Consumer Reports: Ebike Fires

[J.R.]

New article in Consumer Reports today, December 8, 2022, about ebike battery fires. The title seems a bit like click bait, but I guess that's modern journalism.

'Fire! Fire! Fire!’ The Perplexing, Deadly Electric Bike Problem.​

Malfunctioning lithium-ion batteries in the increasingly popular form of transportation have been linked to numerous explosions, blazes, and deaths—and little is being done to reduce the danger...

'Fire! Fire! Fire!’ The Perplexing, Deadly Electric Bike Problem. - Consumer Reports

Electric bike fires can be deadly and are increasing. Consumer Reports investigates why the bikes' lithium-ion batteries explode and what can be done to fix the problem.

www.consumerreports.org

These stories are building steam and people are paying attention. Hopefully importers of cheap batteries will scrutinize the products they bring into the country and this doesn't hamper ebike growth and access.

 

[m@Robertson]

Honestly I doubt it. Cheap, fly-by-night operators will continue until they are forced out of the market - at which point they'll find something else as a vehicle to fleece the suckers. Its the nature of business I'm afraid. There will always be someone who tries to take advantage.

So many people die and are injured in association with automobiles, I can't help but wonder if we're not going to just count this as the cost of living for a new product that is in the process of achieving ubiquity. LEVA estimated 880,000 USA ebike imports in 2021, and I bet 2022 will be at least as big. And that doesn't count the ones already in the country, plus the bikes LEVA doesn't count since they are only looking at commercial imports. Line that up against the number of fires and its a very low incident rate.

I wonder what the incident rate is for the EU, where ebikes reside in far greater numbers. I know the ones I saw when I was there over the summer were in NO way superior. If anything the single biggest thing I took away from watching bicycle riders in the Netherlands and Belgium is that bicycles there were almost all universally what we in the States would consider pieces of junk. Which is ok... bikes are not status symbols there, they are just tools for the most routine use.

I think personal responsibility and charging practices bear at the very least an equal share of the blame for fires. I have seen horrifically dangerous makeshift charging stations used by delivery drivers in NYC.

 

[catgirleugenics]

I wonder what the incident rate is for the EU, where ebikes reside in far greater numbers. I know the ones I saw when I was there over the summer were in NO way superior. If anything the single biggest thing I took away from watching bicycle riders in the Netherlands and Belgium is that bicycles there were almost all universally what we in the States would consider pieces of junk. Which is ok... bikes are not status symbols there, they are just tools for the most routine use.

i love shitty rusty squeaky dutch bikes that sound like they are 2 good cranks away from death but keep on moving no matter what you do to them.

it's a valid question though. people leave their bikes outside they leave them in the rain and snow they throw them in piles on each other outside of bars and yet i haven't heard of fires from them. to be fair diy kits are not super popular, and electric scooters and throttle ebikes are illegal. so most people who have them will buy a secondhand gazelle or something that's usually a little step up from a Chinese import throttle based machine with a €200 battery pack in it. or maybe it happens at similar rates but you hear about it more in the US because a certain industry for 4 wheeled vehicles has a habit of trying to destroy any other form of alternative transportation?

 

[J.R.]

Honestly I doubt it. Cheap, fly-by-night operators will continue until they are forced out of the market - at which point they'll find something else as a vehicle to fleece the suckers. Its the nature of business I'm afraid. There will always be someone who tries to take advantage.

So many people die and are injured in association with automobiles, I can't help but wonder if we're not going to just count this as the cost of living for a new product that is in the process of achieving ubiquity. LEVA estimated 880,000 USA ebike imports in 2021, and I bet 2022 will be at least as big. And that doesn't count the ones already in the country, plus the bikes LEVA doesn't count since they are only looking at commercial imports. Line that up against the number of fires and its a very low incident rate.

I wonder what the incident rate is for the EU, where ebikes reside in far greater numbers. I know the ones I saw when I was there over the summer were in NO way superior. If anything the single biggest thing I took away from watching bicycle riders in the Netherlands and Belgium is that bicycles there were almost all universally what we in the States would consider pieces of junk. Which is ok... bikes are not status symbols there, they are just tools for the most routine use.

I think personal responsibility and charging practices bear at the very least an equal share of the blame for fires. I have seen horrifically dangerous makeshift charging stations used by delivery drivers in NYC.

