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That bargain e-bike you bought online? It might burn your house down

That bargain e-bike you bought online? It might burn your house down

Fast Company6 days ago
If you bought an e-bike on Amazon for a price that seemed too good to be true, there's a fair chance you might've been right. A federal consumer watchdog just issued a recall for about 24,000 e-bikes in the sub-$1,000 price range, all of which were sold at popular retailers including Amazon, Walmart, Sears, and Wayfair.
According to the recall notice, issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on July 17, the affected bikes were sold under the brand name 'VIVI.' The recall comes due to a potential fire and burn risk posed by the bikes' 36-volt lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, which have already resulted in 14 reports of overheating and three reports of fires, though, thankfully, no injuries have been reported. Full details of the recall—including affected models and retailers—are listed in the notice.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that the next-to-non-existent e-bike and e-bike battery regulations in the U.S. have resulted in fire concerns.
Why are e-bikes catching fire?
According to a 2022 article by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), the first UL Standards & Engagement safety standards (a voluntary safety certification) for personal electric micromobility devices were created back in 2016, after more than half a million electric hoverboards were recalled due to overheating and, in some cases, explosions.
'The truth is battery-powered electric micromobility devices, including the e-bikes and e-scooters that have become immensely popular in recent years, do catch fire,' the NFPA wrote. 'Specifically, it's their batteries, which are often lithium-ion, that pose a risk.'
Today, UL Standards & Engagement has two separate safety standards for both e-bikes (UL 2849) and e-bike batteries (UL 2271). These standards require a one-time certification test to confirm that a product is safe, which typically cost between $30,000 and $100,000. However, in most U.S. jurisdictions, these certifications are not required—and there is currently no federally mandated safety standard.
Of the VIVI brand e-bikes involved in the recent recall, all of the affected models that are currently available on VIVI's website claim to be certified with UL 2849, but not with the battery specific UL 2271. Several of the affected models appear to be either unavailable or no longer sol d.
A 2022 investigation by Consumer Reports found that loose regulations have resulted in many companies skirting around adequate safety precautions for both e-bikes and their lithium-ion batteries to avoid added costs. This trend was made even worse by the fact that, before May 2 of this year, Chinese importers (which account for the majority of the U.S. e-bike market) were incentivized to keep prices low by the de minimis exception, which allowed goods under $800 to enter the U.S. tax-free.
'Lack of regulation or industry-wide acceptance of safety standards may leave lower-income users at greater risk than those able to afford high-end devices that are likelier to be UL-certified,' Consumer Reports noted.
As of 2023, New York City began requiring UL certification on all e-bikes. A UL Standards & Engagement study published in 2024 found that the rate of deaths and injuries in the city began to slow significantly after the law was put into place. And, this coming January, California is set to follow New York City's example with its own UL requirements.
However, as the Consumer Reports' investigation noted, until a federal standard for e-bike safety is set, it's likely that other states will continue to encounter problems caused by faulty batteries.
'Despite the mounting toll of fires, injuries, and deaths tied to e-bike batteries, manufacturers and sellers have failed to take vital steps that would protect people's safety,' said Gabe Knight, policy advocate for Consumer Reports, in a press release. 'When an industry isn't putting safety first, people rightly expect the Consumer Product Safety Commission to step in. CR's investigation shows that the CPSC can't do its job as quickly or effectively as it needs to as long as Congress forces the agency to fight with one hand tied behind its back.'
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macOS 26 preview: Spotlight's time to shine
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macOS 26 preview: Spotlight's time to shine

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iOS 26 Public Beta Is Here: Download Apple's Liquid Glass Update Today
iOS 26 Public Beta Is Here: Download Apple's Liquid Glass Update Today

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iOS 26 Public Beta Is Here: Download Apple's Liquid Glass Update Today

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The First iOS 26 Public Beta Is Here, But Think Twice About Installing It Now
The First iOS 26 Public Beta Is Here, But Think Twice About Installing It Now

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The First iOS 26 Public Beta Is Here, But Think Twice About Installing It Now

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Apple Just Made iPhones Better Click to unmute Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Next playlist item Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 5:40 Loaded : 10.49% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 5:40 Share Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Close Modal Dialog This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. I'm Impressed With iOS 26. Apple Just Made iPhones Better A positive word about installing the iOS 26 public beta The public beta is more stable than the developer betas, which are intended for developers who need to skirt the edges of stability to test their products. But "more stable" isn't the same as "rock solid." Apple is still adding and changing features in the iOS 26 betas before the anticipated release of iOS 26 in September or October. If you decide to install the iOS 26 public beta, I recommend doing it on a separate iPhone that isn't used as your main personal phone. iOS 26 will work with models as old as the iPhone 11, so reach into the back of your tech drawer and put that forgotten iPhone into service. Also, as always, make sure you have good backups of your data. Bugs are part of the iOS 26 public beta Now, let's discuss why upgrading to the iOS public beta might be a bad idea. Software bugs at the development stage are to be expected -- in fact, that's kinda the point. Now is the time for bugs to skitter into the light so developers can catch them and Apple can fix them before the final release. Opening the public beta to more testers helps flush out odd interactions with a much larger pool of iPhones and third-party apps. Bugs can vary across the spectrum. You could face connectivity issues with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, or end up with third-party applications crashing from time to time. And runaway background processes could keep the system running hotter than normal, decreasing not just how long the phone operates on a battery charge, but potentially stressing the battery's lifespan. To be fair, I've never dealt with any show-stopping, brick-your-phone bugs in a beta -- usually, they're a series of annoyances that can grate on you after a while. But all of this is perfectly normal in developer and public betas. But if you don't want to deal with bugs and other issues that could make your phone more difficult to use, you probably don't want the iOS 26 public beta on your primary iPhone. Your battery life may worsen Did you recently buy a recommended portable charger for your iPhone? Expect to make more use of it while running beta software. Energy efficiency is usually the last thing Apple's developers optimize, because the priority at this point is to make sure features work and bugs are stamped out. An iOS update also triggers a host of internal indexing, which consumes a lot of energy for a few hours or days after installation. The Photos app, for example, updates its database of recognized people, scans images for new recognizable objects or scenes for search purposes and looks for duplicates. Betas can be tough on batteries. CNET Performance may take a hit Partially because of the reindexing of gigabytes of data on your phone, the iOS 26 public beta will almost certainly not deliver the performance you might be expecting. Processor-intensive apps and games also need to be tuned to work with the new iOS, so stutters and glitches are normal. Game Mode can improve performance in demanding games but beta software could interrupt such low-level processes. Jeff Carlson/CNET I know it's tough to be patient when future features are just a download away. But I also don't want you to be burned (as I have in the past). For more about iOS 26, see how the new Liquid Glass interface compares to iOS 18.

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