ZEFIORA e-bikes

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No one hurt

   Made Jun 22, 2026 · , sent to the company Jul 10, 2026 · , published by CPSC Jul 24, 2026

   The product, in the report: ZEFIORA V12 electric bicycle, black, sold exclusively through Temu.com. Equipped with lithium-ion battery pack, BMS system, electric motor, and charger. Advertised range 80 miles. Actual range 23 km.

   I purchased a ZEFIORA V12 electric bicycle from Temu.com (Whaleco Inc.) on March 16, 2026 (Order No. [REDACTED]) for USD 705.61. The bicycle was delivered on April 7, 2026. I am 64 years old. I am reporting multiple serious product safety violations that pose an imminent fire, explosion, and personal injury risk to U.S. consumers.

   VIOLATION 1 - FALSE UL CERTIFICATION CLAIM (Most Serious) The product listing on Temu.com explicitly stated UL Certification with the UL logo displayed as a product feature, alongside BMS Intelligent Safety and 80 MILES Long Range. Upon delivery and physical inspection of the battery pack, individual lithium-ion cells, BMS board, and charger unit, NO UL 2849 certification mark was found anywhere on any component. UL 2849 is the mandatory federal safety standard for e-bike electrical systems sold in the U.S. The physical mark is legally required on the certified product. Its absence renders the product legally uncertified regardless of any paperwork claim. This constitutes a false safety certification. The product was sold under deliberately fraudulent safety representations that endanger every consumer who purchased it.

   VIOLATION 2 - BATTERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (BMS) FAILURE AND FIRE HAZARD The advertised battery range was 80 MILES (approximately 128 km). The actual range after a full charge was 23 kilometers, less than 18 percent of the advertised minimum. This is not a calibration issue. It is diagnostic of BMS failure. A malfunctioning BMS creates the following direct safety hazards - (a) uncontrolled overcharging of individual lithium cells creating fire and explosion risk, (b) cell voltage imbalance creating thermal runaway risk, (c) sudden power cutoff during operation creating accident and fall risk. This last hazard is not theoretical. On April 27, 2026, the bicycle died completely while I was riding it, despite the battery display showing 75 percent charge remaining. The display failure is itself evidence of a defective BMS. I was left stranded far from home. At 64 years old, I was forced to pedal the full distance back on foot under the Florida heat, creating a serious risk to my health and safety. I have photographic evidence of the odometer reading 23 km after a full charge and video evidence of the product defects.

   VIOLATION 3 - DEFECTIVE AND DANGEROUS BRAKES The brakes are dangerously ineffective and failed to provide adequate stopping power during normal use. This defect creates a direct and immediate risk of serious injury or death to the rider and to other persons in the area of use.

   VIOLATION 4 - STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY FAILURE The bicycle emits loud metallic squeaking and grinding noises during normal operation, indicating a complete absence of quality control and structural integrity that may lead to mechanical failure while in motion.

   VIOLATION 5 - UNCERTIFIED CHARGER The charger supplied with the bicycle displays no UL or ETL safety certification marks. An uncertified charger connected to an already non-compliant lithium battery pack creates compounded fire and electrical hazard.

   VIOLATION 6 - MISSING SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIRED BY LAW The bicycle was delivered without turn signals, which are required by Florida law and U.S. federal regulations for electric bicycles operated on public roads. I was forced to purchase turn signals separately at my own expense. Their absence at the time of delivery created an immediate legal and safety violation.

   SYSTEMIC PATTERN - NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT (a) In September 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission assessed Whaleco Inc. a USD 2,000,000 civil penalty for INFORM Consumers Act violations, establishing a documented pattern of non-compliance with U.S. consumer protection laws. (b) On May 28, 2026, the European Commission fined Temu 200,000,000 euros under the Digital Services Act specifically for distributing unsafe products including e-bikes with non-compliant batteries through its marketplace. I have a copy of this EU Commission decision. The same unsafe product category, namely e-bike batteries sold under false UL certification claims, is being distributed at scale to U.S. consumers through Temus platform.

   TEMUS RESPONSE AND BUYER PROTECTION FAILURE I sent a formal Demand Letter via [REDACTED] Certified Mail on May 7, 2026 (Tracking No. [REDACTED]). Temu refused delivery on May 11 and May 16, 2026. I formally invoked Temus Buyer Protection guarantee. Temu ignored it entirely. The seller offered a reimbursement of only USD 20 on a USD 705.61 purchase. The seller also imposed commercially unreasonable return conditions, requiring me to ship the bicycle back to Zefiora at my own expense. I filed complaints with the [REDACTED] (Complaint No. [REDACTED]) and the Florida Attorney General under FDUTPA Section 501.201, with senior citizen enhanced penalty flags active. Temus only response to all of this was a generic template message with no substantive resolution.

   WHY I AM FILING THIS COMPLAINT I am not filing this complaint solely for my own benefit. Since discovering these violations, I have not used the bicycle because I know it is dangerous. I cannot sell it, because selling a product I know to be defective and falsely certified would make me legally liable. I am left with a USD 705.61 item I cannot use and cannot sell. I am filing this complaint because I cannot remain silent about a product that may have been sold to thousands of U.S. consumers who do not know their bicycle contains an uncertified lithium battery that can catch fire, explode, and cause serious injury or death. A defective BMS in a lithium e-bike battery is not a minor defect. It is a life-safety hazard. Every unit of the ZEFIORA V12 sold through Temu without valid UL 2849 certification represents a potential fire or explosion waiting to happen in a home, a garage, or on a public road.

   I request that CPSC immediately investigate Whaleco Inc. d-b-a Temu for distribution of consumer products bearing false safety certifications in violation of 15 U.S.C. 2068, and initiate a mandatory recall of all ZEFIORA V12 units distributed through the Temu platform in the United States.

