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.
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