New emergency service figures have revealed that there were 11 deaths in the UK last year in fires caused by e-bikes, a concerning statistic that comes as a Labour MP has led calls for urgent safety action on the sale of dangerous products which have been compared to "like having an unexploded bomb in your house".
The latest Office for Product and Safety Standards (OPSS) numbers, first reported by the Guardian newspaper, mean 2023 saw the highest number of deaths in a calendar year caused by e-bike fires. It comes as the London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said that incidents caused by e-bikes and e-scooters are now the fastest growing fire risk in the city, with 149 e-bike fires recorded in London in 2023, causing three deaths, up from 87 fires and zero deaths in 2022.
Authorities have stressed much of the danger comes from certain dangerous products or batteries, not all e-bikes, statistics from the first six months of 2023 suggesting that of 73 e-bike fires in London, at least 40 per cent were believed to involve a converted e-bike. Just this week, the LFB urged users to check for a known dangerous UPP battery and cease using their vehicle immediately if they discovered it had one of the battery designs linked to a number of fires across England. The messaging from fire safety authorities remains that buyers should purchase e-bikes from a reputable retailer, with those vehicles fitted with conversion kits or certain batteries purchased online possibly posing a greater risk.
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And in the latest calls for urgent safety action on dangerous products, MPs and safety groups have made the case for third-party certification to ensure e-bikes and their batteries are approved by an independent body before going on the market, safety standards which are currently already in place for other high-risk products such as fireworks.
"These e-bikes can reach a phenomenally high temperature in seconds. They are so dangerous. It is almost like having an unexploded bomb in your house," Yvonne Fovargue, Labour MP and chair of the all party parliamentary group on online and home electrical safety said.
Fovargue's Labour colleague, MP Neil Coyle, warned that the "number of deaths is growing and is likely to continue to grow unless there are greater powers to remove dangerous items".
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A petition on Change.org, demanding the government implements stricter legislation on dangerous products, has been signed more than 42,000 times. That petition was created following the death of 21-year-old Sofia Duarte on 1 January 2023 in a house fire caused by a converted e-bike's lithium battery pack which had failed "catastrophically". The family of Duarte has begged the government to introduce tighter regulations and stricter enforcement.
In January, the charity Electrical Safety First (ESF) said "sloppy manufacturers with little interest in safety are slipping through the net" after the OPSS issued withdrawal notices to four online marketplaces requiring them to stop selling a "dangerous" e-bike battery.
The government commented on the new figures, a spokesperson stating: "The OPSS works closely with the fire service to try to prevent tragic accidents. It has taken action to remove dangerous products, including e-bike batteries, from being sold and has published guidance for buyers on how to use e-bikes safely. Manufacturers, retailers and online platforms must follow regulations or face penalties that include fines or criminal punishment."