The Bicycle Association welcomes new battery research and OPSS actions

The Bicycle Association (BA) has welcomed research into lithium-ion battery fire safety published by the government earlier this month.

The report, commissioned by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and prepared by WMG, at the University of Warwick shares findings and evidence on the causes of the safety risks and hazards associated with Personal Light Electric Vehicle (PLEV batteries) and chargers.

BA was among those who contributed to the report which contains:

• a literature study of scientific papers and reports of real-world evidence of PLEV fires in the UK and other major markets
• a review of existing UK legislation and applicable standards
• the findings of detailed inspection and testing of several e-bike and e-scooter batteries available on the UK market, covering a broad price range

 

Reputable companies in the e-bike industry devote considerable resources to sourcing quality components, designing in safety features, and thoroughly testing their battery packs to the latest international standards, and so welcome the focus in the report on ensuring that a level playing field is established and enforced for e-bike and e-scooter batteries, so that all such items placed on the UK market have a very high standard of product safety – The Bicycle Association

Emergency services, safety groups, manufacturers, retailers, standards organisations and battery experts were also consulted as part of the project, including:

– Bicycle Association
– Dyson Ltd.
– Electrical Safety First
– Exponent, Inc.
– Halfords Group plc
– London Fire Brigade
– National Fire Chiefs’ Council
– Pure Electric Ltd.
– Swifty Scooters Ltd.
– UL Solutions

The executive summary details that “…London Fire Brigade (LFB) has likely the largest evidence and incident database and has documented the increase in the frequency, from two events in 2017 to at least 178 incidents in London in 2023. Since 2020, the increase has been dominated by e-bikes, rather than e-scooters.”

Analysing the data, the report was able to determine that:

“The annual number of e-scooter incidents has not increased since 2021, but the number of e-bike incidents has continued to climb. WMG analysed the e-bike data to ascertain how many incidents involved conversion kits compared to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)-made e-bikes. Of the 56% of incidents where this could be ascertained, over three quarters were conversion kits. The data on brand and model type of e-bikes and e-scooters has been used to inform some of the products purchased for teardown and abuse testing in this project.

Almost all incidents recorded by LFB occurred indoors, either in domestic or commercial properties. The LFB data on whether a battery was being charged at the time of the fire are not definitive, due to the high proportion of incidents where this could not be determined. However, there is evidence to suggest that some consumers use incompatible chargers, rated at up to twice the voltage of the battery involved in the fire.”

OPSS produced an update on its programme of activity to understand and address product safety risks involving e-bikes, e-scooters and lithium-ion batteries.

They also produced two videos showing conversion kit batteries for e-bikes going into thermal runaway when tested under conditions of misuse, such as the use of an unsuitable charger.

Battery Safety Testing 

 

In December 2024, the Government published guidance for businesses detailing statutory guidelines on lithium-ion battery safety for e-bikes. Created by the Department for Business and Trade, the guidelines set out ‘safety mechanisms that lithium-ion batteries for e-bikes must contain to address the risk of thermal runaway.

Those guidelines were established for ‘businesses that produce, import or distribute lithium-ion batteries for use with e-bikes, including converted e-bikes that are made available on the GB market.’

E-bike Positive Campaign

With several initiatives, reports and guidelines launched in recent months, including the e-bike positive campaign launched in August 2024, there’s growing momentum surrounding battery safety and wider education about electric bikes. The BA says, “We hope that swift Government action will help address the supply (especially from overseas and via online marketplaces) of unsafe products, as well as the demand for such items (especially in the ‘gig economy’ sector).”

As part of the e-bike-positive campaign run by ACT, with BA support, the e-bike-positive retailer pledge encourages e-bike retailers to join the united effort to enhance safety. Following its launch, several retailers pledged their support, agreeing to follow best practices and only sell and repair road-legal e-bikes. Anyone who signs up will be displayed as an e-bike-positive retailer.

Earlier this week, specialist publisher Electric Cycling issued a call to action to the industry, outlining their stance that the trade needs to regain control of the narrative around what does and doesn’t pass as an e-bike in the marketplace.

Whilst there is no quick fix to ongoing concerns, the Bicycle Association remains positive, saying they welcome the OPSS’s update on regulatory activity and OPSS’s close dialogue with the industry to date. The BA will continue to engage closely with OPSS as the report’s findings and other actions are taken forward.