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sondors metacycle problems

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.

SONDORS METACYCLE
The original MetaCycle prototype from 2021

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.

Metacycles began rolling out to customers across the US

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.

SONDORS METABEAST X
How the SONDORS MetaBeast was projected to look, should it ever be built

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.

sondors metacycle electric motorcycle

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?

sondors metacycle shipping

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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Windrose lines up $60M electric semi truck order PLUS South American expansion

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July 30, 2025

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Windrose lines up M electric semi truck order PLUS South American expansion

Windrose lands landmark US deal, enters South America

It’s a big day for upstart electric semi truck manufacturer Windrose. The company has lined up what could be a landmark, $60 million deal and announced plans to being shipping its innovative HDEV trucks to South America.

ChinaTrucks is reporting that Windrose has lined up a deal to supply several hundred of its long-range, battery-powered heavy-duty trucks to US-based, zero emissions logistics company Nevoya that, once finalized, will represent the startup’s largest North American order to date. The agreement, which is reportedly valued at more than 430 million yuan (approximately $60 million, as I type this), has initial deliveries of the Windrose R700 BEV semi planned by the end of 2025, with full deployment expected by the end of 2026.

To meet those ambitious delivery dates, Windrose has shipped its first batch of “knock-down kits” to the US, where the distinctive sleeper cabs will be joined to Windrose’s electric chassis.

The company used its own electric trucks to complete the logistics process between warehouses and ports in both Shanghai and Los Angeles, achieving what it’s calling a fully zero-emission transport loop. Windrose CEO Wen Han posted the knock-down kits arriving at the Port of Long Beach a few days ago, and it appears that these could be the first of hundreds of electric semi trucks destined for deployment at Nevoya.

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Expansion plans

Windrose R700 electric semi truck; via Windrose.

At the same time, Windrose announced expansion into its 5th continent, thanks to a partnership with Chilean logistics firm Trailerlogistics Sudamerica.

Chile has a goal of reaching 100% zero-emission sales of freight transport and intercity buses by 2045. This aligns with its broader National Electromobility Strategy, which targets carbon neutrality by 2050. Chile is ranked as the 5th largest economy in Latin America by nominal GDP and 46th in the world (just above Finland and Portugal). Further, Chile has the highest per-capita GDP in Latin America. In 2024, there were 14,267 trucks sold in Chile, according to National Automotive Association of Chile.

WINDROSE TECHNOLOGY

For their part, Trailerlogistics Sudamerica seems excited by the prospect of electrifying their fleet with Windrose. “I am completely convinced Chile is the perfect market to start with Windrose in South America,” says Hernan Searle Ferrari, the company’s founder and CEO. “Apart from having totally open trade agreements with all international markets, Chile boast world-class highways and a unique geography; from the desert in the north, all the way south down to Antarctica, covering a total of 4000km. This will allow us to continue developing the dominance of our long-haul EV technology in all terrains.”

The first Windrose trucks will arrive in Chile to begin route testing with Trailerlogistics later this year, with a stated goal of deploying up to 100 trucks by the end of 2026.

SOURCES | IMAGES: China Trucks; Windrose, via LinkedIn.

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ECOVACS Goat RTK robot mowers start from $850 low, Rad Power RadWagon 4 cargo e-bike $1,499, EcoFlow solar bundle flash sale, more

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July 30, 2025

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ECOVACS Goat RTK robot mowers start from 0 low, Rad Power RadWagon 4 cargo e-bike ,499, EcoFlow solar bundle flash sale, more

This week’s hump day Green Deals start off with the ECOVACS Goat O1000 RTK Robot Lawn Mower returning to its $850 low for the third time ever, while its upgraded A2500 model is down at its second-lowest price too. From there, we have a spotlight on Rad Power’s popular RadWagon 4 Cargo e-bike at $1,499 while the brand’s Back to School Sale continues through to next week, as well as EcoFlow’s final 24-hour July Monthly Madness flash sale that is taking up to 55% off DELTA 2 Max and DELTA 3 Pro solar generator bundles starting from $1,349, while also offering an increased EcoCredits purchase option. We also have a returning low on the 80V Pro-grade Greenworks 18-inch chainsaw, a one-day-only discount on Anker’s SOLIX C300X DC power station with a book-sized 60W folding panel, and more waiting for you below. Plus, all the hangover savings at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s Navee ST3 Pro electric scooter savings, Aiper’s HydroComm pool monitor hitting its lowest price for the second time, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Save up to 35% on ECOVACS’ Goat RTK robot lawn mowers with fisheye cameras starting from an $850 low

Amazon is offering the ECOVACS Goat O1000 RTK Robot Lawn Mower for $849.99 shipped, which beats out the brand’s direct website pricing by $50. This newer lawn care solution has only been on the market for five months and normally goes for $1,000 at full price, with discounts having mostly taken the price down to $900, aside from the two recent falls to the $850 low in May and June, while getting skipped over during Prime Day sales. This is the third time that we’ve seen this all-time low price appear with $150 cut from the tag price, and you’ll also find its upgraded counterpart benefitting from a discount below.

