"It is almost like having an unexploded bomb in your house": New figures
reveal 11 deaths from e-bike fires in UK last year, as MPs call for tighter
regulations

Latest calls come soon after London Fire Brigade urged users to check
whether their vehicles have "dangerous" UPP lithium battery that has
repeatedly "failed catastrophically and caused devastating fires"...
by DAN ALEXANDER SAT, MAR 09, 2024 16:36

New emergency service figures have revealed that there were 11 deaths in
the UK last year in fires caused by e-bikes, a concerning statistic that
comes as a Labour MP has led calls for urgent safety action on the sale of
dangerous products which have been compared to "like having an unexploded
bomb in your house".

The latest Office for Product and Safety Standards (OPSS) numbers, first
reported by the Guardian (link is external) newspaper, mean 2023 saw the
highest number of deaths in a calendar year caused by e-bike fires. It
comes as the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said that incidents caused by
e-bikes and e-scooters are now the fastest growing fire risk in the city,
with 149 e-bike fires recorded in London in 2023, causing three deaths, up
from 87 fires and zero deaths in 2022.

Authorities have stressed much of the danger comes from certain dangerous
products or batteries, not all e-bikes, statistics from the first six
months of 2023 suggesting that of 73 e-bike fires in London, at least 40
per cent were believed to involve a converted e-bike. Just this week, the
LFB urged users to check for a known dangerous UPP battery and cease using
their vehicle immediately if they discovered it had one of the battery
designs linked to a number of fires across England. The messaging from fire
safety authorities remains that buyers should purchase e-bikes from a
reputable retailer, with those vehicles fitted with conversion kits or
certain batteries purchased online possibly posing a greater risk.

And in the latest calls for urgent safety action on dangerous products, MPs
and safety groups have made the case for third-party certification to
ensure e-bikes and their batteries are approved by an independent body
before going on the market, safety standards which are currently already in
place for other high-risk products such as fireworks.

"These e-bikes can reach a phenomenally high temperature in seconds. They
are so dangerous. It is almost like having an unexploded bomb in your
house," Yvonne Fovargue, Labour MP and chair of the all party parliamentary
group on online and home electrical safety said.

Fovargue's Labour colleague, MP Neil Coyle, warned that the "number of
deaths is growing and is likely to continue to grow unless there are
greater powers to remove dangerous items"

A petition on Change.org (link is external), demanding the government
implements stricter legislation on dangerous products, has been signed more
than 42,000 times. That petition was created following the death of
21-year-old Sofia Duarte on 1 January 2023 in a house fire caused by a
converted e-bike's lithium battery pack which had failed
"catastrophically". The family of Duarte has begged the government to
introduce tighter regulations and stricter enforcement.

In January, the charity Electrical Safety First (ESF) said "sloppy
manufacturers with little interest in safety are slipping through the net"
after the OPSS issued withdrawal notices to four online marketplaces
requiring them to stop selling a "dangerous" e-bike battery.

The government commented on the new figures, a spokesperson stating: "The
OPSS works closely with the fire service to try to prevent tragic
accidents. It has taken action to remove dangerous products, including
e-bike batteries, from being sold and has published guidance for buyers on
how to use e-bikes safely. Manufacturers, retailers and online platforms
must follow regulations or face penalties that include fines or criminal
punishment."

<https://road.cc/content/news/new-figures-show-11-deaths-e-bike-fires-uk-last-year-307191>

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