Storm Sondors is back, teasing mysterious new electric bike [Photo]

This one's about electric bikes, not home energy upgrades, but here's the gist. Storm Sondors, the founder behind the SONDORS e-bike brand, is teasing a new electric bike on the company website. All that's shown so far is a dark photo of what looks like a moped-style e-bike with a bench seat, wide tires, and a front suspension fork, plus the number "001" and a reveal date of September 3.

Sondors has a complicated history worth knowing if the name comes up while you're shopping for an e-bike. He launched a $500 fat-tire e-bike in 2015 that sold in the tens of thousands, then later released the Metacycle, an electric motorcycle. Deliveries of the Metacycle slowed badly, hundreds of finished bikes got stuck in China amid a payment dispute with the manufacturer, and by late 2023 the company was in receivership. Records from that process showed the company had sold more than 63,000 e-bikes but also held over 10,000 Metacycle deposits worth nearly $20 million from customers who never got their bikes.

None of this affects any home energy program or rebate — it's simply news that a well-known but troubled e-bike brand may be relaunching. If you're considering buying an e-bike from this company once it reveals the new model, it may be worth keeping that delivery history in mind before putting down money on a preorder.