eBay is to ban the private sale of electric bikes on its platforms amid concerns over a rise in battery fires. The Telegraph has the story.
The online auction site will only allow “eligible business sellers” to market e-bikes from October 31st.
The popularity of battery-assisted pedal bikes has boomed in recent years. However, safety campaigners have raised concerns over a spate of fires from their lithium-ion batteries.
Fire chiefs warned that e-bike fires had climbed more than 70% in 2023. The London Fire Brigade reported around 150 incidents, which resulted in three deaths and 60 injuries.
There have been warnings about bikes with faulty batteries and chargers being sold online as well as illegal models with more powerful motors being offered for sale. Victims have also included those buying online conversion kits that do not comply with the same standards as factory-made e-bikes.
The London Fire Brigade has urged consumers not to charge their e-bikes while they are sleeping and to avoid placing them in corridors or stairways that could block exit routes in the event of a fire.
The rescue service said it had seen “shocking examples of people hanging out their windows” because they were trapped in their flats by bike fires.
In June, a coroner in Bristol called for the Government to intervene after a 30-year-old man fell from a 16th-storey window while trying to escape a fire after a lithium-ion battery pack for a bike ignited.
Worth reading in full.
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I love my Kawasaki Versys.
I also have a really good heavyweight SDS+ hammer drill by Kawasaki. Corded, of course.
The motorbike is not corded.
Principally Makita for me, two drills and a jigsaw although I do have a Bosch drill over thirty years old.
All corded.
I don’t think Makita make motor bikes.
You should check.
I had no idea Kawasaki made power tools.
Kawasaki make a very wide range of products, including at one time aircraft during WWII.
Corded motorbikes could be useful for the 15 minute cities… need quite an extension still though!
Here’s a clever person taking his ebike battery up in a lift to charge it in his flat: https://kaotic.com/video/27a78606_20240724225342_t
Well that’s one way to have a barbecue
Bloody hell! Poor man.
Imagine the same, but on wheels, driving along a motorway, in your brand new Tesla.
In fact, you don’t need to imagine it. Plenty of recorded events like this.
Horrific. Poor man, I hope it was swift.
I wonder what set off the reaction. I thought it was charging that caused this, but this was disconnected.
Any damage to the battery or a poorly manufactured cell can cause this. The cells can also have sharp metal crystals that puncture the separator and short out that cell causing it to heat up and then adjacent cells are subject to thermal runaway. The electrolyte decomposing gives off oxygen and that’s why these fires are so difficult to extinguish.
E-bay .leading where the govt should be going. Why aren’t ebikes classed as motorbikes (at least the petrol fueled variety aren’t prone to bursting into flames)?
I don’t think that all e-bikes should be classed as motorbikes if that means they need registration and mandatory insurance. There is (and should be) a class of vehicle which is driven (ridden) at the driver’s risk. A pedal cycle rider who causes injury through recklessness or negligence is always liable for any injury or damage caused – it does not matter if they do not have insurance to pay any compensation, that’s effectively a decision they made. With the greater potential for serious injury the state has mandated that the drivers of certain more powerful vehicles must have insurance to pay any compensation claims and to enforce that these classes of vehicle must be registered, and recognisable through a visible registration plate and with a known ‘keeper’ and limited to certain qualified drivers.
Sure, put a limit on what’s allowed without registration (oh, they did already). Maybe even (shock!) have the police stop some e-bikes or scooters which seem to be over-powered or otherwise exceed the limits. We could even arrange that footpaths are reserved for foot traffic (controversial)!
As for the risk of fire from these things. I have no problem if bringing explosive or otherwise dangerous things into a building is banned by the building owners – as long as they enforce the ban. There’s no point in banning something and then ignoring the fact that people are breaking the rules (this reminds me that voicing support for Hamas is illegal in the UK – but almost nobody is arrested for the offence).
I’d say eBay leading on anything is a bit strong – their ‘business sellers’ are almost guaranteed to sell tat as well, same as Amazon, it’s just they get paid more
Lithium batteris are you having a laugh. Puff on a vaping pen, use your laptop or phone. Just be aware that these things are more volatile than you like to believe. And the fire is rather difficult to put out.
It is disgusting. Imagine you bring the bike in your house and you set your kids and granny on fire for the sake of some not very impressive novelty technology. We need to come down hard on these devices because you can be assured that all over the world these batteries are blowing up likely with rapidly increasing frequency given the short life and volatility of these monstrosities.
If it’s your own house then it’s up to you to take the risk. If it’s an apartment in a block of flats or HMO then it’s up to the building owner (and their insurer). Despite the horrific video linked above, I say leave the decision on risk to the owner of the property. That said, people need to know and understand what the risks and consequences are.
Just as well I sold mine last year then.
It was being kept in the garage, along with a year’s supply of bio-ethanol, and I deemed the fire risk was too great.