UL Certified Ebikes

[Tobes2718]

Hi,

After hearing about the concerns of electrical and fire safety of ebikes, I am looking for a UL certified ebike for the peace of mind that comes with the certification regarding electrical and fire saftey of ebikes. UL 2849 was established on January 2, 2020.

However, I have been having a hard time finding ebikes that are UL 2849 certified.

The only bikes I know so far are a few bikes made by Ecotric: https://www.ecotric.com/collections/ul-e-bike

I contacted Rad Power and via email they said that their Runner Plus and RadWagon 4 are, but I could not find anything on their website to confirm (anyone have one that can confirm this?)

Anybody know of any other UL certified ebikes? A UL certified ebike will have a sticker on the frame listing that it is UL certified:

Links on UL:

https://www.ul.com/services/e-bikes-certification-ul-2849
Youtube Video:

 

[BlackHand]

My Bosch powered bike predates the 2849 publication, but the individual components have UL markings on them. According to the 2020 Bosch catalog their systems are certified

Also, I know Bafang has received the certification but I have no idea which motors or bikes specifically have the UL 2849 marking.

 

[PedalUma]

You might also want to look into ISO/TS 4210-10. The international standard.
UL is reputable but is a little more like buying a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval sticker. It is a private company that sells the license to post its trademark on stickers on products. If you like UL look for UL 1642 stickers on Lithium Batteries.
How much does the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval cost? Pay the advertising fee once your product has passed the Good Housekeeping test phase. As of the date of publication, fees ranged from $70,225 for a black and white 1/6-page, single column advertisement to $610,205 for an advertisement on the back cover of the magazine.

https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#iso:std:iso:ts:4210:-10:ed-1:v1:en

 

[harryS]

I have worked with product safety in another life, dealing with UL. You can't buy an approval. Your equipment has to pass their safety tests, and they made their money running those tests, or possibly reviewing your tests in certain cases where that was allowable. It was also more than tests. They looked at the way the product was assembled. Most of this was focused on shock hazards, short circuits and fires. Our customer required UL certification, so we spent a lot of money on it.

Based on that experience, although I have yet to see the testing requirements for a UL approved battery, I would think it's rigorous.

 

[J.R.]

You might also want to look into ISO/TS 4210-10. The international standard.
UL is reputable but is a little more like buying a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval sticker. It is a private company that sells the license to post its trademark on stickers on products. If you like UL look for UL 1642 stickers on Lithium Batteries.
How much does the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval cost? Pay the advertising fee once your product has passed the Good Housekeeping test phase. As of the date of publication, fees ranged from $70,225 for a black and white 1/6-page, single column advertisement to $610,205 for an advertisement on the back cover of the magazine.

https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#iso:std:iso:ts:4210:-10:ed-1:v1:en

I worked in manufacturing industrial/commercial products for decades and UL is nothing like Good Housekeeping. UL is more akin to SAE. UL sets standards and does testing, SAE generally sets standards from member groups testing. Governments and industries around the world rely on both.

 

[Tobes2718]

I agree, UL is a worthy indicator that the product is safe. They do do extensive testing and they look at all the components that make up the ebike (see attached - comes from https://www.ul.com/services/e-bikes-certification-ul-2849).

My original question still stands, does anyone know what ebike models are UL certified?

Right now the list is:
Ecotric Ebikes: https://www.ecotric.com/collections/ul-e-bike
RadWagon 4 and Runner Plus from Rad Power (can someone confirm this?)
A bosch bike of some model (whose sub components are UL certified)

 

[tomjasz]

I’d not worry about the BOSCH, PANASONIC,SHIMANO, and similar company batteries. A mojority of the flame outs are budget packs like UPP.

 

[Ash Nazg]

You might also want to look into ISO/TS 4210-10. The international standard.
UL is reputable but is a little more like buying a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval sticker. It is a private company that sells the license to post its trademark on stickers on products. If you like UL look for UL 1642 stickers on Lithium Batteries.
How much does the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval cost? Pay the advertising fee once your product has passed the Good Housekeeping test phase. As of the date of publication, fees ranged from $70,225 for a black and white 1/6-page, single column advertisement to $610,205 for an advertisement on the back cover of the magazine.

https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#iso:std:iso:ts:4210:-10:ed-1:v1:en

I spent years working in the burglar and fire alarm industry, where UL is involved in a lot of the ratings. While it wasn't quite pay-to-play, there were certain areas where regulations were ignored.

