{"id":82769,"date":"2025-06-04T09:35:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T13:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=82769"},"modified":"2025-06-04T09:35:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T13:35:37","slug":"back-from-the-dead-bankrupted-e-bike-company-sondors-now-pre-selling-bikes-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=82769","title":{"rendered":"Back from the dead? Bankrupted e-bike company SONDORS now pre-selling bikes again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"sondors<\/figure>\n

The SONDORS electric bicycle company infamously went bankrupt in 2023,<\/a> yet it now appears to be attempting a rise from the ashes. The company\u2019s founder and former CEO Storm SONDORS is back at the helm and pre-selling a new electric motorbike with a somewhat familiar name \u2013 the Meta AT.<\/p>\n

But will riders be once bitten, twice shy?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SONDORS originally burst onto the scene way back in 2015 \u2013 the early days of the US e-bike scene \u2013 by offering a $500 fat tire electric bike via a crowdfunding campaign. Many called it a scam after the company was late to deliver, and the bikes that did eventually arrive didn\u2019t quite live up to some of the loftiest claims, but the company did ultimately deliver. In the nearly decade afterward, SONDORS continued following that same game plan: promising the moon for an unbelievably low price, then delivering something that was almost what they\u2019d claimed and almost on time. But they always delivered.<\/p>\n

At least, until they didn\u2019t. <\/p>\n

\tAdvertisement – scroll for more content<\/span><\/p>\n

After finding success in the electric bicycle market, SONDORS ratcheted things up in 2021 with a groundbreaking design for a light electric motorcycle known as the Metacycle<\/a>. But that\u2019s where the wheels started to fall off the proverbial e-bike. <\/p>\n

The project significantly overran its timeline and ultimately delivered just shy of 2,000 bikes that didn\u2019t quite live up to their originally promised specs. Over several months, the deliveries began slowing to a trickle and ultimately ceased. More on that in a moment. For now though, the important thing to note is that was one of the key pieces that led to the company\u2019s undoing (though some would say an expansion of SONDORS\u2019 electric bicycles into big box stores forced tighter profit margins and didn\u2019t help things either). Ultimately, SONDORS eventually overran its cash supply and failed to make payments to suppliers, prompting the company\u2019s bankruptcy and entering into receivership.<\/p>\n

That brings us to today, with Storm Sondors now telling Electrek<\/em> that he has managed to buy the company back out of receivership and, with it, has launched the new Meta AT. Unlike the street-ready Metacycle, the new Meta AT is an off-road electric motorbike intended to compete with Sur Ron, Talaria, and other light electric dirt bikes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

The 4 kW peak-rated motor claims a top speed of up to 50 mph (80 km\/h) and a range of up to 60 miles (96 km) from the bike\u2019s 2.5 kWh lithium battery. Long travel front and rear suspension combined with extra knobby tires position the Meta AT for trail riding and general off-road shenanigans, which are familiar territory for Sur Ron riders.<\/p>\n

While the bike is not street-legal, SONDORS will offer a \u201cStreet Legal Kit\u201d including mirrors, lighting, and other components. It is unclear how far this will go toward true road-legal compliance. The company walks that tightrope by recommending that riders should \u201ccheck with your local registration laws and authorities, as regulations vary by location.\u201d<\/p>\n

And with its claimed MSRP of $4,200 marked down to just $2,299 for those brave customers prepared to pay in full months ahead of production or delivery, SONDORS appears to be sticking to its low-cost pre-order playbook of \u201cpay now and trust us that you\u2019ll ride later.\u201d Again, that always worked in the past, at least until it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

To some, the new bike and the offer it presents sounds dubious, at best. As SONDORS\u2019 marketing emails went out, more than a few forwarded emails landed in my inbox from people expressing a range of emotions from confusion to shock to downright anger. With at least 500 paying customers having been left without Metacycles (plus an unknown number of SONDORS electric bicycle customers left out to dry), a SONDORS revival was bound to raise a few eyebrows\u2026 or furrow them.<\/p>\n

And so to try and learn more about what happened since the big breakdown, and what could happen next with this supposed new Meta incarnate, I went straight to the source. I reached out to Storm Sondors, and wouldn\u2019t you know it, he actually answered.<\/em><\/p>\n

