Even if you didn’t see the tragic news from two weeks ago about an e-bike related fire killing a mother and her two children in Cambridge, it wouldn’t take long on Google to uncover some similarly horrible stories and statistics. The four people who died in New York in late June took the lithium battery fire related toll to 13 for the year – already double that recorded in 2022. E-bike related fires are up 60 percent too. With 70 incidents recorded by the end of last month, it’s been enough for London Fire Brigade to start a campaign called Charge Safe to reduce the risks.
While almost all of the fires reported are related to low cost e-bikes (or conversion kits) that use unregulated batteries and chargers often bought direct from the far east by individuals or businesses, even the most advanced big name batteries have an inherent incendiary risk. When you talk about e-bike battery fires you’re not just talking a bit of smoke and gradual ignition either. Densely packed lithium ion cells burn with savage ferocity that can engulf a room with dense heat and smoke in seconds, while burning lithium batteries are hard to extinguish too. That’s why e-bikes have their own shipping restrictions and guidelines with courier companies and why you’re not allowed to fly with an e-bike battery either.
