Colchester man's E-bike catches fire with battery cell launching 20 metres away

AN E-BIKE caught fire in Stanway with a battery cell exploding and launching itself over 20 metres way.

A man was riding on Woden Avenue in Stanway on Friday afternoon when he noticed smoke coming from his bike.

The man quickly pulled over and got of his bike as it caught fire with one of the battery cells exploding and launching itself over 20 metres away.

The Essex County Fire and rescue service quickly got to the scene with firefighters being to tackle the fire with water – which is not always possible when dealing with lithium ion batteries.

Sunil Galvin, crew manager at Colchester Fire Station, said: "Thankfully the man involved in this incident was unharmed”.

“It's concerning to think these conversion kits, where people can turn their push bikes into electric bikes, are being sold on online marketplaces without any regulation.”

Mr Galvin added: "It's really important that anything electrical is made by a reputable retailer and designed to be used with that product."

"We also see risky behaviour when it comes to charging e-bikes and e-scooters. Make sure you only charge these items when you're awake and at home and keep them out of the way of escape routes. That way, if they do catch fire, you'll be able to get out, stay out and call 999."

Last year London Fire Brigade (LFB) said that almost 40 per cent of e-bike fires it attended were caused by conversion kits.

On average, there was a fire every two days in 2023 in London with LFB attending 143 bike fires and 35 fires involving e-scooters.

Sadly, three deaths and about 60 injuries were caused by these fires.

In 2021, Transport for London (TfL) banned e-scooters from London’s transport network due a number of fires on the network involving vehicles.

The Office for Produce Safety and Standards also recently issued enforcement action on UPP e-bike batteries which were linked to a number of fires across England.

Although batteries can typically be disposed of in local household recycling centres, consumers have also been told to check with sellers for facilities.

While throwing batteries away in normal household rubbish can lead to serious fires.