Signs point to e-bike company SONDORS in peril, leaving riders stranded
A number of troubling developments point to serious financial troubles for SONDORS, the company behind a wide range of electric bicycles as well as the Metacycle electric motorcycle (and an ill-fated three-wheeled electric car, but that’s another story).
This isn’t the first time that SONDORS has raised eyebrows. The company burst onto the scene in 2015 with a controversial new e-bike for the rock-bottom price of $500. At the time, many questioned whether it was a scam. SONDORS ultimately delivered the bikes, though rolled in late and landed short on the published specs. And that became a hallmark of the company over the years with multiple new product launches: delivered late and under-specced but always getting there. Mostly.
This time, though, may be different. Now the company seems to be facing a number of financial troubles that have resulted in worrying signs of potential collapse.
It all started in early 2021 when the company unveiled its flashy Metacycle electric motorcycle. At a bargain price of $5,000 with a top speed of 80 mph (130 km/h) and a max range of 80 miles (130 km), it looked like a revolution in the industry.
But in order to get a ride on that revolution, customers had to front the money in advance.
In usual SONDORS fashion, the company overran its expected timeline by months and then nearly a year. Some customers were angry, ultimately asking for refunds. Many received them. But eventually, the Metacycles started rolling out in small batches and arriving at some pre-order customers’ doors. I even got a ride on one of the bikes. It was actually surprisingly good.
Sure, it didn’t meet the performance figures that were originally promised. And the shiny polished aluminum frame somehow morphed into a matte PVC-pipe-colored gray. And it was somehow nearly 50% heavier than expected. But the bike worked pretty well and was a lot of fun.
Along the way, SONDORS opened another round of orders at a higher price of $6,500. Strangely, some of those orders even started arriving to customers, despite many of the original first batch customers from more than a year earlier still sitting there empty-handed. It appeared that SONDORS wasn’t shipping based on order number but rather prioritizing customers that it could quickly reach with its deliveries or who lived in states where SONDORS had already received regulatory approval for registrations and established distribution solutions.
As SONDORS continued to take orders but dragged its feet on shipments, customer anger grew. More riders began demanding refunds, many of which had waited nearly two years at that point. The ones who received refunds often had to contact the company dozens of times over weeks or months. Many more couldn’t get refunds at all.
SONDORS was obviously in desperate need of money and set its sights on an IPO to quickly generate the cash it needed to stay afloat. But the IPO plan was beset with problems from the start and eventually unraveled.
That’s when key personnel started leaving the company, including executives. (Author’s note, and potentially spoiler alert: At this point, it is unclear exactly who remains working at SONDORS. There doesn’t appear to be anyone left in PR or marketing, and the CEO, Storm Sondors, has not responded to my requests for comment.)
Basically, things weren’t looking good for SONDORS or the company’s customers, but this was also a company that had repeatedly been pushed onto the ropes and somehow always gotten back up to make it through another round. Some held out hope that it could pull off another miracle.
Next, SONDORS launched a fire sale on Metacycles, which it claimed put 1,000 more orders on its books. If true, that likely added more cash to its coffers. The final Hail Mary for the beleaguered e-bike company appears to have been the unveiling of an off-road electric motorcycle known as the MetaBeast. It was only shown in renders, but that didn’t stop SONDORS from taking pre-orders for that model too.
That brings us to the present day.
If SONDORS had pinned its financial salvation on those MetaBeast pre-orders, then it doesn’t look promising.
All signs point to a serious financial meltdown at headquarters. In fact, there may not even be any headquarters anymore.
According to Google, the SONDORS facility in Los Angeles is now “permanently closed.”
But, apparently, leaving headquarters and working from home is the least of SONDORS’ corporate issues. That’s because it can’t even take credit card orders anymore.
Visiting the SONDORS website and trying to purchase a bike brings up an error explaining that the company can’t take orders right now. That’s likely due to a status issue with SONDORS’ merchant account.
While there do appear to be hundreds of Metacycles already cruising around US roads, there are likely thousands more customers still waiting for either a refund or a bike. They gather in online communities, sharing tips on potential avenues for refunds or otherwise simply commiserating together.
“Same as so many,” says one Metacycle customer. “I paid in full in 2022, canceled my order, was guaranteed a refund, and have now been ghosted by phone and email for months. I tried to do a chargeback on my credit card, but they don’t allow it past 120 days.”
Some others have been successful with credit card chargebacks, such as another customer whose delivery window came and went last spring. This customer said, “After being told that the bike was still in ‘quality check’ and would be no more than 4 to 5 weeks ‘tops’ back in the beginning of April of this year, and then being completely and entirely ghosted by support tickets, phone calls, voicemails, and emails, ever since, I finally went and did a chargeback with my credit card company a few weeks ago, and I’ve never felt better. I wasn’t even able to request a cancelation/refund through Sondors because they were completely unresponsive to any form of correspondence, which I believe actually worked to my favor in this case.”