The ECOVACS Goat O1000 robot mower is the base model of the series designed to handle up to 1/4 of an acre of land on each full charge, with it able to stop, charge, and return to its duties for larger yards. Forget having to deal with laying boundary wires here, as it’s been given RTK navigation that provides more accurate location tracking on top of efficient route planning, with bolstered support from the LiDAR (3D-ToF) and fisheye camera that can take over steering when it enters heavily shaded or tree-lined areas that the satellites can’t see into. There’s also AIVI 3D obstacle avoidance tech, with the added bonus that it can also identify small animals alongside everyday inanimate objects around your yard – whether in the sun or in the dark.

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ECOVACS’ Goat robot mowers can fit into tighter spaces between fences and the like that a normal mower may struggle or fail to tackle well, thanks to the compact and narrow design of its body, with it even given an IPX6 waterproof construction should it need to tough out sudden weather changes as it works. There’s plenty of remote smart controls available via its companion app, giving you the means to adjust settings, monitor its real-time performance, and edit the 3D maps it creates.

There’s also the more advanced ECOVACS Goat A2500 RTK Robot Lawn Mower down at its second-lowest price of $1,299.99 shipped right now, down from its $2,000 price tag. This model comes with a 32V motor and dual-blade discs, with a 5Ah battery that allows it to cover up to 5,382 square feet of mowing on a single charge, which it can be ready to pick back up on after only 45 minutes of charging at its station. It brings much of the same smart capabilities for its navigation and obstacle avoidance as the above model, with the added bonus of responding to voice commands via Alexa or Google Assistant too.

woman riding Rad Power RadWagon 4 cargo e-bike with two children

As part of its ongoing Back to School Sale running through August 6, Rad Power Bikes is offering its RadWagon 4 Cargo e-bike at $1,499 shipped, alongside the ongoing low RadExpand 5 pricing and the new RadRunner e-bike bundles. This popular model fetches $1,799 at full price, which we’ve only seen dropped down to $1,599 over the last year, with more frequent returns to $1,499 in 2025 or otherwise given some bundled accessory packages. This is the lowest price we have tracked in the last two years, beaten out by the $1,399 post-launch low from 2023 and the all-time $1,299 preorder low from its launch years before.

If you want to learn more about this model, be sure to check out our original coverage of this e-bike here, while you can also browse the entire Rad Power Back to School Sale lineup here.

man aiming solar panel towards sun on leafy ground while plugged into EcoFlow DELTA 2 max portable power station

EcoFlow’s final July Monthly Madness flash sale takes up to 55% off DELTA 2 Max and DELTA Pro 3 bundles starting from $1,349

As part of the final days of its July Monthly Madness Sale running through July 31, EcoFlow has launched the last of this sale’s scheduled 24-hour flash sales through tomorrow at 9 a.m. PDT / 12 p.m. EST with up to 55% discounts on two solar generator bundles and an increased EcoCredits one-time purchase promotion. The most budget-friendly of the two bundles gives you the DELTA 2 Max Portable Power Station with a 400W solar panel at $1,349 shipped, and that price matches at Amazon too. This bundle would normally cost you $2,298 at full price, with discounts having mostly kept costs between $1,399 and $1,599 over the year, though we have seen it go as low as $1,279 during Prime Day. You’re looking at a 55% markdown here for the next 24 hours that saves you $949 at the third-lowest price we have tracked. Head below to learn more about this unit and the other offers during this sale.

If you want to learn more about this power station or the other offers during this 24-hour flash sale, be sure to check out our original coverage of these deals here.

man cutting log with Greenworks 80V 18-inch cordless chainsaw

Cover storm cleanup, firewood, more with Greenworks’ Pro 80V 18-inch cordless chainsaw at $199 low

Amazon is offering the Greenworks Pro 80V 18-inch Brushless Cordless Chainsaw with 2.0Ah battery at $199 shipped, while it’s priced at $229 directly from the brand’s website. It carries a $350 MSRP direct from Greenworks, but we have been seeing it more often at $299 at Amazon, with discounts mostly keeping things at $229 on average, with two previous falls to the $199 low, most recently during Prime Day three weeks ago. You’re looking at the best price we have tracked on this pro-grade model, giving you significant power for sawing needs with $100 cut from the tag (and $151 off the MSRP).