As I peppered him with questions, to his credit, he was quite forthcoming. He genuinely seems to express remorse for what happened at the end of SONDORS original run and explained that he has been \u201cworking relentlessly to find a resolution for those remaining backers.\u201d The sentiment is nice, but it doesn\u2019t make anyone whole again and there doesn\u2019t yet appear to be any solid recourse in the works.<\/p>\n

As for what went wrong at the end, Storm shared with me what he says is a list of payments totaling over US $11 million to the Chinese factory that produced the Metacycle. This helps corroborate much of the backstory that led to an expose I wrote in 2023<\/a> after I finally found an inside source at the factory, further illuminating a major disagreement between SONDORS and the factory it contracted to build its Metacycles.<\/p>\n

As the factory told me back then, after several rounds of Metacycle production, Storm placed a large deposit for another major production round, which the factory used to buy thousands of components to build the bikes and prepare a new production line. But when financial problems hit SONDORS, he failed to pay the balance on existing production runs, which left hundreds of finished Metacycles gathering dust in the factory\u2019s warehouse in China.<\/p>\n

\"sondors
Hundreds of Metacycles still sit in a Chinese factory warehouse awaiting payment<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Storm showed me a spreadsheet of payments he made to the factory and explained that he asked the factory to shift his deposit for future production towards paying off the balance on existing production, which would have allowed him to take receipt of hundreds of completed Metacycles. The factory says they resisted as the money had already been spent on components, additional staff, and tooling up a new production line, all to help accommodate SONDORS\u2019 major new production order. Shifting the payment would have been a breach of contract, the factory claimed, and would have left them out millions of dollars without a guarantee that future production they have already begun investing in would ever be paid for.<\/p>\n

The two parties have been at loggerheads ever since, and Storm shared that he has attempted to rope in QS Motors, a major Chinese manufacturer and the parent company of the factory that produced the Metacycle, into \u201cstepping in to resolve this matter urgently for the benefit of SONDORS Metacycle customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, it doesn\u2019t appear that either party has budged. Storm continues to say \u201cI paid!\u201d while holding up over US $2 million in deposit receipts, and the factory continues to say \u201cYes, but not for these bikes, you didn\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

That leaves the old SONDORS in a stalemate, with no resolution in sight. But that hasn\u2019t stopped the newly reborn SONDORS from pushing forward with its Meta AT launch. \u201cThe Meta AT is a different machine entirely,\u201d Storm explained. \u201cSmaller, lighter, and built to be more agile. It leans toward the off-road category with a price and performance level that opens it up to a much wider audience. Yes, it\u2019s intentionally closer to the Sur Ron segment, but with SONDORS styling and ride experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a lower performance, less complicated, and even less legal<\/a> motorbike than the original Metacycle, the barrier for production will certainly be lower this time, but will that be enough to win over skeptical riders?<\/p>\n

Storm thinks so, and claims to have received over 7,400 Meta AT reservations \u201cthrough private channels, with early access offered to those individuals.\u201d The bikes are now available to the public for pre-order through an Indiegogo campaign<\/a>, which currently shows 36 backers. Storm says reservations are \u201cconverting in stages. As they do, you\u2019ll see the numbers reflected on the campaign page.\u201d<\/p>\n

I asked Storm if he was worried about riders trusting SONDORS after the company\u2019s abrupt closure in 2023. For him, there wasn\u2019t any question. \u201cI created this category. Before SONDORS, there was no mass market for electric bikes \u2013 now there is. I\u2019ve shipped hundreds of thousands of units. I\u2019ve built the factories, the tooling, the supply chains. This isn\u2019t a side hustle or a new idea. This is what I do. And the Meta AT is the best machine I\u2019ve ever built. You can question the industry. You can question the hype. But don\u2019t question whether I deliver. I always have.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s right. SONDORS did always deliver. Until it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\n

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> More.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SONDORS electric bicycle company infamously went bankrupt in 2023, yet it now appears to be attempting a rise from the ashes. The company\u2019s founder and former CEO Storm SONDORS is back at the helm and pre-selling a new electric motorbike with a somewhat familiar name \u2013 the Meta AT. But will riders be once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}