Campaigners have described some e-bikes as being like “unexploded bombs” after a report 11 folks died from e-bike fires within the UK final 12 months.
The federal government is beneath strain to behave over the sale of harmful merchandise as unsafe batteries and conversion kits proceed to flood the market.
‘Fast fireballs’
London Hearth Brigade stated that e-bikes and e-scooters are actually the quickest rising fireplace threat within the capital, after it recorded 149 e-bike fires in 2023, up sharply from 87 in 2022.
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The lithium-ion batteries used on e-bikes retailer a considerable amount of power in a small area. Fires could be attributable to poorly designed batteries, from charging them incorrectly or from injury to the battery.
Such fires could be “significantly lethal”, stated The Observer, as they’ll “quickly ignite in a fireball”. As a result of e-bikes are “routinely left to cost in a single day in hallways”, they’ll “block what stands out as the solely exit” within the case of home fires. This may result in folks being pressured to leap from home windows.
Yvonne Fovargue, a Labour MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on on-line and residential electrical security, stated e-bikes can attain a “phenomenally excessive” temperature in “seconds” so proudly owning one is “virtually like having an unexploded bomb in your home”.
A collection of tragedies have forged a shadow over this standard type of transport. Sofia Duarte, 21, died on New 12 months’s Day 2023 after a hearth, believed to have been attributable to an unbranded battery pack, broke out within the hallway of a property she was staying in at Bermondsey, southeast London.
Mizanur Rahman, 41, died two months later after a hearth at an east London flat attributable to an e-bike that had been modified with a battery cage and motor. In the identical 12 months, Bobby Lee, 74, died from burns and smoke inhalation in north London when a lithium battery on a mountain bike transformed to an e-bike exploded.
Gemma Germeney, 31, and youngsters Lilly, 8, and Oliver, 4, died in a hearth at their Cambridgeshire residence final summer season. Cambridgeshire Hearth and Rescue Service stated probably the most possible explanation for the blaze was an e-bike that was charging.
Insurance coverage agency Aviva stated it has seen buyer claims “associated to fires which began as a result of rechargeable e-bikes exploding throughout charging”, together with “claims involving failed e-bike batteries and e-bikes bought second-hand”.
‘Avoidable tragedies’
Strain is rising for motion. Neil Coyle, the Labour MP for Bermondsey, stated regulators wanted stronger powers to drive on-line retailers to withdraw unsafe merchandise. “The variety of deaths is rising and is prone to proceed to develop until there are better powers to take away harmful objects,” he stated. Every demise is a “tragedy”, he added, but it surely’s “additionally an avoidable tragedy”.
Lesley Rudd, chief government of the charity Electrical Security First, is asking on ministers to implement the measures in a 10-minute rule invoice on e-bike security as a result of be tabled by Fovargue. Fires brought about when these batteries fail are “distinctive of their ferocity and may have devastating penalties”, Rudd stated.
Greater than 70% of adults within the UK did not know the indicators {that a} lithium-ion battery, the sort present in e-bikes and e-scooters, is getting ready to failure, in response to a current Aviva survey . These indicators embody heating, leaking, swelling and strange smells and noises.
Electrical Security First advises folks to solely buy e-bikes and chargers from respected retailers. If the unique charger is just not obtainable, they recommend acquiring a substitute from the unique producer, as a result of counterfeit and substandard chargers could be “lethal”.
Clients ought to make sure that an e-bike is of excellent high quality, by checking for “misspellings, unhealthy translations and makes an attempt to repeat bigger manufacturers”, and checking that there are guarantee playing cards and directions.