If you want to learn more about this pro-tier tool, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

man and woman camping during the day and night with Anker's SOLIX C300X portable power station solar bundle

Carry Anker’s SOLIX C300X DC power station with a book-sized 60W folding solar panel at $237 (Today only)

As part of its Deals of the Day, Best Buy is now offering the Anker SOLIX C300X DC Portable Power Station bundled with a 60W foldable solar panel for $236.99 shipped. While this model starts for $330 at full price here, it carries a lower $300 tag directly from the brand’s website, where it’s currently sitting untouched by discounts, while Amazon’s matching grey colorway is priced $23 higher. For most of 2025, while there have been price cuts, they generally hit $250, though it did drop a tad lower to $230 during Prime Day, as well as $220 in February, with everything beaten out by the $190 Black Friday low. For the rest of the day, you can pick up this solar generator bundle with $63 off the going rate ($93 off the Best Buy tag) at the third-lowest price of the year and fourth-best overall.

If you want to learn more about this compact solar generator bundle, be sure to check out our coverage of this one-day-only deal here.

Best Summer EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Ford says it will build ‘breakthrough’ EVs in the US

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July 30, 2025

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Ford says it will build 'breakthrough' EVs in the US

Ford-Q2-2025-earnings

Ford (F) reported Q2 2025 earnings on Wednesday, beating top and bottom line expectations. Despite the revenue growth, Ford is warning profits will take a hit thanks to Trump’s tariffs. We will also learn about Ford’s plans to build “breakthrough” EVs in the US very soon.

Ford Q2 2025 earnings preview

After suspending full-year guidance in May, Ford warned that it expected to take a $2.5 billion hit from Trump’s auto tariffs.

Given that Ford builds more vehicles in the US than any major automaker, outside of Tesla, it’s expected to see less of an impact from the 25% tariff on imports.

Ford imports just about 21% of the vehicles it sells in the US. In comparison, crosstown rival GM imports around 46%. GM announced last week that the tariffs cost it an extra $1.1 billion in the second quarter. For the full year, GM still expects a $4 billion to $5 billion impact.

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Unlike GM, Ford breaks down earnings into three units, including Model e, its electric vehicle business. Ford’s Model e posted a nearly $1 billion loss in the first quarter, but new EVs rolling out in Europe boosted revenue.

Although Ford’s vehicle sales rose 14% to over 612,000 in Q2, EV sales dropped 31% to just 16,438. Ford spokesperson Martin Gunsberg told Electrek that both the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning were impacted by the changeover to the 2025 model year and the Mach-E recall.

Ford-Q2-2025-earnings
Ford Mustang Mach-E (left) and F-150 Lightning (right) (Source: Ford)

According to Estimize, Wall Street expects Ford to post second-quarter EPS of $0.33 on revenue of $43.75 billion.

Improving costs and more EV news to come

Ford beat earnings estimates posting second quarter revenue a record $50.02 billion in revenue, up 5% YOY and an adjusted EPS of $0.37.

  • Ford Q2 2025 Revenue: $50.02 billion vs $43.75 billion expected
  • Ford Q2 2025 adjusted EPS: $0.37 vs $0.33 expected

Despite the higher revenue, Ford posted a $36 million net loss, which was due to a “field service action and expenses related to a previously announced cancellation of an electric vehicle program.” It also incurred an $800 million loss due to tariffs in the quarter.

Ford Pro continues to drive both top and bottom-line growth with high-margin revenue streams from software and services.

Its Model e EV business, on the other hand, lost another $1.3 billion in the second quarter. Through the first half of the year, Model e has now lost $2.2 billion.

Ford-Q2-2025-Earnings
Ford Model e Q2 2025 earnings (Source: Ford)

Ford attributed the higher losses to tariff-related costs and investments in launching its new EV battery plant in Michigan.

After launching new EVs in Europe, like the Capri and electric Explorer, Model e’s revenue doubled to $2.4 billion. Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning material costs also improved in the quarter.

Ford-EVs-Europe
Ford’s electric vehicles in Europe from left to right: Puma Gen-E, Explorer, Capri, and Mustang Mach-E (Source: Ford)

Ford now expects full-year adjusted EBIT of $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion, including a $2 billion hit from tariffs. That’s down from the $7 billion to $8.5 billion it previously forecasted.

The company will partially offset a $3 billion gross adjusted EBIT impact, partially offset by $1 billion in recovery actions.

CEO Jim Farley announced an event on August 11 in Kentucky, where Ford will share more details about its “plans to design and build breakthrough electric vehicles in America.”

Check back for more info from Ford’s Q2 2025 earnings call. We will keep you updated with the latest.

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