Power Wheels is a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create a ...

of battery-powered ride-on

toy cars A model car, or toy car, is a miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many miniature vehicles were originally aime ...

for kids ages one to seven years old. Power Wheels ride-ons are built with kid-sized, realistic features – in some cases, real working features like

FM radios FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is capab ...

, opening/closing doors and hoods, and both forward and reverse motion.

History

The product itself was created by an Italian company,

Peg Perego Peg Perego is an List of companies of Italy, Italian manufacturer of juvenile products (i.e., Baby transport, strollers, high chairs, Infant car seat, car seats, children's ride-on toys). In addition to their home location in Italy, the company now ...

, which started up in 1949. Peg-Perego eventually began using gel cell batteries in their wheeled machines, and the product line was launched. The Power Wheels brand name dates back to 1984, when San Francisco-based toy company Kransco acquired

Pines of America A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

, makers of battery-powered vehicles for children. Two years later, Kransco renamed the line "Power Wheels". By 1990 sales of the battery-powered vehicles reached over 1,000,000 per year. In 1994, the Power Wheels Line was bought by

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

, who placed it under their

Fisher-Price Fisher-Price is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York. The company was founded in 1930 during the Great Depression by Herman Fisher, Irving Price, Helen S ...

subsidiary. With the addition of new vehicle licenses the new Power Wheels lines did well. In 1999, Fisher-Price announced the

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

Motorcycle Ride-On – which contributed to a year of record sales for the entire product line.

Power Wheels vehicles

Power Wheels ride-on cars, trucks and motorcycles have been sold with more than 100 model names. The latest line of Power Wheels features small scale versions of popular real world vehicles, including the

Jeep Wrangler The Jeep Wrangler is a series of compact and mid-size four-wheel drive off-road SUVs manufactured by Jeep since 1986 and is currently in its fourth generation. The Wrangler JL, the most recent generation, was revealed in late 2017 and is produ ...

Jeep Hurricane The Jeep Hurricane is a bespoke custom concept vehicle that was unveiled at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit by American automaker Jeep. Its principal exterior designer was Aaron Pizzuti. The concept went on to win IDEA ...

Ford F-150 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford since the 1948 model year. Slotted above the Ford Ranger in the Ford truck model range, the F-Series is marketed as a range of full-sized pickup trucks ...

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

, Kawasaki KFX quad,

motorcycle,

Cadillac Escalade EXT The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV engineered and manufactured by General Motors. It was Cadillac's first major entry into the SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year in response to competition from the Merce ...

as well as

Lightning McQueen Montgomery "Lightning" McQueen is a fictional anthropomorphic stock car who is the protagonist of the animated Pixar franchise '' Cars'', primarily voiced by actor Owen Wilson. His appearances include the feature films '' Cars'', ''Cars 2'', and ...

from the

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

’s film ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

'', and a

Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine is an anthropomorphised fictional tank locomotive in the British '' Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher, published from 1945. He became the most popular and famous character in the seri ...

with a circle of track.

Safety recalls

The first recall in 1991 involved the 18 Volt

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and ori ...

, in which the contacts in the foot pedal switch could weld together in use. If this were to happen, the motor would remain running and the vehicle would continue moving forward, unable to stop. A new accelerator pedal was fitted that eliminated the possibility of welded contacts. In 1998,

undertook a monumental recall of up to 10 million Power Wheels 12 volt and Super 6 volt vehicles manufactured since 1986. The recall and repair program was conducted to replace battery fuses and strengthen battery connectors in order to prevent the units from overheating. The main difference of a post recall Power Wheel is that the original "H" (or on very early Power Wheels, "S") connectors are removed and replaced with the larger, black "A" connectors. If a Power Wheels ride-on was built in or before 1998 and has the Black "A" connectors, then the recall work has probably been performed. The third recall in 2000 involved the Harley-Davidson motor cycle ride-ons, In cooperation with the

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (USCPSC, CPSC, or commission) is an independent agency of the United States government. The CPSC seeks to promote the safety of consumer products by addressing “unreasonable risks” of in ...

(CPSC), Fisher-Price recalled about 218,000 battery-powered Power Wheels Harley-Davidson motorcycle ride-ons for repair. The foot pedals, which activate the ride-ons, could stick in the "on" position. The fourth recall in 2019 involved the Barbie Dream Camper model FRC29 with the grey foot pedal, due to fall hazards and a pedal issue that causes the ride-on to keep moving when the pedal was released.

References

External links

Official Power Wheels Website
{{Fisher-Price Brands Toy cars and trucks Battery electric vehicles Fisher-Price Products introduced in 1984 Toy recalls