In its legislative programme, the UK’s new Labour government said it would bring in a Product Safety and Metrology Bill that would address new challenges such as fire risks associated with e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries.
It will also ensure the responsibilities of those supplying products, including online marketplaces. It said there was a 78% increase in e-bike fires in the UK in 2023 compared to 2022, citing the London Fire Brigade.
Following Brexit, most product safety legislation falls under the Windsor Framework agreed with the EU. The framework covers Northern Ireland only. The government said the bill would give powers to take a UK-wide approach.
Australian organization EV FireSafe has compiled data from EV fires showing that there were 511 verified incidents of thermal runaway in electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide since 2010, including plug-in hybrids. There are approximatively 40 million EVs on the road, it said, pointing to the rarity of these fires.
The most significant identified risks are collisions, submersion of the vehicle into water and product faults. Around 15% of the accidents (June 2023: 18%) occurred during charging. This improvement is a consequence of better charging management and more knowledge of the associated risks, it said. A properly installed charging device cannot cause a battery fire due to in-built safety checks, it pointed out.
The number of incidents dropped slightly in 2023 after a jump in 2021 and 2022 as EVs from two major brands were recalled and battery packs replaced, it said.
Liliana Martinez and Rauan Adikey of FRISSBE, part of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, compiled a study led by Prof Grunde Jomaas on fire risks associated with e-bikes and e-scooters. They reported last year that chargeable two-wheeler batteries caused around 21,000 fires in China, some 17% more than in 2022.
Many Chinese urban districts have banned the charging of lithium-ion vehicle batteries indoors. Education campaigns, regular inspection of charging devices and use of dedicated charging stations should reduce risks further, they found.
They concluded that the reasons for fire are similar to the risks with electric cars – improper charging, physical damage to cables or batteries and manufacturing defects. A lack of knowledge and carelessness, for example flammable items left close to the battery or the charger, are major risks.
Photo: London Fire Brigade
