Ebike Manufacturer Aipas Settles Fraudulent Certification Lawsuit with Amazon and UL, But Misleading Ads Persist

Amazon and UL, a globally recognized company specializing in product safety testing and certification, reached a settlement in July with several Chinese manufacturers of ebikes sold under the Aipas brand. The lawsuit, filed in January, accused these firms of falsely claiming UL safety certification on their Amazon product listings and official Aipas websites, thereby misleading online consumers concerned about the inherent risks associated with lithium-ion batteries in ebikes, particularly the potential for catastrophic fires.

The US companies had initiated legal action against the Chinese entities—Jiangmen Meijiasheng Bicycle, Hong Kong Manchester International Trading, Shenzhen Aibosi Sport Technology, Guangzhou Aierfeile Sport Technology, and individual Tang Shuhui, who was implicated in managing an Amazon selling account—for what they described as a deliberate misrepresentation of product safety. Shoppers often rely on recognizable brand-name assurances like UL certification to gauge a product’s safety and reliability. However, the core of the accusation was that Aipas ebikes had not undergone the rigorous testing required to earn the UL mark.

On July 15, a federal judge officially approved a permanent injunction as part of the settlement. This legally binding order mandates that the Aipas manufacturers immediately cease using the UL mark in any capacity. Furthermore, it explicitly prohibits them from "assisting, aiding, or abetting any other person or business" in perpetuating similar fraudulent claims. While the injunction marks a significant legal victory for Amazon and UL in their fight against counterfeit safety claims, the involved Chinese companies did not admit liability or wrongdoing concerning the accusations of knowingly using fraudulent safety-certification marks.

Despite the judicial order, investigations by WIRED revealed a troubling continuation of misleading practices. A Facebook account associated with Aipas Ebike was found actively running advertisements prominently featuring UL’s distinctive bright red logo. A WIRED reporter encountered one such ad in mid-July, critically, after the permanent injunction had been agreed upon and signed. Meta’s Ad Library further corroborated these findings, indicating that at least one other ad utilizing the UL mark had been continuously active on Facebook since April, months after the initial lawsuit was filed. Another active ad containing the UL mark, first posted in May, reportedly vanished from the Ad Library shortly after WIRED reached out to both Aipas and UL for comment, raising questions about accountability and compliance.

Further scrutiny into Aipas’s product certifications revealed additional complexities. While some Aipas ebikes and their corresponding batteries did eventually secure safety certifications from SGS, another nationally recognized testing organization, this apparently occurred months after the initial claims of UL certification began circulating. Compounding the issue, WIRED discovered that some of these SGS certificates, specifically those for the ebikes as a whole, are now inactive. The battery certificate, however, remains active.

When approached for comment on the lawsuit, an Amazon spokesperson declined to provide details. Bradley Carlson, a spokesperson for UL, similarly refrained from discussing the specifics of the legal action but acknowledged that the UL team was "aware and working to resolve" the ongoing issues related to the Facebook advertisements. Neither Aipas Ebike nor the legal counsel representing the Chinese businesses involved in the lawsuit responded to multiple requests for comment.

The problem of fraudulent product safety certifications, though often not brought to public attention, is a pervasive and long-standing issue, according to Donald Mays, a veteran product safety expert who now leads his own consulting firm, Product Safety Insights. Mays emphasized, "this is a common problem and has been a common problem for quite some time."

This trend carries particularly severe implications for electric mobility devices like ebikes. The lithium-ion batteries powering these devices, if not properly manufactured and certified, pose significant safety risks. A concerning report published by the US government in April highlighted a grim reality: 45 fatalities between 2017 and 2024 were directly linked to fires involving lithium-ion batteries in micromobility products. A significant portion of these, 19 deaths, were specifically attributed to ebike-related fires. The New York City Fire Department (FDNY), which meticulously tracks such incidents, recorded 277 fires connected to lithium-ion technology in 2024, a slight increase from 268 in 2023, with a clear link to ebikes.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an independent federal agency, noted that many ebike fires across the country were associated with replacement battery packs. Consequently, the agency has issued stern warnings, urging consumers to exclusively use micromobility devices that are "designed, manufactured, and certified for compliance by an accredited laboratory with the applicable consensus safety standards," as stated on its official website. The CPSC has even specifically warned consumers to discontinue using certain ebike batteries, such as those from Unit Pack Power (UPP), due to severe fire and burn hazards.

Gabe Knight, a senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports, pointed out that false certifications are disproportionately prevalent on online marketplaces like Amazon, particularly through third-party sellers. "Just as consumers are more at risk to buy a counterfeit product, period, from third-party sellers, they are more at risk to buy a product with a fabricated certification mark," Knight explained. She added that traditional retailers who sell products directly to consumers, rather than merely hosting sales, generally exhibit a better track record in guaranteeing the safety claims of their merchandise. These retailers typically implement robust internal compliance programs designed to verify manufacturers’ basic safety assertions. "It’s really polluting the marketplace when consumers can’t trust the information they see online," Knight lamented.