   (7/2/2026): DESCRIPTION OF RISK OF HARM This is not a single-unit malfunction or an isolated consumer complaint. It is a documented pattern of fraudulent safety certification combined with a battery management system (BMS) defect that creates a foreseeable, ongoing, and potentially fatal risk to an unknown but large number of U.S. consumers who currently possess this product without any awareness of the danger they are living with. 1. NATURE OF THE HARM — FIRE AND EXPLOSION RISK The ZEFIORA V12 was marketed and sold with an explicit UL Certification claim and UL logo displayed as a purchasing feature. Physical inspection of the battery pack, individual lithium-ion cells, BMS board, and charger confirmed that NO UL 2849 certification mark is present on any component. UL 2849 is the mandatory federal safety standard specifically written to prevent uncontrolled overcharging, cell voltage imbalance, and thermal runaway in e-bike lithium battery systems. A lithium battery pack operating outside this standard, paired with an uncertified charger, is a documented fire-ignition source. This is precisely the failure mode responsible for the e-bike and e-scooter battery fires that have caused deaths and destroyed homes in multiple U.S. cities in recent years. This is not a theoretical concern — it is the exact hazard the UL 2849 standard was created to prevent, and this product was sold without meeting it while falsely claiming that it did. 2. EVIDENCE THE DEFECT IS ACTIVE, NOT LATENT The battery’s actual range after full charge measured 23 km, against an advertised 80 miles (approximately 128 km) — less than 18% of the advertised minimum. This magnitude of discrepancy is not a marketing exaggeration; it is diagnostic evidence of active BMS malfunction, meaning the cells are already being charged, monitored, and cut off outside safe parameters on every single charge cycle. On April 27, 2026, this manifested physically: the bicycle lost all power mid-ride while the display showed 75% charge remaining, a sudden and unexplained power failure consistent with BMS instability. The rider, 64 years old, was stranded and forced to travel the remaining distance on foot in Florida heat. A sudden, unpredictable loss of power is itself a road-safety hazard for any rider in traffic; combined with the documented brake failure described below, the risk compounds. 3. COMPOUNDING MECHANICAL HAZARDS The brakes provide inadequate stopping power under normal use, creating direct risk of collision, serious injury, or death to the rider and to bystanders. The frame emits structural squeaking and grinding under normal operation, indicating an absence of basic quality control that increases the likelihood of mechanical failure while the bicycle is in motion. The unit was delivered without turn signals, a feature required by Florida law and federal regulation for e-bikes operated on public roads, meaning every unit sold as-delivered is already operating in violation of traffic safety requirements, increasing collision risk with other vehicles. 4. WHY THIS IS A COMMUNITY-WIDE RISK, NOT AN ISOLATED CASE Temu is a mass-market platform, and the ZEFIORA V12 is sold at scale to U.S. consumers with no indication anywhere in the listing that the safety certification is false. This means the population of affected owners is unknown and almost certainly far larger than a single buyer. Most owners will have no technical ability to verify a UL 2849 mark and will trust the certification as displayed. This creates a population of consumers who are: — charging an uncertified lithium battery pack overnight in bedrooms, garages, and apartments, unaware of fire/explosion risk; — riding a bicycle with a documented pattern of sudden, unpredictable power loss in traffic; — relying on brakes that do not provide adequate stopping power; — operating without required turn signals, increasing collision risk to themselves and third parties. Because these consumers do not know there is a defect, no self-correction is occurring. The risk is silent, distributed, and cumulative — every day these units remain in active use without recall or public warning, the probability of a fire, an explosion, or a road injury involving someone who never knew their bicycle was dangerous increases. 5. THIS IS PART OF A DOCUMENTED CORPORATE PATTERN This is not an isolated vendor failure. In September 2025, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission assessed Whaleco Inc. (Temu) a USD 2,000,000 civil penalty for violations of the INFORM Consumers Act. On May 28, 2026, the European Commission fined Temu €200,000,000 under the Digital Services Act specifically for distributing unsafe products — including e-bikes with non-compliant batteries — through its marketplace. Both actions establish, through independent regulatory findings, that the same category of product defect has already been identified as a systemic problem on this platform outside the United States. The ZEFIORA V12 fits this exact pattern and is currently being sold to U.S. consumers under it. 6. WHY I AM SUBMITTING THIS DESPITE NO PERSONAL INJURY I sustained no physical injury in the April 27, 2026 incident, and I want to be direct about that so this Report is evaluated on the correct basis: this is not a personal injury claim. I am submitting this Report because I have direct physical evidence — photographic and video — that a mass-marketed consumer product carries a real, mechanically-explained fire, explosion, and road-injury risk, that the product’s core safety claim is false, and that an unknown number of other consumers currently possess this same product with no way of knowing any of this. I have kept the bicycle out of use since discovering the defect specifically because I consider it unsafe to ride or to resell to another unsuspecting consumer. REQUESTED ACTION I respectfully request that CPSC treat this as an active investigation priority given the fire/explosion hazard class involved, and that it consider a mandatory recall or public safety notice for all ZEFIORA V12 units distributed through Temu in the United States, consistent with 15 U.S.C. § 2068. I am available to provide the original 21 supporting attachments already submitted with Report No. [REDACTED], and any further clarification CPSC requires.

   Model

   V12

   Bought from

   Temu.com

   Bought

   Mar 16, 2026

   Where

   Miami Beach, Florida: Street or Highway

   Who was involved

   Age 64, Unspecified

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Unspecified

   As this report names them

   Brand ZEFIORA, made or sold by ZEFIORA

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources