The growing popularity of electric bicycles is causing a series of house fires, according to a study by The Mail on Sunday.
Fire chiefs report a “huge alarming” escalation in fires caused by the batteries on the bikes catching fire while being charged in homes.
London The fire service has revealed that there have been 34 e-bike fires in the capital alone this year, compared to 47 in all of 2021. And there is evidence of a similar pattern of fires in other parts of the country.
Equipment bought on the internet is considered the main cause, especially when standard pedal bikes are equipped with home conversion kits.
The London Fire Brigade has revealed there have been 34 e-bike fires in the capital alone this year, compared to 47 in all of 2021
A major e-bike retailer, Fully Charged, is now warning that the batteries powering the machines could amount to ‘bombs waiting to explode’
Last week, a family of seven was taken to hospital after an e-bike battery caused a fire that destroyed their semi-detached home in Rugeley, Staffordshire, destroying all their belongings.
It follows another fire last month in a high-rise block in west London – close to the site of the Grenfell Tower fire. The e-bike’s battery caught fire while being charged overnight in a 12th-floor flat, causing the block to be evacuated.
In June, a deaf man in Washington, Tyne and Wear was lucky enough to escape from his ground-floor flat after his e-bike caught fire while it was charging in his living room. He was asleep at the time and was only alarmed by the smell of smoke.
That incident came just days after another fire in Liverpool, in which two people were treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns after their e-bike caught fire in their hotel room.
A major e-bike retailer, Fully Charged, is now warning that the batteries powering the machines could amount to “bombs waiting to explode” if not charged in accordance with strict guidelines set by manufacturers. or be combined with incompatible replacement chargers.
The deputy assistant commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, Charlie Pugsley, has also urged people to be aware of the dangers associated with converting their pedal bikes into e-bikes using DIY purchased online. self kits.
One in seven cyclists now own an e-bike, with an estimated turnover of £315m in 2021, up from £275m in 2020
Last month, Merseyside Fire and Rescue warned people not to use conversion kits, ‘because standard push bikes converted to electric bikes pose a higher safety risk, due to batteries and chargers often coming from different suppliers’
“There has been a huge increase in the number of people using electric bicycles,” said Mr Pugsley. “While we’ve dealt with the occasional manufactured e-bike that catches fire, the user is more likely to have bought a replacement charger that isn’t compatible.
‘But one of the biggest points of attention is the conversion kits that you can mount on regular bicycles.’
One in seven cyclists now own an e-bike, with revenue estimated at £315 million in 2021, up from £275 million in 2020, according to Mintel. The bikes have an electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery, eliminating the need for riders to pedal all the time.
While a mid-range e-bike costs over £3,000, a DIY kit to convert an existing push bike can cost as little as £200. The kits are widely available online and can be assembled in as little as 30 minutes.
“I could go online right now and buy a conversion kit on eBay for a few hundred pounds,” said Dan Parsons, co-founder of Fully Charged.
More often than not, it will have rolled off a factory in China and probably hadn’t been thoroughly tested for safety. I could then attach it to a cheap bicycle to turn it into a ‘Frankenbike’. They’re bombs waiting to explode.’
Last month, Merseyside Fire and Rescue warned people not to use conversion kits, ‘because standard push bikes converted to electric bikes pose a higher safety risk, due to batteries and chargers often coming from different suppliers’.
The warning came after one of the worst e-bike fires the brigade had seen, which destroyed the home of a mother and her four children in Huyton, Merseyside. The woman had bought a conversion kit for her oldest son’s push bike from an eBay supplier.
According to the woman’s brother, James Taylor, the battery started to “spark” and exploded after being unplugged.
“My sister went there to pull the plug and when she did, it exploded,” Taylor said. “She was holding my 18-month-old niece, who has chronic lung disease and cerebral palsy, so needs an oxygen tank.
“The fire spread pretty quickly and when it hit the oxygen tanks she keeps for the baby, the whole house exploded.”
Retailers Evans Cycles and Halfords refuse to sell conversion kits. Halfords has said this is due to concerns about their safety.
Assistant Commissioner Pugsley has warned people to check that the parts they use are approved by the manufacturer.
“We can only hope that the next fire we go to isn’t really tragic and someone loses their life,” he said.