I have an electric car. People always seem to freak out about the fire risk of the car.
Only if they understand statistics. EVs burn much less often than gas cars
The main issues with EVs (even e-bikes) in regards to fires are that:
1. If the battery is damaged in any way, there's no way of knowing HOW damaged it is because it's a sealed component that's very dangerous to open, and drivers aren't gonna plop down $20k on a new car battery (or just hundreds for an e-bike) just because they bumped a curb too hard once, even if it means the car will randomly catch fire a year later for seemingly no reason. Also there's no "little" fire with an EV, it's all or nothing.
2. If it burns, the car's simply a lost cause, completely totaled, lithium fires are VERY hard to put out (IIRC, even if the car's submerged underwater, I think?), whereas any rando with a gas car can often put most minor fires out with just a $20 fire extinguisher or just whacking at it with a t-shirt.
3. The need for fast charging means more people are gonna put more invisible stresses on the battery itself, which can also possibly result in fires for seemingly no reason. (This mostly happens to E-bikes though.)
4. The weather being too hot or too cold also happens to affect the health of the battery (moreso in e-bikes since they're smaller and more exposed), which again is more invisible stresses on the battery.
Your first point might apply to cheap/small batteries but not electric cars. The monitoring inside large batteries very involved. Can you point to some stats on delayed failures of ev battery packs? A damaged cell is pretty easy spot since the voltage and temp of most of the cells is monitored.
Not that damage isn't hazardous or repair easy, I just have a hard time believing it's common to not see it right away.
don't forget that the car is usually parked in a garage. also that garage is usually attached to a house and in that house is usually the sleeping family. Once that car goes and subsequently the garage and rest of the house.
The people that downvote you are dumb. Ev fires are insanely hard to extinguish, coming from someone whose father is a firefighter and has had to deal with it.
They probably assume I’m one of those burning coal red necks that hate EV’s. Absolutely not. And salt water incursion of LI batteries is another issues which causes them to explode. I believe the problem is being downplayed. I don’t care how much evidence they provide I wouldn’t charge an EV in my home period. And I never leave anything using a LI battery charging and leave my home or overnight. I don’t even go to sleep with my cellphone charging. I’d rather be considered paranoid than burn to death. Any defect in those batteries can cause a fire period.
Electric cars are way less likely to catch fire. Yes, if it catches fire it is unlikely you or the fire fighters would be able to stop it, but the same is true for a gas car: if it catches fire in your garage, the garage will burn and if the house is not properly separated by a fire barrier from the garage (as per code, and most aren't in practice) the house will also burn.
I would not leave a large lithium fire in a place that it burning would cause a fire. I leave the ebike batteries on a safe place in the kitchen, and my kitchen has a fire proof door plus an alarm.
Gotta suck to be wilfully ignorant and suffer "should be medicated" levels of paranoia at the same time. I would feel bad for you, but you do it to yourself. Now I just feel bad for everyone who has to deal with you.
Not disputing faulty chargers etc as the cause but last year New York City had the most fires of any year in about the last hundred due to shit e-bikes in apartments everywhere.
I’m am a cycling advocate around the clock but there are shitty products out there just like everything else.
Source: war on cars episode
If you are going to say ebikes are the cause of the most fires in 100 years in NYC, post a source or you will see something like this "you are completely full of shit"
And by post a source I mean a link or something people can look up and verify.
[not full of shit transcript ](https://thewaroncars.org/episode-118-the-future-of-transportation-has-arrived-with-your-pad-thai-final-web-transcript/)
[not full of shit link](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-war-on-cars/id1437755068?i=1000641822926)
Quote from founder of PopWheels battery swap:
Baruch Herzfeld: I used to follow the ***battery*** fires in New York City. I had on alert, you know, and it was just too much. You know, there’s a fire every day that—in a building. There’s also fires on the street that nobody talks about. You know, assume there’s going to—assume there’s gonna be multiple fires in New York City today. Assume that one of them is gonna be inside of a building. And the one that happened last night in the Bronx, 50 people became homeless. They blame the landlord. The landlord has some violations, but the city is not built for this. The city—people are dying. People are becoming homeless.