 

[Dorkyman]

A little over a year has gone by since the last post. Are there any new e-bikes that are certified UL? Or in particular are there batteries that are certified UL? Since the battery would have a fuse, I wouldn't think it would be all that critical for the e-bike electronics themselves to be certified. It's the battery that creates the serious fire.
I do think UL certification is going to become a thing now that we've seen so many battery fires in major cities causing great harm. I can imagine an apartment tower banning any big battery non-UL, with inspections required.

 

[osric]

After the December 19, 2022 CPSC letter to bike manufacturers, Consumer Reports posted article that said they reached out to 24 manufacturers and 18 didn't respond:

CR asked 24 manufacturers of electric bikes in our ratings and reviews if their products currently conform to the CPSC-recommended, UL standard, and how they were certified. The battery in one electric bike—the Trek Powerfly 4—has a UL sticker, indicating that it has been certified by UL to that organization’s standard. Four manufacturers—Citizen, Jetson, Natko, and SWFT—said in response to our questions that their electric bikes adhere to UL specifications but did not say they had been tested by the UL. Two of the manufacturers—Cannondale and Rad Power—said that they conformed to a separate, global, safety standard instead of the UL’s. Eighteen manufacturers did not respond. (We will update this article with information about additional electric bikes as we test them or as we receive manufacturer responses.)

It's still a crapshoot. As mentioned above, Bosch motors & batteries are all UL tested (odd that Consumer's didn't mention that), so any Gazelle, Urban Arrow, Tern, Trek/Electra, and other bikes with those motors meet the safety standards.

Alas, figuring this out is like figuring out what class an e-bike is. They're supposed to be labeled by manufacturers, but in my experience they aren't (and a lot of Class 2 e-bikes are being sold as Class 1). Hopefully the e-bike industry will start to get its act together and promote UL tested bikes as safer than the random import you can buy on Amazon.

 

[Dewey]

Other brands marketing UL certified models include Aventon, Radio Flyer, Zen Ebikes, Velotric & Ecotric

 

[Taylor57]

Other brands marketing UL certified models include Aventon, Radio Flyer, Zen Ebikes, Velotric & Ecotric

So brands like Specialized, Trek, Giant and Yamaha (for example) are not UL certified?

 

[rich c]

I'm highly suspicious that the entire ebike is UL approved. I designed explosion proof electrical systems for turbine engine natural gas compressors. We traveled to UL to discuss our systems and testing. They explained they are component testers, not system wide testers.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Other brands marketing UL certified models include Aventon, Radio Flyer, Zen Ebikes, Velotric & Ecotric

Ecotric is such a cheap bike I was really surprised by this.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I'm highly suspicious that the entire ebike is UL approved. I designed explosion proof electrical systems for turbine engine natural gas compressors. We traveled to UL to discuss our systems and testing. They explained they are component testers, not system wide testers.

I think bosch all its comments are rated.

 

[Dewey]

Ecotric is such a cheap bike I was really surprised by this.

I asked a couple of folk if NBDA would make their UL compliant list public and they said no. It’s a shame we have to rely on brand marketing to find out a safety certification.

 

[Dewey]

So brands like Specialized, Trek, Giant and Yamaha (for example) are not UL certified?

Neither written or implied in what I wrote, I was replying to the request by @Dorkyman for an update and I simply listed some other brands I notice are advertising UL compliant models. Feel free to add more.

 

[rich c]

Other brands marketing UL certified models include Aventon, Radio Flyer, Zen Ebikes, Velotric & Ecotric

If you look at the UL certification shown in the original post, it says the electrical systems for E-Bicycles. Not models of eBikes, just components. It's improper for the companies to display a UL sticker on the frame.

 

[Dewey]

If you look at the UL certification shown in the original post, it says the electrical systems for E-Bicycles. Not models of eBikes, just components. It's improper for the companies to display a UL sticker on the frame.

That is why I don’t understand why a full list of UL certified models isn’t made publicly available, transparency would help. I’d rather read a list of which UL standards a model has been tested, whether individual components like the battery and/or charger, or the whole system, and not have to take brand marketing on trust.

fwiw Consumer Reports in December reported the cost of UL certification at $25,000 per model.

 

[tomjasz]

the cost of UL certification at $25,000 per model.

I encouraged @Jenny Mao and she balked at the cost. I think as the market is moving it may well be an investment that puts an aftermarket maker in the lead position. And as I understand it needs to be for every battery model. Maybe @rich c can speak to that? UN38.3 Certification is for individual models as well, I think.