Rad Power Bikes announces ‘New Rad’ after saying that it ‘made mistakes’
The CEO of Rad Power Bikes, the leading electric bicycle company in North America, just sent out a mass email committing to changes that it says will strengthen the company’s focus on safety, reliability, and customer service.
“A new era of innovation.” That’s what was emblazoned across the top of the email that landed in my inbox, along with presumably hundreds of thousands of other inboxes across Rad Power Bike’s vast rider base.
The email from Rad Power Bikes’ new CEO Phil Molyneux explained that Rad was entering a “new era.” It began with an explanation of how he was brought on board by Rad’s founder and previous CEO, Mike Radenbaugh.
Molyneux, who came to Rad after leadership positions at Sony and Dyson, took the wheel at a time when Rad was already navigating several different storms. The company’s e-cargo bike known as the RadWagon – which was likely the most popular long tail cargo e-bike in North America – was recalled due to an issue with its wheels. The company is also in the midst of multiple lawsuits ranging from a battery fire to a tragic underage riding death.
Molyneux addressed the company’s hardships:
“Since its inception, Rad Power Bikes has set both the pace and the standard for the ebike revolution. This road hasn’t always been easy and we’ve faced numerous challenges.
As a young company, we recognize that we have made mistakes. Now we are dedicated to learning from them.
The culmination of these efforts represents the ‘New Rad,’ one that combines the forward-thinking innovation of our early years with the knowledge and resources to make us more customer-focused than ever before.”
The first area addressed by Molyneux was related to product safety and reliability, to which Rad will be applying a “laser focus.”
As Molyneux continued:
“From the design phase, through component validation methods, to the ever-improving quality assurance activities within our factories, we are doubling down to ensure safer, more enjoyable rides.”
Next on the list was a doubling down on customer service to ensure shorter wait times and more effective assistance for riders.
We acknowledge that there is still room for growth in our customer support operations and are actively working to improve them. For those who need to connect with a Rad specialist, we are continuing to explore ways we can provide more immediate help, including a new chat function that we launched in December. In addition, we will be revamping our online help center to make it easier for you to find the self-help resources you need to keep riding. As we implement these remedies throughout the year, we hope that you’ll notice the difference the next time you reach out to us for assistance.
That one is even more interesting consider the massive size of the Rad Power Bikes customer service team. The company employed several hundred customer service representatives before recent layoff rounds, though that number is still likely in the triple digits.
To put that into perspective, Rad’s customer service team alone is likely larger than all of the employees at the next largest North American e-bike company.
Rad’s position at the top of the North American e-bike market was hard fought, resulting in e-bikes from Rad finding their way into over half a million homes and counting.
Despite the hardships that the company is currently facing, Molyneux has made it clear that Rad intends to do what it takes to maintain its standing and shore up the faith that its customers have long put in the company.
Electrek’s Take
The end of 2022 definitely saw stormier seas than Rad had hoped for. The company is still the largest e-bike manufacturer in North America and has continued to roll out new models throughout the year. But between the one-off legal issues and getting bogged down with having to recall thousands of e-bikes while finding a technical solution to get them back on the road has surely prevented Rad from delivering the kind of experience they’ve set out to provide.
In my opinion, Rad always stood for two things: Building affordably priced e-bikes that got quality vehicles into riders hands, and advocacy for e-biking as an alternative to car use, and I haven’t seen that change in any major way.
Sure, we’ve heard of issues of part reliability stacking up recently, and that’s something that Rad certainly has to address. But the company has by and large been known for good products with effective US-based service, especially in comparison to the many flight-by-night Asian e-bike companies whose bikes tend to breakdown in a matter of months and who don’t have anyone available to pickup a phone when riders need support for those bikes.
In comparison, I’ve beaten the hell out of my 26-month-old RadMission e-bike and it’s still riding great, though of course anecdotal evidence is merely evidence of an anecdote.
Sure, Rad is no longer the most affordable option on the block now that many other companies with leaner operations and lower-cost e-bike alternatives have popped up in recent months and years, but the prices are still quite competitive.
Rad has also often led the industry in new designs over the years. After the RadRunner e-bike came out, we saw plenty of RadRunner imitations. After the RadTrike came out, we quickly saw trike competitors. It’s pretty obvious that Rad still leads the industry, not just in bike volume but also in bike direction. (And it’s probably worth pointing out that RadRunner imitations from competitors have been literally breaking in half, while Rad’s bikes have been going strong for years).
If Rad can double down now on the areas that need improvement to in order to maintain those key areas of strength for the company, then I don’t see any reason they can’t maintain their status as something of a city on a hill in the e-bike world.
