Letter on the regulation of e-bikes

The London Assembly Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee has written to the Government raising serious concerns over the regulation of e-scooters and e-bikes following an increasing number of lithium-ion battery-related fires in London.

The Committee is calling on the Department for Business and Trade to outline what action it is taking to address questions over the regulation of online sales of e-bikes and e-scooters, and for it to provide an expected timeline for achieving better regulation.

Lithium-ion batteries, used in e-bikes and e-scooters, are small and lightweight but can store a large amount of energy. As a result, they are volatile under stress and, if damaged or incorrectly charged, can be a fire risk ^[1].

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has warned that fires involving e-bikes or e-scooters is the fastest growing fire risk in London. They primarily result from faulty e-bike or e-scooter batteries or chargers or from conversion kits sold online.

Three people in London have lost their lives in fires believed to have been caused by a failure of an e-bike's lithium-ion battery, while 51 people have been injured this year ^[2].

The key area of concern is unregulated products, usually cheap in comparison with those that do meet UK standards, which can be bought online.

In a letter to the Department for Business and Trade, the Committee has raised concerns about the worrying increase in the number of lithium-ion battery-related fires in London.

The Committee is particularly concerned that unsafe e-scooter or e-bike charging is taking place in multiple occupancy or multi-storey residential buildings, meaning others can be at risk.