Rad Power Bikes announces price reductions across all electric bike models
Rad Power Bikes, one of the leading electric bicycle companies in the US, has just slashed prices on all of its e-bikes.
The company made the announcement today, effectively ushering in many of the best holiday sales from late last year as new permanent pricing for 2024.
“We’re lowering 2024 prices across our lineup of award-winning electric bikes,” explained the brand in an email. “From day one, our mission has been to create radical electric bikes that are built for everything, and priced for everyone. Now, we’re thrilled to make our high-quality, awesome electric bikes even more affordable and accessible for everyone.”
For several years, Rad Power Bikes was the dominant player in the North American e-bike market. The company even expanded into Europe and rolled out an impressive US-wide mobile service system with its own branded service vans.
But the past few years have seen an ultra-competitive market carve away at Rad’s lead, resulting in a series of layoffs as well as the shuttering of Rad’s mobile repair service and the closing of Rad’s European operations.
The company had made brick-and-mortar stores central to its business strategy, offering riders a one-stop shop for bike testing, purchases, and service in several cities around the US. Meanwhile, other e-bike companies have expanded their independent dealer networks that rely less heavily on investment in real estate or labor, putting more pressure on Rad’s strategy.
While Rad still operates several brick-and-mortar stores, closures have raised questions about how effective a brand store can be in the face of wider independent bike shop dealer networks.
Rad was also once a price leader in the budget e-bike market, though the introduction of more affordable e-bikes like those from major competitor Lectric Ebikes has seen Rad focus on moving up-market with higher-end models that carry correspondingly higher price tags.
Now today’s shift towards reduced prices could indicate that the sticker shock associated with those more refined models and higher pricetags across the lineup had placed a more significant crunch on the company’s sales than they expected.
Either way you slice it, consumers are likely to benefit from many of Rad’s lower prices.
Some of the price reductions may be more modest, such as $100 off the RadRunner 2 bringing it down to $1,399, but other models are seeing much bigger reductions. The RadTrike, which was released at $2,499, has now seen its price reduced to just $1,599.
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Tesla has wiped off the 26,000 miles on the odometer of a Cybertruck in service, scratched the vehicle, and then returned it to the owner like nothing happened.
A Tesla Cybertruck owner in Oregon was quite surprised when he went to pick up his Cybertruck, which was in service to install a new lightbar, fix some panel gaps, and figure out an ABS alert that wouldn’t go away.
According to a thread on the Cybertruck Owners Club, Tesla had wiped the odometer clean on the Foundation Series ‘Cyberbeast’, which had over 26,000 miles on it.
The owner shared a video of the Cybertruck’s odometer going from 0 to 1 mile for the second time:
The odometer on the vehicle was wiped and both the app and service many also showed the same mileage.
The owner shared a screenshot of the app after 15 miles:
He went to the online forum for advice:
Anyone else have their odometer Thanos-snapped after a controller swap? Can Tesla unsnap it or am I forever “True Mileage Unknown”?
Interestingly, Tesla is currently being sued for allegedly messing with the odometers of its vehicles. However, the lawsuit is for accelerating the mileage, not reducing it, like in this case.
It was not the only surprise from this service visit for this Cybertruck owner.
The owner was not satisfied with the lightbar installation, which he claims has a half-inch gap on the passenger side while it is flush on the driver side. He wrote:
It’s basically smiling sideways at everyone.
It’s also unclear why Tesla was messing with the vehicle’s tailgate, but it ended up having a bolt moving around it, causing scratches and Tesla left a bolt unbolted:
At this point, the truck was returned with more problems than it had when it entered service.
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Nissan is on the brink of collapsing. After the Honda deal fell through, it looks like another Japanese automaker is tossing it a lifeline. As Nissan struggles to stay afloat, Toyota is emerging as a potential “backer” in a new tie-up.
Are Toyota and Nissan partnering?
“If we don’t take action now, the situation will only get worse,” Nissan’s President, Ivan Espinosa, said during a press conference on May 13.
Facing falling sales, ballooning debt, and slumping profits, Nissan introduced a new recovery plan last week, “Re:Nissan.” The struggling automaker aims to cut costs by 250 billion yen to return to profitability by FY 2026.
As part of its efforts to turn the business around, Nissan will cut 20,000 jobs by FY2027. It’s also abandoning plans to build a new EV battery facility in Japan. Seven other plants will be closed, including one in Thailand and two in Japan.
After its planned EV merger with Honda fell through in February, rumours surfaced that Nissan was scrambling to find another partner.
According to a new report from Japan’s MainiChi, a Toyota executive recently reached out to Nissan about a potential partnership. The tie-up could involve Toyota acting as Nissan’s “backer” to support it while it restructures.
Nissan and Toyota both unveiled a wave of new electric vehicles set to roll out over the next few years. The upgraded Nissan LEAF EV will arrive in the US and Canada later this year with more range, an NACS port, and a new crossover style. It will be one of ten new Nissan or Infiniti models to arrive by 2027.
In Europe, Nissan will launch the next-gen LEAF later this year, followed by the new Micra EV and Qashqai electric crossover. In 2026, the new Nissan Juke EV will join the lineup.
Meanwhile, Toyota’s upgraded bZ electric SUV (formerly the “bZ4X”) will arrive at US dealerships in the second half of 2025.
In 2026, the smaller C-HR electric SUV and rugged bZ Woodland EV will follow. By the end of the year, Europe will see three new Toyota electric SUVs: the C-HR+, Urban Cruiser, and upgraded bZ4X.
Electrek’s Take
Toyota already has a stake in several Japanese automakers, including Subaru (20%), Mazda (5.1%), Suzuki (4.6%), and Isuzu (5.9%), so backing Nissan wouldn’t come as a shock.
Espinosa said Nissan was open to new partnerships. Nissan’s chief said the company will continue collaborating with others, including Mitsubishi, which will use the upcoming LEAF as the basis for its new EV for North America.
Japanese carmakers have been notoriously slow in shifting to all-electric vehicles, which is now costing them in key overseas markets like Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and others.
Chinese EV leaders, like BYD, are quickly expanding overseas to drive growth this year. Next year, it will launch its first kei car (see the first spy shots), or mini EV, which is already being called “a huge threat” to Japan.
Pooling resources and teaming up may be the best (or only) option at this point. Can Toyota help Nissan turn things around? Or will it be too little, too late? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Check back soon for details. This is a developing story. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.
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