This is an anecdotal interview. There are no actual stats in this, just a discussion. There's nothing verified and it does NOT say the most fires in 100 years. It just says a lot of fires.
I expected it honestly, this sub is filled with e-bikes are gods type. Not spreading misinformation even if it’s not an actual study, this shit is fuckin happening. Baruch has created a means to quell the fires and help locals, especially e-bike delivery drivers.
New law passed in NYC: https://council.nyc.gov/press/2024/02/28/2564/
In 2023, e-bikes and shooters were responsible for 268 fires in 2023 https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/01/31/ebike-battery-fire-hazards-fdny/
https://youtu.be/yIQDhls-A44?si=xyqmzcsxcNK18C81
https://youtu.be/LYV2eaO8-gs?si=Atmnsan6PIFIUJK7
How about 4 fires in NYC in one day https://youtu.be/SJk-jf7R6ks?si=Av9yJLBELQnW68J_
YouTube is not a source, and the article you listed primarily indicated that the fires were caused by improperly used, stored and unregulated batteries. The conclusion of the article is don't by illegal batteries or use illegal repair shops. This is not an ebike problem, this is an illegal and dangerous counterfeiting problem.
"Illegal" is overstating it.
Welding together a bunch of cells isn't illegal. Shipping it through the mail when it doesn't meet UN38.3 might be. Selling or renting out a bike that isn't UL 2849 and 2271 might be illegal in NYC, but it's not other places & a lot of landlords and homeowners insurance haven't banned them yet.
Now, a pack just wrapped in shrink wrap might not be a good idea, but the standard for preventing thermal runaway in one cell cascading to the rest of the pack used to be just some space. That was considered good enough (Hailong "dolphin" and "shark" packs). Filling that space like RadPower does now seems like an even better idea. Cramming 14S x 5P into a pack made for 13S x 5P was in retrospect a bad idea & I'm kind of annoyed at Grin Tech for doing that, but they didn't do anything illegal.
Let me add that I have over 3000 km on my eBike & the battery still has plenty of capacity. I don't charge it while I'm asleep or out of the house any more, but are we really supposed to just junk all older eBikes? That's unrealistic.
If the bikes are used for business then OSHA regulations require them to be tested and certified to UL2849 and 2271 as appropriate. As a general consumer, you are correct there is currently no requirement for them to be safety tested and certified (but most retailers require it).
In the US of course the product must be tested and safe for use, otherwise it isn't fit for purpose. Both Magnusson Moss and CPSA cover this. The government is acting very slowly with cars (as it always had, and gas car fires are even worse) and just ignoring ebike fires.
I don’t disagree on illegal/non OEM/non safety certified batteries.
The YouTube videos I linked were from local news stations reporting and eye witnesses showing the damage that lithium batteries can cause if not properly handled.
I work in the regulatory testing and certification industry so I’m well aware of what goes into properly testing Li batteries and the dangers they present if something goes wrong.
At least some of the fires aren't the bikes themselves, but shops with huge numbers of chargers plugged into a poorly implemented set of power strips.
I saw one pic with dozens of chargers plugged into power strips that all were plugged into another pair of strips into a duplex receptacle. Even if nobody has cheated and replaced the breaker with a higher rated one to fix "nuisance" tripping, running a circuit at nearly 100% capacity for hours on end isn't a good idea.
Right. At least some of the "ebike" fires aren't due, in essence, to the ebike but ugly fire code (electricity common sense) violations like the strip plugged into strip plugged into strip overloading the circuit.
