Asking for the Collective Wisdom here....... Battery Fires ???

[CSH]

Hello,
My Wife is asking a very serious question.......... She is concerned about Ebike Battery Fires .
She saw some videos showing how destructive they can be.

Before we buy Ebikes,
Please help me understand the level of Risk, or Not.
And Any suggestions on Preventative measures.

Thank You,
Craig

 

[MarkF]

Battery fires are very rare. I have only seen one fire on here in over a year and it was a home made battery. Batteries from the factories are better made. It takes a dead short to start a fire and that would involve a bad accident where the battery got hit hard. The cells used in our packs are more robust than lipo types cells so pretty safe. I would only worry if you have a bad accident. Leaving the battery in the hot sun can cause damage too but that mostly will degrade the battery and cause shorter run time and cycle life. Not a fire. I own 2 ebikes and me and my wife love them and don't worry about battery fires. Just takes a little common sense.

 

[Feliz]

I've used these batteries for years first on my RC toys and now on my eBikes and I've never had any issue, I have never seen an issue or known anyone who has had a problem of any kind. Just know the hazards and practice the proper procedures such as correct charge and discharge rate. Use a good charger such as the Grin or Luna charger.

 

[Marci jo]

I totally understand where your wife is coming from. Remember the exploding hover boards? And the Samsung phones?

Both my ebikes are stored in a temp controlled attached garage. While a burning bike is not good, I am more concerned about two vehicles and my attached garage burning!

That said, I keep the bikes stored at about half charge, even if it’s only overnight.
And I attach the charger to the bike outside in my driveway. If I need to remove the battery for charging, I choose to charge it in my kitchen where I can watch it.
Hard to tell if I’m mitigating any risk, it’s just what I choose to do.

If you are still nervous, maybe keep a smoke detector close by.

 

[AHicks]

Anything is possible, and I can surely respect the airline's position on them, but I think a bike related battery fire would be a pretty unusual occasion. Most bikes worth talking about are equipped with what is known as a BMS system built into the battery, which is short for Battery Management System. 2 of their most important functions (there are others) are to prevent over charging and over discharging. With those 2 functions monitored automatically, if you do hear of a battery fire, it's likely going to involve an amateur built battery and/or obvious abuse. In any case, I sleep comfortably knowing our 2 bikes are locked up safely in our attached garage.

 

[rich c]

This is a pretty interesting read. http://jimmymacontwowheels.com/battery-fires-create-concerns-for-every-electric-bike-owner/

 

[Mr. Coffee]

I'd make two observations: the first is that it seems the vast majority of e-bike fires I hear about involve homebuilt bikes with homebuilt batteries. The other observation is that literally millions of e-bikes are sold every year across Europe, Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Yet only a handful of e-bike fires not involving homebuilt batteries occur every year.

A reasonable person would conclude that the risk of your e-bike catching on fire is probably somewhat less than 1 in 100,000, and probably substantially less than that if you aren't using a DIY system.

Note that a 1 in 100,000 fire risk is insanely high for a consumer product.

Having said all that, I'd recommend being damned careful with your batteries. If you drop them you should assume that you are going to have to dispose of them and purchase new ones. If you have a significant crash on your e-bike you should also assume that you should at a minimum have your batteries inspected and if any damage is found you should of course replace them.

Where I live charging outside isn't an option -- the environment outside is more flammable than the inside of my garage, and a battery fire outside would likely quickly be catastrophic. So at least during biking season I clear the truck out of the garage and charge the bike in the garage, where it has a whole vehicle stall all to itself and will be a safe distance from the walls and on a concrete floor.

For peace of mind if anything else I also have a kevlar hoverboard bag and some concrete flower pots that I store the e-bike batteries in during the off-season.

Also for peace of mind if anything else there is some safety in numbers -- if you are riding on a fairly popular brand of bike or fairly popular e-bike platform (e.g. Bosch) chances are you won't be the first lucky winner in the fire lottery and if there is some kind of defect you are more likely to be somewhat protected by a recall notice. For smaller bike manufacturers and no-name batteries the sample sizes are likely too small and it will be harder to detect a safety defect in the first place.

