Federal safety regulators are urging owners to stop using certain lithium-ion batteries made for Rad Power Bikes e-bikes immediately, after 31 reports of fires. In a safety warning issued November 24, 2025, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said the batteries can unexpectedly ignite and explode, and that the fires have included 12 reports of property damage totaling approximately $734,500. Notably, this is a government warning rather than a company-backed recall, because the importer declined to agree to an acceptable remedy.
Why the CPSC is warning without a recall
Most high-profile product hazards are handled through a cooperative recall, in which the company offers repairs, replacements or refunds. This case is different, and the difference is central to understanding the risk. The CPSC said Rad Power Bikes Inc., of Seattle, refused to agree to an acceptable recall and, given its financial situation, indicated it is unable to offer replacement batteries or refunds to all consumers. When a company will not or cannot act, the agency can issue a unilateral public warning, which is what it did here to expedite alerting the public.
The hazard itself is the kind that has driven growing concern over e-bike and e-scooter batteries. The CPSC said the batteries can ignite and explode, with the danger heightened when a battery or its harness has been exposed to water and debris. Crucially, some of the reported incidents occurred when the battery was not charging, when the product was not in use, and even while it was in storage. That means the usual advice to simply unplug a charger is not sufficient; a battery can fail while sitting idle.
Which batteries are involved and where they were sold
The warning covers lithium-ion batteries with model numbers RP-1304, RAD-S1304Y and HL-RP-S1304. The model number is printed on a label on the back or rear of the battery. According to the CPSC, the batteries were sold with a wide range of Rad Power Bikes e-bike models, including the RadWagon 4, RadCity HS 4, RadRover High Step 5, RadCity Step Thru 3, RadRover Step Thru 1, RadRunner 2, RadRunner 1, RadRunner Plus and RadExpand 5, as well as separately as replacement batteries.
They were sold on RadPowerBikes.com and at Best Buy stores and independent bike shops nationwide, priced at about $550 for replacement batteries or between $1,500 and $2,000 when sold with an e-bike. The batteries were manufactured in China and Vietnam. Because they were distributed both bundled with bikes and as standalone replacements over an extended period, owners cannot assume they are unaffected simply because they did not buy a battery separately.
The company disputes the agency’s characterization. At Rad Power Bikes’ request, the CPSC included the firm’s comments, in which it said its “Safe Shield” and semi-integrated batteries are not subject to the warning and that third-party labs re-tested the batteries and they “passed these tests again.” The company said the agency’s demand to replace all batteries regardless of condition “would immediately put Rad out of business,” and urged customers to inspect batteries before use, stop using any that show signs of damage, water ingress or corrosion, and contact the company for support. The CPSC nonetheless concluded the batteries pose a risk of serious injury and death and issued the warning to protect the public.
What owners should do, and the disposal trap to avoid
The CPSC’s guidance is direct: immediately remove the battery from the e-bike and dispose of it following local hazardous-waste procedures, and do not sell or give away the batteries. The agency also flagged a disposal step many people get wrong. These lithium-ion batteries should not be thrown in the trash, placed in curbside or street-level recycling, or dropped into the used-battery recycling boxes found at many retail and hardware stores, because they present a greater fire risk than ordinary batteries. Instead, owners should contact their municipal household hazardous-waste collection center in advance to confirm it accepts hazardous lithium-ion batteries, and seek local guidance if it does not.
There are real limits to what this warning resolves. Because there is no funded recall, the CPSC’s advice effectively asks owners to absorb the cost of removing and safely discarding a battery that may have cost hundreds of dollars, with no guaranteed refund or replacement. The dispute between the agency and the manufacturer over which batteries are covered and how they performed in testing is unlikely to give consumers a clean, single answer, and the notice does not detail how that disagreement will be settled.
For anyone who owns one of the listed Rad Power Bikes models or bought a compatible replacement battery, the safest course is to treat the CPSC warning as the operative guidance: check the model number on the battery label, stop using it, and arrange hazardous-waste disposal rather than storing it indoors or tossing it in the trash. Given that fires were reported even during storage, leaving a suspect battery sitting in a garage or hallway is the specific scenario regulators are warning against.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