Many customers are now openly discussing plans online for a class action lawsuit, even as rumors swirl of a fraud investigation from the Attorney General of California.
Where did it all go so wrong?
Hindsight is 20/20, and we aren’t even on the hind end of this ordeal yet, but the major issues can likely be traced back to SONDORS’s decision to expand into motorcycles.
Electric bicycles, while not simple machines, are vastly less complicated than electric motorcycles. Everything about e-bikes, from production to regulations to fulfillment logistics, is a walk in the park compared to motorcycles, which are honest-to-goodness motor vehicles.
While the company’s goal was admirable – trying to take their expertise in contract manufacturing to the next level with a larger and more capable product – the added cost and complexity were likely something the team simply wasn’t prepared for.
It’s not the first time a micromobility company on seemingly solid ground has overextended itself. Boosted Boards, once the brand name in electric skateboards, sought to expand its market with a high-tech and highly-refined electric scooter. And that’s exactly what it did – until the project proved so complicated and capital-intensive that it bankrupted the company after the first round of deliveries. Sound familiar?
So what happens now?
At this point, the future for SONDORS seems grim but not sealed. If any e-bike company can dance its way out of impending financial doom, it’s SONDORS. No one has more experience at it. But on the flip side, we’ve never seen SONDORS dance this close to midnight, and the music is very close to going out.
Without being able to reach anyone at SONDORS for comment, it’s impossible to say exactly what is going on or just how rocky the company’s footing currently is.
And with the Dutch e-bike company VanMoof’s bankruptcy still fresh enough in the industry’s collective memory, such a quick fall from grace is no longer unthinkable.
One thing is for sure, though. If you were planning on a MetaBeast as a Christmas present, you should probably have a backup plan just in case.
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Coca-Cola’s bottling partners in India are going electric, three wheels at a time. The company just announced a major expansion of its electric delivery fleet, adding thousands of electric three-wheeled vehicles (often called e-rickshaws or electric tuk-tuks) to its logistics operations across the country.
These compact electric vehicles are already a common sight on India’s roads, used for everything from passenger transport to last-mile cargo deliveries. Now Coca-Cola’s bottlers are ramping up their use of these efficient EVs as part of a broader sustainability and welfare initiative dubbed “Vividhta ka Uphaar,” which translates to “a gift of diversity.”
According to the company, the rollout is already underway, with more than 5,000 electric three-wheelers integrated into delivery routes in cities such as Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, and more. The vehicles not only reduce tailpipe emissions but also lower noise pollution and operating costs, making them a win for both the company and the communities they serve.
Coca-Cola joins a growing list of multinational corporations turning to electric tuk-tuks to clean up their delivery fleets in Asia. IKEA has deployed similar electric three-wheelers in India and other Southeast Asian countries as part of its push to achieve zero-emissions deliveries. Amazon and Flipkart have also experimented with three-wheeled EVs to reach urban customers on tight, traffic-clogged streets.
While North America often focuses on four-wheeled electric trucks and vans for commercial use, much of the developing world relies on these nimble three-wheeled workhorses. Affordable, maneuverable, and easy to charge, electric rickshaws are a natural fit for dense cities with hot climates – especially where small businesses and large corporations alike need efficient last-mile solutions.
Electrek’s Take
These types of EVs can’t come soon enough. They use electric drivetrains that are closer in size to an electric bicycle than an electric delivery truck or van (usually 2-4kW motors and 3-5 kWh batteries), yet can carry loads closer in size to those same trucks and vans.
Sure, they can’t carry quite the same tonnage, but they’re often more appropriately sized for the kind of last-mile delivery that so many companies require.
I actually bought an electric tuk-tuk back in 2023 and found it to be the perfect ‘city truck’ for my lifestyle, where I live car-free in a city and my wife and I travel by e-bike and e-motorcycle. For the few times we need to actually haul stuff, an electric tuk-tuk or rickshaw gives truck-like capacity in a smaller and more efficient vehicle. What’s not to like?!
Images via: Coca-Cola
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![Yangwang U9 Xtreme cracks 300 mph to become fastest production car EVER [video]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/09/Yangwang-U9-Xtreme.jpg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Move over, Bugatti! The new Chinese Yangwang U9 Xtreme electric hypercar just blasted its way to a staggering, 308.4 mph top speed on a German test track, seizing the “world’s fastest car” crown and busting the last traces of the myth that electric cars are slow.