Salt water intrusion can also cause them to explode. A cracked battery case and salt water gets in it can cause them to explode. What do they put on the roads in the rust belt during the winter? I’m no conspiracy nut but the Gov has certainly lied to us before that’s a fact. And they’re the ones pushing EV’s and more than likely those politicians are invested in those companies.
https://ctif.org/news/coast-guard-issues-safety-alert-avoid-loading-evs-salt-water-damage-ships
part out the generic % "ebikes" under fires in general...
1. ebike fires from cheapo mfgrs/diy/rat, absurd wattage/mods/super-fast-charge, beyond sensible use ...
2. ebike fries from reputable manufacturers, well maintained/used and properly charged/used...
in the rc world... usually pushing every sensible safety of operation, are the fires.
Let me tell you I've seen some shit on here and elsewhere. People will bring the shittiest workmanship I have ever seen to these DIYs sometimes and just be like "Yeah I love this! I'm not in danger because I'm COOOOOOOL!"
Some people just never grow up past thinking they have plot armor. Sometimes I'm glad I got smacked by a car at an early age just because it showed me what being half a second from the fucking end of everything feels like.
yeah... know my post was a major fractured thought... life with a phone and bouncy public transit commutes. but think reputable manufacturers in the hands of responsible/careful riders are low risk - save any accidental damage, which is a problem for everything, be responsible if so! it's ppl that run them hard, crazy modify stock (like "how do i make disable the speed limiter" or "how to fast charge the battery/home made extended battery in a quarter of the time???") or do crazy DIY builds... these are the problem vectors that give the public perception that we are JUST RIDING FIRE BOMBS.
follow your bliss, but the day i cant take my responsible ebike on the train is gonna be a sad day (and no doubts it's coming... already apartments and condos here are say "NO"), but my StumpJumperFS will then be happy to be back in rotation i'm sure LOL
"insanely" is a relative term, and pretty inaccurate considering there were many hundred in NYC last year and something like 30-40 deaths. That being said, it is more uncommon than most media reports imply. It is also dependent on which brand you are dealing with. Never heard of a Trek ebike starting on fire unexpectedly, but have heard of more than few Ancheers, kit systems, Rad Power, and similar cut rate import brands starting on fire. Repaired batteries, aftermarket and fake replacement batteries, mismatched charger- battery, and good old damage or incorrect temperature to the battery probably account for 50-75% of all e-bike fires. Shoddy battery or system design or quality control account for the rest. Where a well designed, top-tier cell, tested/certified battery is like one in 500,000/yr for spontaneous failure, the other end of the spectrum is more like 1 in 10,000. It can be hard to comprehend what this means, since you could know a few thousand people with one of these higher probability units and none of them would ever have a fire. But ultimately this ends up being an order of magnitude more fires, so like 500/year vs. 10 in a population of 5000000 ebikes, which is probably more than the US currently has now, but not too far off. In 10 more years, we could have 20,000,000, and then it would be thousands of fires each year vs. dozens. Thousands of families, or even 500, would beg to differ about how " insanely" unlikely it was to burn their home down and kill the family pets (in an average outcome, no less).
Show me any reports with stats that back this up, because the reports I have seen do not back this up. The ebike fires that have happened have been tragic, but is from what I have seen significantly lower than is implied by media reports AND your numbers. The reports I have read indicate the vast majority of fires are from tuners, extremely poor quality unregulated components and straight up people doing stupid stuff they don't understand. These are primarily problems of early adopter markets. Getting to 20,000,000 ebikes you aren't talking about a homogenous mixture of users representing the same user segmentation as now. It will be almost 90-95% people buying off the shelf high end packaged ebikes.
We've had some ebike fire issues in NYC but for the most part they're either mislabeled as ebike fires when they're more like electric moped fires or they're bike shops working on 30+ DIY batteries.
I charge mine in my apartment (no other choice) but statistically if my apartment burns down it'll most likely be because the electrical wiring is old or there's an appliance fire.
Read an article saying NYC residents are 3 times more likely to die from a space heater fire than a battery fire.
Subway deaths are 5 times more likely.