The UK is reporting a significant increase in battery fires, 150% increase this year.

"These new transport devices caused 167 fires in the UK last year compared to 67 in 2020, according to Zurich's FOI data.

In June, 2022, 60 London firefighters were needed to tackle a blaze on the 12th floor of a tower block in Shepherd's Bush, West London caused by a faulty e-bike battery.

In July, 2022, five people in Walthamstow, East London, were hospitalised by a fire started by an e-bike.

In November, 2022, an exploding e-scooter battery set a Hampshire house alight."

Christmas warning over life-threatening fires caused by trendy present

Fires sparked by e-scooters and e-bikes powered by lithium batteries have sky rocketed 149% according to Zurich Insurers' FOI data.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I think the issue is nearly universal to a degree. The causes are certainly multifaceted; cheap imports, poor charging practices, DIY repairs and hacks by ilinformed individuals and home made packs.

 

[tomjasz]

cheap imports

And stubbornly asshat buyers that will argue incessantly that their budget pack is a great deal. UPP and 99% of Amazon resellers. Nickel coated steel known to be a cheap and potentially problematic choice of materials.

 

[retiredNH]

It's unfortunate that most of the battery fire discussion doesn't break down the problem by type of bike or battery. Many news items don't even distinguish between scooters and bikes! None discuss DIY vs no name cheap imports vs name brand bikes. I wonder, for example, if there have been any fires from well known brands like Shimano or Bosch?

I suspect we'll ultimately have battery safety standards, where protective features are mandated. We'll still have those that jury rig things to get around standards, but they'll be taking on an increased risk.

 

[6zfshdb]

I posted this in a similar thread but it seems appropriate here as well:

"It's important when reading these battery fire posts that we keep the odds in mind. Most of us here are responsible e-bike owners and observe safe battery handling practices. When you exclude incidents involving batteries that are physically damaged, of inferior quality, charged with jury rigged equipment or charged in an unsafe environment, the percentage is actually quite small.

I've learned a lot from the mistakes made in these battery fire posts and have adjusted my battery handling practices accordingly. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the general public, these stories only serve to further vilify e-bikes.

I only hope e-bikes can ride the growing wave of electric vehicle popularity instead of being regulated into oblivion."

 

[m@Robertson]

And stubbornly asshat buyers that will argue incessantly that their budget pack is a great deal. UPP and 99% of Amazon resellers. Nickel coated steel known to be a cheap and potentially problematic choice of materials.

I think this and the unsafe charging practices by delivery workers is 99% of the issue Stateside. But bottom line: talk to those people and they see the cost of a *real* battery ... and they laugh at how ridiculous it is along with a 'never gonna happen' response. As you know its a waste of time trying to argue for the safe choice when that safe choice is clean out of reach to them. $700 for just a battery? Make it $7 million as both numbers mean the same thing: no ebike. They'll work around it as they do now.

Thats part of why I think this whole issue is likely to become part of normal life, ignored as auto deaths and injuries are similarly ignored. The people preaching battery safety like you and I (not the same thing as preaching brand names or certifications!) are wasting their breath. Paid newswriters get paid to write stories that people want to read. Not what they should read. Lose readership and lose the articles. Who wants to read that a bunch of car crashes happened today and 100 are dead, to add to 98 yesterday and 110 the day before? Nobody. And you don't see a daily death count on any mainstream news outlet.

The UK is reporting a significant increase in battery fires, 150% increase this year.

"These new transport devices caused 167 fires in the UK last year compared to 67 in 2020, according to Zurich's FOI data.

In June, 2022, 60 London firefighters were needed to tackle a blaze on the 12th floor of a tower block in Shepherd's Bush, West London caused by a faulty e-bike battery.

In July, 2022, five people in Walthamstow, East London, were hospitalised by a fire started by an e-bike.

In November, 2022, an exploding e-scooter battery set a Hampshire house alight."

Christmas warning over life-threatening fires caused by trendy present

Fires sparked by e-scooters and e-bikes powered by lithium batteries have sky rocketed 149% according to Zurich Insurers' FOI data.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I think the issue is nearly universal to a degree. The causes are certainly multifaceted; cheap imports, poor charging practices, DIY repairs and hacks by ilinformed individuals and home made packs.