Just weeks after BYD announced that the nearly 3,000 hp, all-electric Yangwang U9 Track Edition model set a new global speed record for electric vehicles after hitting a ridiculous 472.41 km/h (~293 mph), the Yangwang crew returned to Germany’s Automotive Testing Papenburg GmbH (ATP) test track with the U9 Xtreme with its sights set on a new goal. They didn’t want the world’s fastest EV title – they wanted the world’s fastest production car title. Period.
The BYD Yangwang crew got that record, rocketing all the way to 496.22 km/h – that’s 308.4 mph to you and me!
“This record was only possible because the U9 Xtreme simply has incredible performance,” explains German GT racing driver Marc Basseng, who piloted the Chinese EV on its record-setting run. “Technically, something like this is not possible with a combustion engine. Thanks to the electric motor, the car is quiet, there are no load changes, and that allows me to focus even more on the track.”
The Yangwang U9 features the world’s first mass-produced 1,200V ultra-high-voltage vehicle platform. Developed by BYD, the car is powered by the company’s latest li-ion phosphate batteries in BYD’s now-familiar “blade” configuration.
The U9 Xtreme’s record-setting run dethrones the previous Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, which managed 304.8 mph back in 2019. The Bugatti now has to settle for the lesser “world’s fastest combustion-powered production car” title, which is objectively lame.
Definitely NOT lame
The company says it’s selling “no more than 30” of the Xtreme U9 EVs, presumably to customers with incredibly long driveways. The Xtreme version features smaller, 20″ wheels (instead of 21s), and gets wider, 325 mm tires (up from 275 mm) to match the rears. The fronts also ride on a narrower track.
You can watch Marc Messang put the 3,000 hp Yangwang U9 Xtreme electric hypercar to the test in the video, below, then let us know what you think of China’s first-ever world record-setting vehicle in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Fastest production car EVER
SOURCE: CarNewsChina.
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With dual electric motors pumping out 776 hp, over 400 miles of all-electric range, and a relatively low MSRP, the new AUDI E5 Flagship Quattro electric wagon is electrifying the Chinese wagon market – scoring over 10,000 orders in its first thirty minutes on sale!
First launched last fall, the new Audi-backed AUDI sub-brand kept the sexy wagon aesthetic but ditched the Germans’ interlocking rings and Auto Union heritage in favor of a simple, all-caps AUDI logo on the E concept wagon. Now seen in production trim, the production AUDI E5 Sportback is surprisingly true to the original concept – except in the horsepower department, that is.
But, while a production car having lower horsepower figures than the concept car that preceded it is pretty typical, the production AUDI E5 is different: it actually offers more peak power than the 765 hp concept!
That’s right, kids! the range-topping Flagship Quattro version of the new AUDI E5 Sportback offers buyers 776 horsepower (that’s 11 more than the concept), and gets 402 miles (CLTC) of range from its 100 kWh battery. And, while that version is a monster, even the base-level Pioneer version at just 235,900 yuan ($33,000, as I type this) offers a 76 kWh battery pack sending power to a 295 hp rear-mounted electric motor and over 600 km of range (~385 miles).
It’s a solid achievement in value and tech, and the Audi people seem pretty proud of themselves. “The AUDI E5 Sportback is our first model based on the Advanced Digitized Platform, and it delivers on our brand promise: the best of both worlds,” says Fermín Soneira, CEO of the Audi and SAIC Cooperation Project. “Audi’s DNA and engineering excellence is blended with China’s digital ecosystem and innovations, specifically tailored for our tech-savvy customers.”
And it’s pretty.
AUDI E5 Sportback
The wagon’s exterior, while not necessarily shouting “Audi” in the conventional, Western sense, is still proportioned well enough to carry the four rings (or, looked at another way, a VW logo). But, while it’s a great-looking wagon on the outside, it’s on the inside that the all-new E5 AUDI Sportback really sets itself apart.
The interior of the AUDI E5 Sportback is noticeably different from any Audi model, being much more inline with similar entry-luxe EVs sold in China. The E5 dash also sports a 59″-inch” wide screen that stretches across the entire dash, digital side mirrors, Alcantara seating surfaces, and wireless phone chargers.
All that tech is powered by the QUALCOMM Snapdragon 8295 automotive chipset with 5-nanometer precision and the ability to perform 30 billion operations per second, and the Chinese-market AUDI OS offers what its makers call, “an intuitive experience designed to make the vehicle occupants’ lives easier.”
You can take a look at the new E5 Sportback’s interior, below, then let us know whether or not you think an Audi AUDI like this (and its purple mood lighting) would be a hot seller Stateside in the comments.
E5 Sportback interior
SOURCE | IMAGES: AUDI.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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