 

[Dewey]

I keep my lithium ion battery in a LiPo fireproof bag. Luna Cycle sell repurposed steel ammunition cans that can act as a fire safe. The fire’s I’ve read about are rarely domestic but rather in ebike shops or maintenance depots where dozens of batteries are stored, for example the old location of Hybrid Pedals in Arlington, VA, Crazy Lenny’s in Madison, WI, and in March this year the Citi Bike Bikeshare depot in New York.

 

[harryS]

It's a valid although somewhat remote concern. The shop where we bought our first ebike had a battery fire. Took out a few dozen bikes. Smoked up the show room.

The round 18650 cells are similar to what's in your laptop packs, except there are 4 to 5 times more cells. They have similar safety circuits. We're all comfortable with laptops because safety organizations (CE, UL. and CSA) test them to stringent standards. Some of that is starting to happen with ebikes.

I think a wise precaution is to disconnect your charger from your pack when it's charged. It would take a double failure (bad charger and failure of protection circuit), but double bad luck is how fires happen. I also try to charge my packs in an open area like Mr, Coffee or outdoors (watch out for rain). I also installed a smoke alarm where I store my packs in the garage. The litte ones are in steel ammo cans,and the bigger ones are behind some cement blocks.

 

[pnop]

Auto batteries can catch fire. Phone batteries can catch fire......etc, etc, etc.

As noted, all rare and not a reason to avoid something.

 

[pnop]

Yeah I know this might be a little off topic but I've seen more people avoiding switching to ebikes due to concerns of getting hit by a car than battery catching on fire.

Getting hit by a car is a far more likely thing to happen.

 

[AHicks]

Getting hit by a car is a far more likely thing to happen.

A little off topic for sure, but thinking that would depend on where you ride! Not real concerned about cars while on most bike trails for instance...

 

[tomjasz]

Get yourself a big ammo can. Remove the water seal gasket. Drill out a port and line with a rubber gasket for charger wiring to enter with no chance of cutting or damaging the wiring. Latch the top and charge with a smoke detector in close proximity with no flammable within a few feet. Done.

 

[tomjasz]

Luna charger.

I sold many of them in my time there. Singly the most problematic most returned and complained about product. Far more, many more charger, failures than any Grin charger. My Satiators are years old now. My Luna chargers are broken down unrepairable junk.

 

[tomjasz]

the first is that it seems the vast majority of e-bike fires I hear about involve homebuilt bikes with homebuilt batteries.

Poorly managed batteries in my experience. UPP has had several fires. As have a number of budget Aliexpress packs. I think your observation is almost true. Properly built batteries by major makers are very safe. But I still take precautions. I made it this far, why stop covering my tail now....

 

[tomjasz]

As noted, all rare and not a reason to avoid something.

Except that lithium fires are far more aggressive.
Google, “youtube lithium battery fire ammo can”

 

[pnop]

Except that lithium fires are far more aggressive.
Google, “youtube lithium battery fire ammo can”

Still rare. A lot of things use lithium batteries today. We put them in our pockets. On our laps. Everywhere.

 

[6zfshdb]

The average person today lives in close proximity to a dozen or so lithium batteries. Laptops, watches, smoke detectors, computer games, the list goes on and on. Ebike batteries, except for their size, are no different. Considering the number of batteries out there and the number of reported fires, the risk of an accident is on par with winning the Power Ball lottery.

 

[tomjasz]

Yeah, rare, but not unusual. Seriously! There have been rashes of fires with some products. Bad builds but none the less... Those of us that are involved directly with the industry know a lot more fire stories than lottery wins. A small phone or iPad battery fire is nothing compared to a full-on 100 cell pack failure. SIZE IS A MAJOR DIFFERENCE
All I suggest is investing in simple ammo cans and be able to confine the extremely aggressive nature of a lithium battery fire. A lottery I don't want to win....

 

[indianajo]

I wear my LIIon battery on a stick 3' in front of the family jewels. Not between my legs. The front wheel motor needs the weight anyway. Downside, the bike won't fit on a bus rack. Wouldn't before the battery conversion, either. Battery behind me would be safer but adding any cargo to a bike unbalances it front/rear anyway. Don't need an 8 lb battery back there up high. Going shopping is 2/3 of the trips I make on the bike, anyway.