E-bike batteries pose 'fastest growing' fire risk

Yahoo

16-05-2025

Lithium batteries present the "fastest growing" risk of fires, a Welsh fire and rescue service has said.
The batteries, and specifically lithium-ion batteries, are used to power a number of devices including e-bikes and scooters and their chargers, mobile phones, laptops and e-vapes.
Campaigning charity Electrical Safety First said fires caused by substandard e-scooter and e-bike batteries were "tearing through homes" and want stricter rules to be introduced around their sale to reduce the risk.
The UK government said it was updating product safety laws around the batteries to help keep people safe and taking action at ports and borders to stop unsafe products reaching consumers.
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The warning comes after seven people were taken to hospital earlier this month when a house fire in Cardiff was started by a lithium-ion battery-powered scooter.
"The primary risk around these scooters is actually lithium-ion batteries and the thermal runaway that can happen from that," Marc Davies, home safety manager from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS), said.
A thermal runaway is an accelerating increase in temperature caused by chemical reactions which can lead to fire, explosion and "unpredictable fire behaviour", according to the UK's National Fire Chiefs Council.
According to South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, there were 136 fires involving lithium-ion batteries in south Wales from April 2020 to March 2025, with 100 recorded in the last two years.
Of those reported fires over the last five years:
30 people were injured with 24 of these occurring in the last two years
49 were accidental dwelling fires, with 34 of these occurring in the last two years. One of these incidents led to a fatality linked to a fire involving a fault in a battery charger.
Of the 136 incidents, 39 involved an e-scooter or an e-bike with 25 of these incidents occurring in the last two years. These led to 13 people being injured, 10 of which occurred in the last two years.
There were 16 accident dwelling fires in south Wales which involved an e-scooter or an e-bike with 10 of these occurring in the last two years. These incidents led to five people injured with three of these occurring in the last two years
In mid and west Wales, there were 26 incidents involving lithium batteries from 1 April 2020 to 5 May 2025. Four of these incidents involved e-bikes while one involved an e-scooter. Out of the 26 incidents, three people were injured.
In north Wales there were 62 incidents from April 2022 to the end of February 2025. During that time seven fires involved an e-bike and four involved an e-scooter, leading to nine injuries.
A spokesperson from Electrical Safety First, a charity which aims to reduce deaths and injuries caused by electricity in UK homes, said fires caused by substandard e-scooter and e-bike batteries were "tearing through homes", putting lives at risk and causing "immense" damage to property.
"These fires are especially dangerous due to the huge amount of energy that is released if a fully charged e-scooter or e-bike battery fails, triggering a process called thermal runaway which is almost impossible to stop once it has started," they said.
The charity is now urging the UK government to use the new product regulation and metrology bill to introduce stricter rules around the sale of batteries for e-bikes and e-scooters to reduce the risk of a fire.
A department for business and trade spokesperson said it took the risk of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, including those linked to e-bikes and e-scooters, "very seriously".
"That's why we launched our 'Buy Safe, Be Safe' campaign to raise awareness of this important issue," they said.
"We are also updating our product safety laws to help keep the public safe, as well as taking action at ports and borders to stop unsafe or non-compliant products from reaching consumers."
April's e-scooter blaze in Cardiff is not the only recent fire caused by an lithium-ion battery.
A year earlier in March 2024, SWFRS warned of the dangers that can be posed by lithium-ion batteries after a fire gutted a family home in Newbridge, Caerphilly county.
The family who lived at the house managed to escape unharmed, along with their four dogs.
Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Mr Davies of SWFRS said people should do their research and buy devices, batteries and chargers from reputable retailers.
Otherwise there is a risk they can "overheat, catch fire and almost lead to a firework-like explosion", he said.
He said other risk factors for e-scooters included wear and tear caused by kerbs, speed bumps and water ingress, having appropriate chargers and the rise of universal chargers.
He warned against buying counterfeit goods as they do not meet safety standards.
"You can't go wrong with ensuring something is British or UK standard, or European CE certification, and high street versus online have their own set of rules," he said.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is also urging people to dispose of lithium-ion batteries safely following several fires believed to have been caused by incorrectly discarded batteries.
If damaged or crushed, they can release flammable electrolytes, leading to intense fires at waste sites.
Waste fires release harmful gases, and the resulting hazardous smoke can pose serious risks to both humans and the environment, NRW said. Residues from burnt waste can also pollute surface and groundwater, leading to long-term land contamination.
Nia Brunning, waste regulation and enforcement team leader at NRW, said such fires not only damage the environment "but also put local communities and emergency services at risk".
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