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Kandi has become fairly well known in the US for its electric golf carts and work-focused UTVs, but the company has teamed up with Lowe’s and the NFL on something more playful: the Kandi 4P electric golf cart. Sold through Lowe’s with official NFL team liveries, this four-seat neighborhood cruiser is aimed less at the fairway and more at cul-de-sacs, grocery runs, and game-day tailgates. I spent time with a Miami Dolphins–themed 4P in South Florida to see what it can really do.
Kandi 4P NFL-edition golf cart video review
Want to see it in action? Or want to see my family decked out in head-to-toe Miami Dolphins gear?
Check out our family testing video below!
Specs, power, and hardware
Despite the “golf cart” label, the Kandi 4P is built more like a small road-going NEV. Power comes from a 5 kW motor and a big 48V 150 Ah lithium iron phosphate battery (around 7.2 kWh), giving it plenty of grunt for neighborhood speeds of around 20 mph and a lot more range than you’d expect from something this size. In practical terms, it just sips energy; I did multiple days of errands and joyrides before even thinking about plugging it in.
Charging is refreshingly straightforward. The cart uses a J1772 inlet, so you can plug into a normal 120V wall outlet with the included cord or use a typical home EV charger if you already have one. It’s overkill for a golf cart, but in a good way.
Underneath, you’ll find single wishbone suspension in the front, rack-and-pinion steering, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. There’s even a 2-inch receiver tow-hitch rated for 500 pounds of trailer weight and a mounting spot up front if you really want to bolt on a winch.
Features and practicality
Inside, the Kandi 4P feels more like a small EV than a basic cart. There’s a very large touchscreen display with multiple info pages for speed, battery, and system status (and also displays the backup camera). An NFC fob handles “key” duties, and you get proper controls for forward, neutral, and reverse, plus hazards, lighting, and a tilt-adjustable steering column with stalk-mounted turn signals and horn.
The seats are nicely upholstered and genuinely comfortable, with DOT seat belts front and rear, cup holders everywhere, grab bars for passengers, and a built-in Bluetooth speaker for rolling playlists or tailgate anthems. A flip-up windshield can be cracked for a bit of breeze or propped fully open on gas struts, and the hard roof extends enough to keep you fairly dry in the rain. I should know – I had it out driving in multiple rain storms!
Storage is better than you’d expect: a small glove box, a rear trunk, and even a front “frunk.” Between those and the flat floor, we were able to pull off a full grocery run – though we probably should have planned our bag strategy a bit better. We ended up buckling a week’s worth of grocery bags into the back seats, but a tub in the back would make a better storage area for those types of large store runs.
Is it worth it?
At $9,999 through Lowe’s with whichever NFL team’s colors you prefer, the Kandi 4P isn’t cheap in absolute terms, but it’s very much in the mix for modern, nicely equipped neighborhood carts. High-end golf carts can easily run $14,000–$15,000 these days, and they don’t always bring a 7+ kWh LiFePO4 pack, disc brakes all around, J1772 charging, and all the street-legal bits in one package. Add in official NFL team colors and logos and you’ve basically got a rolling fan-mobile that doubles as a genuine second car replacement for many households.
No, it’s not as safe as a full-size car – there are no airbags or crumple zones here. But it does have real seat belts and lights, and it encourages a more aware, less “invincible” mindset behind the wheel. For people living in communities with 25–30 mph streets, these kinds of carts make a lot of sense: lower cost to buy, dramatically less energy use, no tailpipe emissions, less wear on roads and tires, and far more smiles per mile.
Compared to an e-bike, the Kandi 4P wins on weather protection and passenger capacity. Compared to a second car, it wins on cost, efficiency, and fun. And if you’re the type of person who wants to show up to the grocery store or the stadium in a full team-liveried electric cart, this thing absolutely nails the assignment.
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In a bid to get it above the $1.00/share NASDAQ-required minimum, fledgling EV brand Polestar ($PSNY) is rumored to be considering a 1:30 reverse stock split that could see the per-share price rocket up to nearly $16.
Geely-owned Volvo spinoff Polestar is working as hard as Tesla to prove that stock prices have little or nothing to do with traditional business fundamentals in 2025.
That’s because Polestar posted a 36.5% increase in retail sales and a heady 48.8% increase in revenue (to $2.17 billion) over the year before, Polestar’s share price has plummeted more than 35% in a matter of a few weeks – culminating in an unwelcome nastygram from NASDAQ threatening to delist the company’s shares from the NASDAQ if they didn’t climb back up above $1.
