The new owner of Rad Power Bikes wants to rehire staff, open stores and return the e-bike brand to its glory days

Robert Provost has big plans for Rad Power Bikes, the recently defunct Seattle-based electric bike maker that he thinks can reinvigorate his industry — and grow even more.

In an interview with GeekWire on Friday, Provost, CEO of South Florida-based Life Electric Vehicles Holdings, Inc., laid out a roadmap similar to Rad’s restructuring following his company’s acquisition of the startup, which closed this week.

“It’s not a continuation of Rad Power, like a phoenix,” Provost said. “Rebirth.”

Under a new company called Rad Life Mobility, owned by Life EV Holdings, Provost said provisions have been extended to rehire 95% of workers laid off as part of the bankruptcy process. Many of them are based in the Seattle area where Rad has grown over the years.

Provost said about 70 people have accepted so far and wants to hear from anyone who may have missed out — even former employees who helped build Rad during its heyday before and during the violence.

“We got all the digital assets, all the physical assets. It was up to us on the staff, we could actually hire them or not,” he said. So we made the decision to continue hiring them. They did a great job.”

Provost said Life EV has added another 15 or 20 people to Rad Life Mobility, including the new president, Salt Lake City-based Jim Brown, a Life EV investor with extensive automotive sales experience through the Larry H. Miller Automotive Group in Utah.

“Some of the front offices will be in Utah, but we’re keeping Seattle,” Provost said.

Based in Deerfield Beach, Fla., Life Electric Vehicles Holdings – publicly traded on the OTC market as LFEV – is a micro-mobility platform company focused on acquiring and growing e-bike brands. In November 2023, it acquired Serial 1, an in-house electric bike company started by motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson.

Although Rad is taking new ownership of the company, the marketing of Rad Power Bikes will continue in the bikes, products and retail areas. And despite the struggles it’s faced, Provost thinks there’s still a lot of value in the brand.

“We’re all excited,” Provost said. “It was No. 1. It was the highest-selling e-bike company in the U.S. Our goal is to bring it back to that number, if not more.”

Speaking during a Zoom call from his Florida office, Provost couldn’t slow down as he listed everything he and Life EV hope to accomplish with Rad Life Mobility, including:

• Bike assembly: Provost plans to shift Rad from an overseas manufacturing model to a “just-in-time” assembly process in the US to reduce costs and manage inventory. Although parts will still be available worldwide, the final assembly will move to a 100,000-square-foot facility in the middle of the US Provost noted that the company will use the framework of the Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) to reduce the tax burden that plagued the previous administration. “We only build for a few weeks. It’s a just-in-time kind of production,” he said.
• Distribution and use: Provost cited the reliance on third-party planning and associated costs as the main reason for Rad’s previous financial problems. “We don’t need to [3PL] because we have that side of you,” he said.
• Retail stores: Seven Rad stores will remain open in the US, including the flagship store in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. Provost said he was saddened to see stores close in Vancouver, BC, and St. Petersburg, Fla., earlier this year. Reopening in Florida is a priority and bringing Vancouver back would be great, he said, adding that opening new Rad’s stores in at least 24 other key U.S. markets is a goal. Provost also said that the previous margins were “not enough” for Rad Bike dealers and that the new system “will have prices that will be more attractive to them.”
• Battery recovery plan: Provost said the new company will serve customers with Rad bikes and batteries affected by the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s warning last fall, about potential fire hazards. “We’re going to put in a program that will continue to replace those batteries for everyone, like a 50% discount,” he said. “We will confirm that the Safe Shield battery is a new product. It will take us a little time to do that.”
• Other findings: “There’s another company we’re looking at that fits well with Rad Power. We’ll probably find that company, in the next week or so,” Provost said, adding that he couldn’t share a name yet but thought it was a company everyone knew.

Rad Power Bikes launched in 2015 with a direct-to-consumer model and sub-$2,000 e-bikes aimed at casual riders, and in short order became a top-flight startup in Seattle.

The company saw demand increase by nearly 300% during the COVID-19 crisis. Rad raised more than $300 million in revenue by 2021 and named itself the largest bicycle retailer in North America.

But momentum slowed in 2022 as demand slowed and a series of missteps and macroeconomic challenges led to more than seven rounds of layoffs.

The startup, founded by e-bike artist Mike Radenbaugh and longtime friend Ty Collins, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2025 following surprise news in November that the company was struggling to survive as it faced “significant financial challenges.”

In his bankruptcy filing, Rad outlined a sharp drop in net income — from $129.8 million in 2023 to $103.8 million in 2024, and $63.3 million in late 2025. The company reported total liabilities of nearly $73 million, more than double its assets of $32 million.

Rad’s assets were acquired by Life EV for $13.2 million, Provost called the deal relative to its one-time valuation of $1.65 billion. He said Life EV’s ownership group is ready to bid more money – and ready to spend more money to revive the brand.

Backed by a group of more than 200 private shareholders and “very important entrepreneurs,” Provost described the investor group as having “very deep pockets.”

The new Rad still has to deal with some of the industry issues that plagued the old Rad, especially that competition is more intense now than it was 10 years ago and the market is flooded with many different types of bikes.

But Provost said the company aims to introduce new products, build a sufficient inventory, make the company profitable and get everyone from investors to employees happy again. Not to mention the Rad ride.

“The most important part of this conversation, for me, is letting the Rad community know that we’re here for them,” Provost said. “We will support them 100%.

Related:

• The Rad Power Bikes brand will continue as Life EV completes the acquisition of the Seattle bicycle manufacturer
• Rad Power Bikes sells for $13.2M as auction attracts cash-strapped bike builders.
• The rise and fall of Rad Power Bikes: From explosive success to the brink of closure
• Rad Power Bikes’ largest unpaid debt is $8.3M to US Customs, as tariffs hit the industry.
• Rad Power Bikes stores closing in Vancouver, BC, and Florida; 7 more will remain open