Power Wheels is a brand of battery-powered ride-on toy cars for kids ages 12 months to seven years old. Power Wheels ride-ons are built with kid-sized, realistic features – in some cases, real working features like FM radios, opening/closing doors and hoods, power lock brakes, and both forward and reverse motion.
The Power Wheels brand name dates back to 1984, when San Francisco-based toy company Kransco acquired Pines of America, 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, Power Wheels was purchased by Mattel. Following Mattel's acquisition of Kransco, the Power Wheels line immediately became part of Fisher-Price toys out of East Aurora, New York. With the addition of new vehicle licenses the new Power Wheels by Fisher-Price and Mattel lines did well.
In 1999, Fisher-Price announced the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Ride-On – which contributed to a year of record sales for the entire product line.
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, Jeep Hurricane, Ford F-150, Ford Mustang, Kawasaki KFX quad, Harley-Davidson motorcycle, Cadillac Escalade EXT as well as Lightning McQueen from Pixar’s movie, Cars.