It looks bad
To goose the share price, CarScoops is reporting that Polestar aims to move forward with the reverse stock split before the end of 2025. The expected 1:30 reverse split would boost the PSNY price to an estimated $15.90 per share at current prices, keeping the brand well out of risk of a delisting.
In a reverse stock split, each share of the company is converted into a fraction of a share – so, if a company announces a one for ten reverse stock split (1:10), every ten shares that you own will be converted into a single share. In a 1:30 reverse split like the one rumored here, every thirty shares in Polestar would become a single share.
The reverse split increases share price, but it’s not without risk:
A company may declare a reverse stock split in an effort to increase the trading price of its shares – for example, when it believes the trading price is too low to attract investors to purchase shares, or in an attempt to regain compliance with minimum bid price requirements of an exchange on which its shares trade … investors may lose money as a result of fluctuations in trading prices following reverse stock splits.
That’s especially relevant because, despite the increased sales and revenue, the company is also posting increased losses. Through September, the brand posted a $1.56 billion net loss compared to an $867 million loss in the first nine months of 2024. The company is also getting hit hard by Trump-imposed tariffs in the US and increased downward pressure on pricing coming from aggressive post-tax credit discounts from rival brands like BMW and Kia.
If the split does happen, here’s hoping Polestar can make the most of their borrowed time and they don’t end up like Lordstown Motors or Faraday Future – two brands that have pulled similar reverse stock splits with dubious results.
Electrek’s Take
Product-wise, at least, Polestar’s future appears to be bright. The new 3 crossover is a viable competitor to the industry-leading Tesla Model Y, and the upcoming Polestar 4 and 5 models seem like winners, too. To drive that point home, Polestar is promoting up to $18,000 in lease incentives to lure Tesla buyers into their showrooms.
You can find out more about Polestar’s killer EV deals on the full range of Polestar models, from the 2 to the 4, below, then let us know what you think of the three-pointed star’s latest discount dash in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
SOURCE: CarScoops; images via Polestar.
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With its sleek, uncluttered styling and more than 100 miles of battery-electric range before the extended range electric sedan’s gas engine kicks on, maybe the new Nissan N6 really should have been the next Maxima!
Struggling Japanese carmaker Nissan is dealing with an aging lineup and a brand identity driven more by subprime financing than any suggestion of reliability or sportiness here in the US – but overseas? The brand is rolling out hit after hit, and the latest Nissan N6 plug-in sedan promises exactly the sort of entry-level panache that could change its American fortunes.
“Under our Re:Nissan plan, we are redefining what Nissan delivers today and beyond,” explains Nissan President and CEO Ivan Espinosa. “It’s about strengthening our core, reigniting Nissan’s heartbeat, and creating products that inspire excitement and trust. It is about a sharper, more focused product strategy, a stronger brand, and a renewed commitment to our customers. Integral to this transformation is China — an essential market whose speed, technological leadership, and customer insights are setting the pace for the global auto industry.”
Developed by the Nissan Dongfeng JV in China, the new N6 is more compact that the well-received N7 BEV. In fact, the new Nissan N6, at 190.1″ long, compares nicely to the 192.8″ length of the most recent (and largest-ever) US Maxima, discontinued in 2023. Like the Maxima, the top-shelf version features modern, near-luxe features like soft, leather-like surfaces, LED mood lighting, multi-way adjustable seats, and mimosas or something.
Mimosas or something
The four or five passengers inside the N6 are propelled down the road exclusively by the car’s 208 hp electric motor, which is efficient enough to take you 112 miles on a full charge of its 21.1 kWh LFP battery. Once that charge is depleted, a 1.5L gas engine kicks on as a high-efficiency generator to keep the good times rolling.
Nissan says the N6′ exterior design, “features a V-Motion signature grille and expressive LED lighting at the front and rear.” And says that the car’s crisp lines give it, “a confident, dynamic presence.”
All of which sounds good on its own, but sounds absolutely miraculous when you consider the car’s Chinese price: ¥106,900 – or about $15,000 US for the base Nissan N6 180 Pro, as I type this.
Even with a nearly 100% markup to give it a $29,990 price tag in the US, I think the N6 would be a huge hit in the North American market. And – good news! – thanks to Canada’s apparent willingness to give Chinese carmakers a shot, we might find out if I’m right somewhat sooner than later.
Check out the Nissan N6 image gallery, below, then let us know what you think of the car’s US and Canadian appeal in the comments.
Nissan N6 gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: Nissan.
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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