reminder, Tesla installed a production capacity of 250,000 units annually and Musk said he could see Tesla selling 500,000 Cybertrucks per year.
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