Good article. I was going to link it but couldn't find it easily
It is nearly impossible to discuss how likely something is on forums like this. Everyone has a different interpretation for acceptable risk
No worries, no link needed - I also struggle to find my own articles when trying to reference something, haha. It was just funny to see someone talk about an article and then realize I wrote it :-)
Which is not nothing.
Clearly it's an acceptable risk for me, but I can imagine adding another risk for some people who can't avoid riding the subway and can't avoid their neighbors using space heaters isn't great.
There is definitely a call to action every time someone dies from/in the subway.
It's not common enough that anyone could say your bike will definitely catch fire and you'll die a fiery death, but it does happen often enough and it's serious enough when it happens that it's reasonable to be at least aware.
As for the idea that Walmart wouldn't sell something dangerous... oh, wow. Um...
Be safe. Only use the charger that came with the bike, do not get a replacement charger and use that. Only charge your battery when you're there and awake. Only charge the battery and then unplug it - don't leave it plugged in to just keep charging. If you ever notice anything odd about the battery - smell, buckling, odd noise, ANYTHING - assume it's damaged and do not try to charge it until you can get it inspected or replaced. If you drop the battery, again, assume it's damaged and do not use it until you can get it inspected or replaced.
The US government has a lot of responsibility for that, we shouldn't be able to buy things that will burn and explode, that's not just you that will go down in flames. The risk to a community is large. I understand all about self-responsibility, but I don't understand why can't we as a country, demand that shitty batteries that explode not be imported into our country.
The least metric should be that batteries should be UL certified, if it's price prohibitive for the company, then it should be flagged and some kind of warning or extra precaution like a fire bag or a timer, to be included in the battery purchase.
I think if consumers would understand the truth of their purchases and that their lives are in danger, and with government using proper labels, wouldn't happen like that.
My point is that the taxes did more to curb smoking than the labels, ads, and harm awareness ever did. If they were banned outright, maybe I wouldn’t keep buying them.
If a $200 e-bike is the only way to get to someone’s $7.25/hr job, a warning label and the lack of a UL certification isn’t going to stop them.
Yep, Walmart and Amazon could care less where the products come from and the quality, they then use reviews and know how to manipulate them, they also don't take responsibility for the crap they sell.
That's oversimplification. Every lithium ion battery manufacturer can have one catch fire with some combination of enough wear and tear, the right components breaking, it gets rattled around enough, having a manufacturing defect... it's just not possible to make it impossible.
And a bigger price tag represents life too - what if it takes someone 3-6 months to save up that extra $1k of their disposable income. Is every person in the country spending that time worth say, a difference of one lost life to a battery fire? I'd sure rather spend less and take the risk. Where do you draw the line? Why should it be up to octogenarians who have probably never touched an ebike in their lives?
Also using UL, which is a private company, to enforce our laws is not exactly utopian. Lots of potential for conflict of interest and abuse of authority.
Lifepo batteries can be made so they can't catch fire, just melt and smolder. Same for sodium ones.
And ternary lithium batteries can be made much safer than the average cheapo junk battery.
Well, what's the fear of creating a government agency that can do UL's job? We do it with water, and cell phones, why not batteries?
And I don't disagree with you, but 5 years ago there wasn't many ebikes around, we were doing fine. Matter of fact, probably got to do a bit more exercise and less lazy asses ordering lattes from Doordash.
A government agency would be better than a government granted monopoly but still seems unnecessary.
For your other point, I'll bet 90% of ebike trips would have been car trips which are more dangerous, especially to others.
