Rad Power RadRunnerâ„¢ Plus Cargo Utility Bike Review

Cargo & utility. 624 Wh battery, $1,799. What that buys, how far it really goes, and how it compares to the rest of its class.

Specification

Price	$1,799
Battery	624 Wh
Motor	750 W
Weight	75 lb
Class	Class 2
Cost per watt-hour	$2.88

How far it actually goes

Riding	Energy used	Range from 624 Wh
Easy — flat, light rider, low assist	18 Wh/mile	35 miles
Typical mixed riding	22 Wh/mile	28 miles
Loaded, hilly, or throttle-heavy	28 Wh/mile	22 miles

Worked out from the battery figure, not quoted from the maker. A headline range is normally measured on flat tarmac by a light rider on the lowest assist setting with no cargo, which is why it rarely survives a real week. Plan on the middle row.

Charging it away from mains power

This is where a portable power station comes in — camping, van life, a job site, or an outage. Charging losses are real, so the figures below assume about 85% end-to-end efficiency from station to bike battery.

Power station	Capacity	Full charges of this bike
BLUETTI AC50B Portable Power Station	448 Wh	0.61 — not quite one full charge
ALLPOWERS S2000 Pro Portable Power Station	1,451 Wh	2.0×
BLUETTI Elite 400 Portable Power Station \| 3,840Wh, 2,600W	3,840 Wh	5.2×

More on this in our guide to charging an e-bike from a power station.

Where it sits in its class

Against the 7 machines we track in Cargo & utility, the RadRunnerâ„¢ Plus Cargo Utility Bike is priced at the class median of $1,799. Its 624 Wh battery is smaller than the class median of 720 Wh. At $2.88 per watt-hour it is more expensive per unit of battery than most of its class (class median $2.50).

Price rank in Cargo & utility	3 cheapest of 7
Battery rank in Cargo & utility	6 largest of 7

Power to weight. 750W hauling 75 lb works out at 10.0 watts per pound before the rider is counted. That is the figure that decides how it feels on a climb, and it is why motor wattage on its own tells you very little — a big motor in a heavy frame can climb worse than a modest one in a light frame.

Range against the class. At 22 Wh per mile this machine covers about 28 miles, against roughly 33 miles for the class median of 720 Wh — a difference of about 5 miles per charge in ordinary riding.

Closest alternatives

The nearest machines by battery size in the same class:

Model	Price	Battery	Cost per Wh
Rad Power RadRunnerâ„¢ Cargo Utility Bike	$1,499	624 Wh	$2.40
Rad Power RadRunnerâ„¢ Max Cargo Utility Bike	$2,299	672 Wh	$3.42
Rad Power RadWagonâ„¢ 5 Cargo Bike	$2,399	720 Wh	$3.33

What the class rating means

Class 2 means a throttle is fitted and assistance cuts out at 20 mph. That can normally be ridden on roads, in bike lanes and on most shared-use paths. Rules vary by state and by individual trail authority, so confirm locally rather than relying on the class alone.

Who it is for

The Rad Power RadRunnerâ„¢ Plus Cargo Utility Bike offers a smaller battery than most of its class, so be honest about the distances you actually ride, real weight at 75 lb, which matters when you are moving it by hand rather than riding it, enough motor for hills and loads. Buy it if that matches the riding you actually do rather than the riding you imagine doing — battery size and physical fit are what determine whether a machine gets used, and neither is visible in a photograph.

What this review cannot tell you

We have not ridden this machine. Everything above is derived from the maker’s own published specification and current pricing, compared on identical terms against every other machine in our catalogue. Ride quality, build consistency, dealer support and how quickly a spare part arrives are not visible in a spec sheet, and a review that scores them from this starting point is inventing them. Where a figure is not published we leave it out rather than estimating it.

Where to buy: Rad Power RadRunnerâ„¢ Plus Cargo Utility Bike

We earn no commission on this machine. It is here because leaving it out would make the comparisons above less useful.