Electric bikes, cars and scooters could be 'removed' from UK roads over growing fire fears

EVs
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Electric vehicles could be removed from roads over growing fire fears as the Labour Party government takes safety 'extremely seriously'. The move comes as the Lithium-ion Battery Safety Bill moves to the next step of the House of Lords by entering the Committee Stage.

The UK’s new Labour Partyu government said it would bring in a Product Safety and Metrology Bill that would address new challenges such as fire risks associated with e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries. It will also ensure the responsibilities of those supplying products, including online marketplaces.

Australian organization EV FireSafe has compiled data from EV fires showing that there were 511 verified incidents of thermal runaway in electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide since 2010, including plug-in hybrids. There are approximatively 40 million EVs on the road, it said, pointing to the rarity of these fires.

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Liliana Martinez and Rauan Adikey of FRISSBE , part of the Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, compiled a study led by Prof Grunde Jomaas on fire risks associated with e-bikes and e-scooters. They reported last year that chargeable two-wheeler batteries caused around 21,000 fires in China, some 17% more than in 2022.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Redesdale explained that since 2020, lithium-ion battery fires linked to the charging of e-bikes and e-scooters have contributed to 13 deaths in the UK, with many other people seriously injured or hospitalised.

He said: “The ways in which people charge their e-bikes and e-scooters mean that these fires can be particularly dangerous. Many devices are charged in halls or stairwells—and often overnight, which is one of the reasons for the number of deaths associated with fires at home.”

The Bill was introduced by Liberal Democrat Lord Redesdale who warned that without proper regulation “the potential fire risks” are too high. Once in effect, the Bill would help to ensure that more safety measures are introduced to electric vehicles including e-bikes, e-scooters and cars.