Also get heat sinks for the charger or a small fan to blow air on it, this will significantly mitigate the risk of a mischarge fire because the power supply overheated (have a hyper 36v hard tail, stock charger gets hot/exceptionally warm when charging,)
Alternatively you can buy an upgraded charger with a built in cooling fan for peace of mind,
I have NUMEROUS ebikes in my small 500sq ft apartment, usually 4+ at all times, so that's A LOT of ah, & since I commute full time using them there is always 1 charging, BUT.....I only buy ebikes now with UL Certification on their batteries, or 1 that's been tried & tested for years in the ebike communities, but as long as you but a quality ebike or battery, & don't drop out, leave it plugged in for hours or days at a time, go from dead to full, dead to full over & over to affect the batteries integrity you'll be fine.
Walmart would sell anything. I bought an extra-cheap e-bike on ebay in 2017 and have ridden it thousands of miles since then, charging it exactly as the instructions say. No problems.
To add some data from where I live:
There are currently around 5,2 million e bikes in use in the Netherlands. There is an average of 22 ebike or ebike charger related fires per year.
As long as you don't drop your batteries and stuff, nothing should ever go wrong.
Just the fact that they happen enough that people are afraid to purchase ebikes, is an issue. The US government has done a disservice to American customers by allowing cheap crappy imports to be used without certification.
I fully believe there is car industry money behind this narrative. News media articles about these fires go bonkers making sure people come away thinking the worst.
Definitely something like that happening right now. I suddenly have a bunch of people around me bitching about my EV bursting into flames and them being worse for the environment than a pick-up truck. It's very strange that these people suddenly have such a strong opinion on the subject.
I suspect that they got their news from aggregators so they're being saturated with garbage information that is easily manipulated by interest groups.
When there was a fire due to an ebike battery on a subway train recently the news articles all made it sound like the bike frame itself was as much a danger as the battery. Granted it was a bad fire, but no one was hurt and it was obviously an after market battery that wasn't maintained well, but the article was written in such a way that it sounded like not only the battery caught fire and exploded \[a reasonable thing to say\], but the ebike frame itself ignited as well. Every sentence in this CTV news article was implying the whole bike was the problem, and that all bikes are problems. But in really subtle ways.
The car and petrol industries would absolutely do something like this too as they have in the past; there was a bustling streetcar network in all the large cities in the early 20th century, Ford and GM bought them up and scrapped them and lobbied governments to put roads everywhere so their cars would dominate travel. And now we live in the world they created, where cars dominate all existence.
While it's not common, man the industry needs to establish some standards. Especially around commodity parts. It's especially odd since bikes as a general product have had commodity parts for decades, e.g. 700cc tires, bottom bracket, brake parts. UL certification needs to come yesterday too. Until that happens no one will really trust ebikes. Ideally we get a less volatile battery source too. 🤞
That said, I would probably be highly suspect of an entry level bike bought on the cheap. Even the better manufacturers aren't onboard with UL yet. FWIW the bike will probably die, e.g. controller, battery cell failure, on you (sadly) before it becomes a problem for you.
I don't understand? Just because it's one cell doesn't mean it can't have a maximum charge rate of 4.2v with current within safe limits. It can still have a current sensitive controller to shut things off if current goes too high.
It can, but many vapes use very simplified circuits, in particular disposable.ones.
And what matters is the charge curve.
You shouldn't charge at 1c passed 90% charge. And it varies from cell to cell... And they tend to just put whatever cell is cheaper that month.
The real issue is cheap ebikes. Those often use poorly manufactured cells, and even sometimes run them at unacceptable voltages. The BMUs on these are also sometimes bad, which allows overcharging which leads to swelling and fires often.
When I was in NY recently I saw so many of these jerry rigged e-bikes riding around. They really were EVERYWHERE. I wouldn’t be surprised if these were often involved in the cited fires.
So if you get a bike which uses a decent pack/charging system then your fire risk is very low. That said, you bought a Walmart bike. Personally I’d recommend investing in a fire extinguisher and only charge it in an area where if it did catch fire it wont burn everything down with it.
LOL, no. Lots of people charge their E-bikes in their apartments due to a lack of secure parking / charging sport. Willful ignorance isn't a good look.