These are all still onesie-twosies. And of your four actual examples, two are expressly not ebikes. On the first, a total of 167 fires versus how many actual ebikes? How many vehicle collisions were there in London in that same period? I don't argue that we could do better with battery safety. But I do think the public's desire for low cost ebike mobility far outweighs the demand for higher cost, certified and regulated product. Further, low cost e-mobility is the darling subject of politicians, so I don't see them proscribing ebikes, either (not beyond the local alderman denying the addition of more bike lanes and that sort of thing... but thats a whole different conflict).

 

[m@Robertson]

i love shitty rusty squeaky dutch bikes that sound like they are 2 good cranks away from death but keep on moving no matter what you do to them.

it's a valid question though. people leave their bikes outside they leave them in the rain and snow they throw them in piles on each other outside of bars and yet i haven't heard of fires from them. to be fair diy kits are not super popular, and electric scooters and throttle ebikes are illegal. so most people who have them will buy a secondhand gazelle or something that's usually a little step up from a Chinese import throttle based machine with a €200 battery pack in it. or maybe it happens at similar rates but you hear about it more in the US because a certain industry for 4 wheeled vehicles has a habit of trying to destroy any other form of alternative transportation?

That and the internet gives everyone a megaphone.

The one I rented in Amsterdam for a weekday riding around the city was smack in the realm of bare bones. It was one of these with a 3-speed IGH instead of a derailleur... and what looked like about 10,000 miles on it. Painted black which was handy because it hides the dirt until you put your hands on it, which was only safe to do on the saddle and hand grips .

Sells for $699 on Amazon and it was a typical street ebike in a SEA of them. As @catgirleugenics described, bikes are everywhere and nobody spends any extra money on them, or any of the fawning/petting/rhapsodizing you see here in this forum.

I don't see this changing. Especially if a society starts actually riding ebikes in numbers.

 

[catgirleugenics]

i tried to find more info on it and dutch insurance doesn't keep track of e-bike fires specifically they just get put into the category of "battery fires" which also includes laptops, phones, etc etc. in 2020 apparently battery fires accounted for 3.7% of all the fires that occured, so you could assume that e-bike fires specifically would be a bit less than that. it doesn't seem like there is a massive concern here other than to educate people about proper charging practices. it's hard to not charge inside an apartment building though because the country is so small hardly anyone lives in a stand alone house.

i wonder how much of these issues could be fixed from better BMS? i do programming for the solar industry and the amount of work that goes into a premium solar charge controller is insane. and the difference that this makes on battery health and longevity vs using some cheap charge controller from Amazon is huge, but nobody thinks about it because they assume they all just do the same thing. i feel like at a minimum temperatuur sensors need to become standardized, either in the BMS itself or in the charger, and the temperature needs to be taken into account during the charging process so that a battery isn't going to accept 5A 52V current from some shitty charger when the temperature is off.

i also find it strange how everyone knows we should only be charging these to 80% capacity and yet there is not a cheap and easy way of doing that? a lot of these fires seem to be from overnight charging or battery packs that were left at 100% capacity in extreme cold/heat. as someone in an engineering field it feels massively irresponsible for the responsibility to be falling on consumers in the way that it has been.

 

[J.R.]

These are all still onesie-twosies. And of your four actual examples, two are expressly not ebikes.

Knowing someone that had a major fire due to an ebike battery, the 'one' has meaning. I wouldn't regulate on that sentimentality though. The public thinks every two wheel electric vehicle is either a motorcycle or an ebike, thanks to sellers and bike owners. Thousands of utube videos couldn't be wrong Public perceptions have been formed and once that happens its difficult to reform.

Cheap batteries and their buyers, I completely agree. People get used to tech getting cheaper as time goes on, good batteries have to a degree, but with so much demand, materials shortages, supply chain issues and a bad economy good battery packs aren't cheap and we really can't expect them to be. I knew a guy 8 years ago that would wire used laptop battery packs together for 48v, 20ah and just toss them into a pannier loose and ride. Some of the stories I read online are just scary and I wonder how others in the household would feel if they had a clue.

