Record choice of ebike fires in UK activates renewed possibility warnings

A document choice of fires involving ebikes and e-scooters have been reported in the United Kingdom closing yr, prompting renewed warnings over the hazards posed via lithium-ion batteries.

New executive figures display that fireplace products and services answered to 211 such incidents in 2024 – a slight build up from 207 in 2023, however a dramatic upward push from simply two recorded in 2017.

While ebikes and e-scooters stay a well-liked low-emission mode of delivery, the London fireplace brigade has warned that they constitute a “growing fire risk”.

In a remark this week, the brigade stated: “The capital has seen a spate of ebike and e-scooter fires in recent days, indicating the urgent need for action to make the vehicles safer.

“Ebikes and e-scooters – particularly those that have been modified – are one of London’s fastest growing fire risks.”

London stays the United Kingdom’s greatest hotspot for such fires, with 175 reported within the capital in 2024 on my own.

The London fireplace brigade stated it had answered to a number of severe incidents in fresh days, together with a blaze at the eighth-floor balcony of a tower block in Battersea, and a space fireplace in Hackney that pressured 5 other people to escape within the early hours. Firefighters handled about 10 separate ebike-related fires over simply 5 days.

Government information additionally presentations ebike-related fires ended in a complete of 8 deaths in 2024.

In December, a coroner warned of the life-threatening risks of charging ebikes indoors, after the loss of life of eight-year-old Luke Albiston O’Donnell in Merseyside, right through a fireplace began as the results of an ebike’s charging lithium battery igniting.

In every other tragic case in Coventry, a fireplace brought about via an ebike battery killed Natasha Johnson-Mall and Karlo Bogdan, along side their two canine.

Nearly part of the fires reported in 2024 broke out within properties, ceaselessly in bedrooms, kitchens or corridors. Just over a 3rd began outdoor, together with in gardens, balconies or sheds. In virtually all instances, the battery or generator used to be known because the supply of the hearth.

In reaction to the rising dangers, the United Kingdom executive has presented new regulation geared toward regulating the sale of ebikes and identical merchandise. However, the invoice has come below fireplace for failing to at once point out the danger posed via lithium-ion batteries.

Speaking within the House of Commons, the Liberal Democrat MP Clive Jones stated the invoice should “address the growing number of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries”.

“There remains no reference in the bill to lithium-ion batteries, despite the real and growing harm they cause,” he stated.

Justin Madders, a parliamentary under-secretary of state on the Department for Business and Trade, answered: “While I fully recognise the concerns raised about batteries, the bill does not and should not single out individual product types.” He added: “At this stage, we are actively exploring what regulatory changes might make the greatest difference on lithium-ion batteries.”

The British Safety Council says “lithium-ion battery failures are relatively rare, but in the event of a malfunction, they can represent a serious fire risk”.

“If a battery degrades, gets hot, or suffers a short circuit, heat and pressure build up inside.

“Warning signs that a battery is likely to fail include bulging or swelling, sometimes accompanied by other signs such as discharging too fast and/or the battery being hot to the touch.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade stated the federal government “takes the risk of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries very seriously”.

It is known that the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), the United Kingdom’s nationwide product regulator, is operating to take away unsafe merchandise from the marketplace.

The executive has additionally pledged to replace product protection regulations and build up enforcement at ports to forestall bad imports from achieving customers.

As a part of its public protection efforts, the federal government has additionally sponsored the Buy Safe, Be Safe marketing campaign, which inspires customers to buy ebikes and e-scooters from respected outlets and to make use of authorized chargers.