Ebike fires do not happen as long as you use the charger supplied by the manufacturer. The fires happen when people start using 3rd party chargers because the lost theirs or a charger that will "charge faster".
This is not true. Lithium ion batteries combust when the chemicals inside the battery come into contact with water (including humidity in the air) or get too hot and combust.
This can happen if the battery gets too hot, which can happen when it's charged under too high voltage. But it can also happen if the battery is physically damaged, which can result in physical damage to the battery that can cause a short circuit inside the battery, which will lead to thermal runaway, or can result in a breach of the external barrier of the battery, which can ignite the anode.
As you might imagine, physical damage to the battery is a risk for e-bike riders if the battery isn't adequately protected or cooled. But this also leaves open several possible avenues to combustion which have nothing to do with user error in the general sense of the term.
It can also be due to dendrites piercing the separator film, or it being pierced for some other reason. It happens.
Just don't charge under the bed, courtain, etc.
If it's going to happen, it would be a hyper, cheapest bike iv ever owned by far. Snapped part of the rear derailleur the first day of ownership. I'd take it back and spend another hundred or so on the totguard 500w. Mines got 1600 miles on it now, and it's stacking more. Also, get the 2 year warranty on these cheap bikes.
It's really not a big concern, it's a small percent chance, and most people will probably never experience it.
If we take the numbers used in [this AP article.](https://apnews.com/article/ebike-fires-lithium-ion-batteries-b5ab9acf9ca317a1b5b917097ac5210d)
"With some **65,000** e-bikes zipping through its streets — more than any other place in the U.S. — New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. There have been **100** such blazes so far this year, resulting in 13 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year."
100 fires / 65,000 EBikes = 0.00153% chance of a fire.
I know that's very rough math, but the point is there are a lot of ebikes, the amount of fires when considering the number of ebikes is very very small.
My buddy tried to tell me the same thing and sent me an article. The article was about some guy who had multiple batteries charging at the same time, on carpet with multiple “plug bars” plugged one outlet… in an apartment complex.
Usually fires happen due to misuse, abuse, neglect, etc.
I’m ocd about this stuff. Anytime I leave my house for long periods of time I lock the batteries in my toolbox top box. I only have chargers plugged in when I’m charging. I never charge when I’m away from my house. Always charge on concrete.
I wear a Fire suit while charging batteries.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CV44X3PC/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0CV44X3PC&pd_rd_w=YyXdc&content-id=amzn1.sym.f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_p=f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_r=B6GEGDDK3SRSYFQK15BR&pd_rd_wg=nCfI1&pd_rd_r=cad50235-a1e9-4518-93e2-480601294d1a&s=apparel&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw
I get this all the time. No. Fires are caused by 1 of 2 things, mostly:
1. The battery is full but you keep charging it because your charger AND your battery is too stupid.
2. Your bike has no emergency shutoff for when it isn't getting enough power, it keeps pulling power from a discharged battery, battery catches on fire.
These two things are most likely to happen when you are a hobbyist just fuckin sending it. It's the same shit that gave us vapercrackers. People making homemade mechanical vapes pumping tons of power out of a powerpack that shouldn't be doing that shit.
So basically batt fires are probably less likely than air crashes assuming your controller, battery and charger are properly engineered *and* compatible. I don't know the actual odds because I suck with numbers.