Importation regulations will change, maybe sales of new and used cells on Ebay, and the like, will be curtailed and these will certainly prevent a few tragedies. We can never stop all the the guys willing to daisy chain used laptop packs together. If we ever had hope that ebikes would gain greater access on planes and trains I feel that hope is gone. I can easily see them being banned from public bus racks, apartments and most businesses if these issues continue. It's really a shame and a consequence I hadn't considered just a few years ago.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Here's a challenge...
Count all of the rechargeable devices in your life.

 

[tomjasz]

Importation regulations will chang

This. Chinese companies are completely insulated from any responsibility. Follow the money…

 

[DaveMatthews]

Here's a challenge...
Count all of the rechargeable devices in your life.

OK I'll go first. And in no particular order...

Giant 500wh battery
Giant 800wh battery
Garmin 530
3 different cell phones
4 different guitar wireless units
1 wireless microphone unit
1 Android tablet
3 different laptops
3 wireless speakers
1 set of wireless earbuds
2 battery powered heated gloves

So far that's 21 devices that can kill me or burn my house down.

None of this includes whatever my son brings over including his Giant ebike battery, cellphone, laptop, etc.

How about you?
Whatcha got?

 

[DaveMatthews]

Two ebikes and light accessories, 3 phones and 2 solar charge LG attached to the garage a bunch of Hilti and Makita tools. Hedge trimmers, leaf blower, chop saw, etc.

OK I forgot my 4 Ryobi tool batteries.
That's 25 things.

 

[tomjasz]

Well, 2 years of selling UPP batteries and several fires and a 5% failure rate…
Shop insurance paid out, UPP grew…

 

[Gordon71]

OK I'll go first. And in no particular order...

Giant 500wh battery
Giant 800wh battery
Garmin 530
3 different cell phones
4 different guitar wireless units
1 wireless microphone unit
1 Android tablet
3 different laptops
3 wireless speakers
1 set of wireless earbuds
2 battery powered heated gloves

So far that's 21 devices that can kill me or burn my house down.

None of this includes whatever my son brings over including his Giant ebike battery, cellphone, laptop, etc.

How about you?
Whatcha got?

Too numerous to count plus some are X rated.

 

[retiredNH]

Rechargable batteries? First with Lithium:
3x camera
2x go pro
4x dji drone
2x 750 watt Bosch ebike
Nyon bike computer
elec mower (4a 48V?)
elec trimmer (2a 48V?)
3 cell phones
3x hitachi drill
2 android tablets
ipad
3 laptop computers
wireless speaker
rechargeable utility light
2x pairs earbuds
Then there's my computer UPS, with a sealed lead acid battery
4x cordless phones using NiMH

Geesh, we're surrounded by these things, yet we only read about ebike battery fires. Of course they're the highest powered (next to cars) but my tool and mower batteries are big enough to cause a good fire, and I'm sure there's far far more of them. But almost all tool batteries come from name brands (I doubt Harbor Freight sells that many, at least ones that get regular use), so this suggests yet again, that the problem could indeed be cheap, poorly constructed no name batteries, whether imported or home brew.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Rechargable batteries? First with Lithium:
3x camera
2x go pro
4x dji drone
2x 750 watt Bosch ebike
Nyon bike computer
elec mower (4a 48V?)
elec trimmer (2a 48V?)
3 cell phones
3x hitachi drill
2 android tablets
ipad
3 laptop computers
wireless speaker
rechargeable utility light
2x pairs earbuds
Then there's my computer UPS, with a sealed lead acid battery
4x cordless phones using NiMH

Geesh, we're surrounded by these things, yet we only read about ebike battery fires. Of course they're the highest powered (next to cars) but my tool and mower batteries are big enough to cause a good fire, and I'm sure there's far far more of them. But almost all tool batteries come from name brands (I doubt Harbor Freight sells that many, at least ones that get regular use), so this suggests yet again, that the problem could indeed be cheap, poorly constructed no name batteries, whether imported or home brew.

And... I forgot my drones as well. There's 6 more batteries for a total of 31 (for me).
You nailed it. Sure this is an ebike forum, so obviously ebike batteries would be the default subject matter.
My illustration (which you immediately got) is that these things are ubiquitous... everywhere/surrounding us as you say.
Remember cellphone battery fires? Of course!

 

[6zfshdb]

Thankfully, most of the devices above are small and less likely to burn your house down than an e-bike battery fire would.