The US government appears increasingly determined to crack down on fraudulent safety certifications. In May, the CPSC publicly announced its awareness of "instances in which the misuse of certification marks appears to be part of broader efforts to evade US safety requirements." The agency has since initiated a public consultation process, soliciting input to better understand the true prevalence and scope of counterfeit marks in the market.

In a separate, but related, development in June, the CPSC proposed a new rule to establish mandatory federal safety standards specifically for lithium-ion batteries utilized in micromobility products, including ebikes. While some states and local jurisdictions already have requirements for lithium-ion batteries to meet specific safety standards (though federal standards exist for battery shipping), a comprehensive federal mandate would significantly enhance consumer protection nationwide. The agency is currently accepting public comments on this proposed rule through August. Spokespeople for the CPSC did not respond to WIRED’s inquiries regarding these initiatives.

Scott Hardesty, a prominent ebike reviewer on YouTube, whose critical videos of Aipas last fall garnered significant attention, recounted how his frustrating interactions with the company prompted him to overhaul his product reviewing procedures. "After dealing with them, I started making companies send me their UL certificates," Hardesty informed WIRED, emphasizing his new requirement: "I need them to send them to me in an email." Hardesty openly discloses that he earns commissions from companies for ebike sales generated through his YouTube channel.

In the Aipas lawsuit, lawyers representing UL and Amazon highlighted their clients’ concerted efforts to combat counterfeits and fraudulent claims. They referenced seven other recent legal actions taken against companies misusing safety certification marks. This included a notable 2023 case where both Amazon and UL sued multiple Chinese companies for illegally affixing UL marks to smoke detectors without obtaining the necessary safety testing.

The perils of unverified ebike safety extend beyond individual consumers. Last year, New York City was compelled to scrap a planned delivery-worker bike-swap program that intended to utilize Fly ebikes. This decision came after the company and UL reached a $1 million settlement in which Fly explicitly admitted to using counterfeit UL marks. Streetsblog, a local news outlet, reported on at least eight lawsuits alleging that Fly was associated with various fire-related injuries and deaths, underscoring the severe public safety implications of such deception.

The Aipas lawsuit documents Amazon’s significant commitment to consumer protection, stating that the e-commerce giant invested over a billion dollars and employed thousands of personnel in 2024 to safeguard customers and brands from counterfeit and fraudulent goods. Amazon asserts that its sophisticated system "automatically and continuously scans thousands of data points to prevent, detect, and remove counterfeits from its stores and to terminate the selling accounts of bad actors before they can offer counterfeit products."

High Standards and Complex Certifications

Understanding safety standards and the intricate workings of product certification bodies can be a daunting task for the average consumer. UL stands as one of the most reputable and widely recognized standards-writing organizations globally. However, it is not the sole player; other prominent bodies like CSA Group and IEC also establish critical safety standards. Crucially, UL also offers product testing services for a fee, and only products that have successfully undergone UL’s proprietary testing and certification processes are authorized to display UL’s distinctive logos in their advertising and on their products.

Beyond UL, other organizations, designated as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTLs), have been officially authorized by the US government to test products against UL’s and other established safety standards. Donald Mays notes that companies typically choose one lab over another primarily based on pricing considerations.

Documents publicly available on Aipas’s website suggest that some of its ebikes and batteries did eventually obtain safety certifications from one of these authorized NRTLs, specifically SGS. However, a closer examination of these documents by WIRED revealed several irregularities that complicate the picture.

The Amazon and UL lawsuit alleged that Aipas had marketed its ebikes using UL marks "at various times" from 2024 through 2025. Intriguingly, according to an SGS certificate, an SGS employee certified that the lithium-ion batteries used in Aipas ebikes met a UL safety standard in September 2025. By the end of that same month, another SGS certificate indicates that an SGS employee certified ebikes within the "M" Aipas line to the same standard. Subsequently, at the end of November 2025, ebikes from the "A" and "F" Aipas lines were also certified.

While the company’s battery certificate from SGS remains active, a significant detail emerged: the three certificates issued for the ebikes as a complete product are no longer active. An SGS representative, in an email to WIRED, stated that "as a third party, we are not at liberty to discuss the status of a certification."

As of July, Aipas’s website accurately describes its lithium-ion batteries as "SGS Certified" to a UL safety standard. However, it continues to provide links to the now-inactive SGS ebike safety certificates. This presents a potential pitfall for buyers, who might only uncover the inactive status by diligently following the QR code at the bottom of the certificate or by actively searching for the individual product within SGS’s online directory—a level of investigative effort that most consumers would not undertake.

Donald Mays clarified that an inactive safety certificate does not automatically mean a product, once certified, has become unsafe. Certificates can expire for several reasons: a company might modify a product’s design or components and fail to pay the certification body for recertification, or a product might lose its certification if the company neglects to submit it to the required annual inspections.

Nevertheless, Mays, drawing on his extensive expertise, personally ensured that any ebikes he purchased not only met the two relevant UL safety certifications but also that their corresponding certificates were current and valid. For the average consumer, however, navigating this labyrinth of documentation and verification is often beyond their reach. "The average consumer is not going to be able to figure this out," Hardesty concluded, highlighting the critical information gap that leaves consumers vulnerable to misleading safety claims in the burgeoning ebike market.