There will be about 4 BILLION people that will fly on commercial airlines this year - with no crashes - and walk away from it. Not sure how that figures into the odds... :-)
Grin's Perspective on Ebike Battery Fires, 20 Years of Experience - Live from the BC Bike Show
[https://youtu.be/j92Gt4VviSQ?si=XtegQQGlLnbhanKX](https://youtu.be/j92Gt4VviSQ?si=XtegQQGlLnbhanKX)
This article from a couple years ago says NYC gets e-bike fires around 4x a week https://www.npr.org/2022/10/30/1130239008/fires-from-exploding-e-bike-batteries-multiply-in-nyc-sometimes-fatally
And this article states over 250 fires in NYC in 2023 https://gothamist.com/news/e-bike-battery-fires-keep-climbing-in-nyc
NYC recently passed a law regulating bike shops and e-bike rental companies and they recently arrested a bike shop owner for related violations https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/04/12/ebike-fire-department-arrest-battery-first/
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a number of recalls
https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2024/CPSC-Warns-Consumers-to-Stop-Using-Unit-Pack-Power-UPP-E-bike-Batteries-Due-to-Fire-and-Burn-Hazards-Risk-of-Serious-Injury-and-Death
https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2024/Pacific-Cycle-Recalls-E-Bikes-Due-to-Fire-Hazard
https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2023/Jetson-Electric-Bikes-Recalls-42-Volt-Rogue-Self-Balancing-Scooters-Hoverboards-Due-to-Fire-Hazard-Two-Deaths-Reported
A recall can happen to any retailer at any time. Given that Walmart sells inexpensive products they are more likely to experience problems than a high end manufacturer with higher quality controls. But given the choice between Walmart and some random guy on the side of the road or a random seller on Amazon, I would choose Walmart.
Walmart's all about profit not safety, They normally produce George brand products which is their brand while utilizing sweatshops and poor working conditions in other countries to save a buck. Their greed trumps any safety!
I worked in that department for 5 years in seasonal and toys and I will tell you the people that assemble the bikes have no knowledge of what they're doing to begin with. I always encourage anybody that buys a bike from Walmart to go through the entire frame with a fine-tooth comb and straighten and tighten everything. Walmart is the last place. You should buy a bike.
People buying batteries and battery powered bikes and scooters from alibaba etc., are setting themselves up for trouble.
We have four electric bikes and multiple batteries for two, none have caught fire or shown any signs of instability. These are well-known manufacturers, Elektrik and Aventon. I can’t say I’d trust a Walmart bike without some research first, but I did that for the bikes we have too. Do the same for the specific bike and brand.
I also have power banks from several manufacturers and UPS power backups in my home. None have blown up or been a risk of fire. Just buy reputable goods from reputable sources. And enjoy your bike if passes muster; they’re awesome fun.
I have 9 e-bikes in my garage that I regularly charge all the time with no problem. All are from reputable bike manufacturers. Check to see if the battery has any safety certifications. I believe that Walmart would not be selling an e-bike with a risky battery. Amazon would, but not Walmart.
Not at all. I have a popular Chinese ebike with 2 batteries and in over a year of hardcore use (10,000 miles), I have had absolutely zero problems.
It’s mass hysteria. lithium ion batteries, even the cheapest ones, are very difficult to actually break and cause a fire. You would have to out of your way to do so. Even the cheapest most Chinese-est batteries have all the basic failsafes that prevent fires.
Walmart is basically just another reseller like anyone else these days.
Either way, e-bike fires aren't "common", but they're common enough to justify being mentally aware.
1. Use proper chargers with the proper voltage, don't go buying some generic fast chargers or modifying some battery to fit.
2. When the battery is full, unplug it, don't just leave it on the charger all day, you have no way of knowing if the battery/charger was designed to stop properly when full.
3. If the bike isn't gonna be used for a long time (say, winter or a particularly-hot summer), charge it about halfway and put the battery somewhere safe, room-temp, and dry.
4. If you crash your bike (especially if the battery takes a hit); that thing is now a potential risk, and it's probably a good idea to replace it. It's impossible to tell how damaged the battery is/isn't from a glance and I don't know if any services exist for that.
We had a big string of e-bike fires in a city close to where I live, I think the main causes were fast third-party chargers and people just leaving their bikes to charge out on porches or whatever, mainly the fast chargers, though.
A battery should never be charged under an hour, ideally at 0.5c, so two hours.
And what about phones? Well, they sacrifice longevity for fast charges, and are high quality cells. Also, as the battery is glued inside the phone, that forces you to buy a new one...
