A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Rad Power Bikes, as well as an authorized dealer in Florida, after one of the brands e-bikes ignited a fire in a garage that led to a death.
Shannon Stephens, according to the lawsuit field in District Court for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division on April 28, asks for a jury trial and alleges that on Jan. 3, 2025, the e-bike caught fire at the home in Andalusia, Ala., in the early morning hours while the couple was asleep. Shannon was injured but escaped, while her husband Dr. Keith Stephens was killed in the fire. The official defendant in the case is New Summit Collective Inc., which was Rad Power’s parent company before the brand was acquired by Life Electric Vehicles Holdings Inc. in March through bankruptcy proceedings. The suit also names Pensacola, Fla., retailer The Cycle Joint Inc., which assembled the e-bike. The retailer serves customers in the Alabama-Florida border region.
According to the lawsuit, “Rad Power Bikes knowingly released into the stream of commerce a product powered by unstable lithium-ion battery technology known to trigger thermal runaway events.” It claims that a fire investigator determined the fire originated from the e-bike’s battery pack, and “a nationally recognized battery expert has conducted an evaluation of the e-bike battery pack and determined it to be defectively designed. Had Rad Power Bikes incorporated appropriate and available design features, the fire — which originated from the e-bike battery pack — would more likely than not have been contained within the battery pack and prevented from spreading. This event was foreseeable. More importantly, it was preventable.”
The lawsuit cited two other suits filed against Rad Power, both of which reached settlements. And according to reports in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, Rad Power, less than a month before filing for bankruptcy, said it could not afford a recall on some of its older lithium-ion batteries that the Consumer Product Safety Commission declared unsafe. The CPSC warned that some batteries can unexpectedly ignite and explode, especially when the battery or harness has been exposed to water and debris. Rad Power Bikes did not agree to “an acceptable recall,” according to the CPSC, and the brand told the agency that given its financial situation, it can’t offer replacement batteries or refunds to consumers.
New owner Life EV has said in March it will address that issue by implementing a program to replace the approximate 120,000 recalled batteries at 50% discount, reported BRAIN.
PHOTO: Lithium-ion batteries for Rad Power Bikes e-bikes provided by CPSC in 11/25 recall
