Battery Fires

[AntonyC]

New York had a similar problem to London and reportedly a strong delivery culture. Anecdotal but europeans I know say ebike fires haven't reached the news there and that delivery services aren't common in major cities. I hope this OPSS ebike video has been distributed well; oddly the scooter version's lame.

Wouldn't you think that market forces would make delivery bike fires self-regulating? Several self-employed low wage riders see their badly sourced livelihood go up in flames and word gets around, no? Clearly that isn't how it's working, maybe there's negligible delivery community or subpar bikes are a cost of business to those providing them. Who's looking into the socio-economic side of this?

It's also possible delivery riders are concentrating fires rather than adjustment playing any part in them.

 

[MikelBikel]

 

[Woosh]

It's incidents like those in that video and videos by opponents of EVs that help EVs getting rapidly better. Tesla moves their batteries to safer LFP chemistry for example. China has passed law forcing EVs batteries to be made fireproof from July 2026. The net result is an even faster adoption of EVs.

 

[lenny]

Nearly half of e-bike fires in 2024 linked to post-market conversions
https://internationalfireandsafetyjournal.com/nearly-half-of-e-bike-fires-in-2024-linked-to-post-market-conversions/
E-bike and e-scooter fires in the UK: 2024 report: Summary

OPSS received 211 notifications of e-bike and e-scooter fires in 2024.

170 fires involved e-bikes.

77 of these were post-market conversions.

59 e-bike fires involved unknown build types.

34 fires involved manufactured e-bikes.

39 incidents involved e-scooters.

One fire involved an e-unicycle and one involved a mobility scooter.

66% of fires occurred in indoor or residential settings.

23% occurred in outdoor spaces.

3% were in transport settings.

London Fire Brigade submitted 175 reports.

Fire start locations included roads, living areas, sleeping areas, kitchens, and outdoor storage.

93% of fires had batteries or generators as the ignition source.

82 incidents occurred while charging.

80 occurred when not charging.

Charging status was unknown in 49 incidents.

5 incidents resulted in 8 fatalities.

42 incidents resulted in 86 casualties.

29 ignition locations were unclassified.

Figures are based on voluntary data from fire and rescue services.

 

[lenny]

Midland fire chiefs make 'prevent tragedy call' amid shocking rise in one type of blaze
The West Midlands has seen a 50 per cent increase in fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters in two years

Fire chiefs make 'prevent tragedy call' amid huge rise in one type of blaze

The West Midlands has seen a 50 per cent increase in fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters in two years

www.birminghammail.co.uk

 

[lenny]

Person rescued from house fire caused by e-bike

Person rescued from house fire in Leicester caused by e-bike

Firefighters say the blaze quickly spread through the home, causing extensive damage.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Baz the balloon man]

The general procedure to charge Chinese batteries is to put the jack in with the charger switched on because most have a permanently live charge socket and you need equal voltage when you connect, otherwise you get a spark, which can do some serious damage.

If your battery switch switches off the charging, that could be considered a bit safer, though it makes little difference as long as you connect with the charger switched on. With the charge socket switched off, you can connect with the charger switched on or off, then switch on the battery after connection to commence charging.

Personally, I'd always switch on both the battery and the charger before connecting, then there is no danger of a spark because there can't be any inrush current. When you connect with the battery charge socket switched off, then switch on after connection, there will still be an inrush, but you don't see it. Inrush is best avoided. It's caused when one of the devices has a large capacitor between the two wires. The capacitor charges instantly and draws a very high current, almost like a short circuit.

Hi I had advise a few days ago from the Battery engineer who does work for YOSE over in Barking London

After I sent him a battery with a blown fuse that I missed as there are Two one input and one output .

So he said with regards to the HL battery sold by YOSE.

1. Do not charger theses batteries on the bike take them off.

2. If the 15Amp house plug socket has a switch plug everything in ie charging jack then switch on the power by the socket switch if no socket switch then plug into the wall last.

3. Do not constantly use e throttles as this can blow the output fuse.

 

[MikelBikel]

Conflicting advice there, mm.
Have always plugged charger into turned off battery and then switched on or plugged in charger to mains whether battery on (36v) or off bike (48v).
Never had any sparks or noises or blown fuses yet.
I guess if there is a Diode on the battery's and/or battery dc charge circuit, it will only allow current In. Is it an outrush from battery to charger or inrush charger to the battery cct capacitors?

 

[Woosh]

With old chargers, you had to switch on at the wall socket before connecting to the battery charging socket because the the battery voltage could flow back into the charger and cause a spark. For a couple of years now, the design has been improved, you can connect the charger plug to the battery with the wall switch off as you like, without spark.

 

[lenny]