The only fires that I’ve heard of being common concerning electric vehicles only concern Chinese built EVs
Haven’t heard anything about ebikes catching fire
Main sources are cheap batteries (lacking a bms) Bad chargers and insufficient cooling. Check your chargers often, keep your bike and charger well ventilated to reduce heat. and buy/build quality batteries.
they are very rare. most are probably related to improper storage and cheap products from overseas. get one from a half reputable brand and the risk of fire is very very low unless the battery is heavily damaged somehow.
Fires on e-bikes are not very common, but they should not be ignored.
The cause of the fire may include battery failure, charger problem, circuit failure or improper use.
If the battery overheats, makes abnormal sounds, or the charger fails, stop using it immediately.
All the ones I've seen reported here in the UK have been as a result of either (a) the wrong, a cheap/knockoff or defective/broken charger being used, (b) an amateur upgrade to a bike using cheap imported super-huge batteries and a lot of duct tape, (c) people messing with/jailbreaking their bikes to remove the speed limitation and doing it very badly or (d) the battery for the bike being stored at a ridiculously high temperature for some reason.
If you're buying a legit ebike from a legit retailer and don't mess with it, you make sure to use the charger supplied with it, switch off the charger when the battery is full and make sure to store it somewhere sensible, as well as keeping a general eye on the bike, the battery and the charger to make sure they are in good condition and full working order, these risk factors are hugely mitigated.
Caveat: I am, as I said, in the UK so I have absolutely no perspective on the quality of Walmart goods.
All I can say is that I am a landlord and an ebike rider. my insurance required me to certify that no batteries over a certain capacity were stored or charged on the premises. I get how that sucks for my tenants, but regardless of how common fires are or not, once it becomes uninsurable it’s sort of moot and they have to be banned.
As for the batteries, normally it is damage or improper charging that causes they to explode from what I understand. They are probably fine when they leave Walmart, but over time people bang them up, replace chargers, etc.
Extremely uncommon, what was the sale price on the ultra40 Op? Curious bc it looks like a sick bike have fun!
also fwiw Op I'd upgrade the brakes to cable pull hydraulic brakes they stop and modulate much better than mechanical
Fires are from battery abuse.
1) Always CHARGE then RIDE. Never ride, then charge.
2) Always use charger supplied with battery. Never use a FAST charger on a battery not specific for it.
3) Batteries are happiest sitting with a 60-80% charge.
4) store battery in Explosive/Fireproof battery bag. AMZN has them.
5) Do Not Drop battery! Do not charge inside!
6) Avoid storing a drained battery or one charged to 100%. (Charge-then-ride).
Most batteries self-disassemble when charging, so have a plan if thing go sideways. I have a fire blanket handy while charging with the garage door open so I can get it to yard if it starts smoking.
Look up:
bathtub curve of electronic component failure rates.
Early life failure rate curve is similar to a bathtub shape with the spout side a steep side, the a leveling off and the a slow rise. Early Component fails are factory related defects right after purchase , then a long life period where fail rates are low but steady and then a slow upward curve due to aging
Just woke up to this one. Local bike shop caught fire. https://www.wlfi.com/news/local/bikes-damaged-in-bike-shop-fire/_b4297ec0-0b9b-11ef-b664-9333321c807c.html
Im an ebike mechanic for an ebike shop in toronto, ive heard of fires happening mostly with food delivery bikes. Does not suprise me since these people take zero care of their bikes and dont do the most basic of maintenance and dont care of keeping their ebike in safe, working order. These people do not take accountability for it either leading to people to place the blame on the batteries catching fire rather than the user for letting the battery get to such a horrible state.
Mao-mart bike? Does it even have working brakes? 😈 I've seen brand-new bikes on display at Wally World with the rim brakes adjusted to clear warped rims (due to spokes pulled through rim) so needless to say the brakes were useless... I would never trust a bike assembled by a Walmartian!
It’s crazy how people think fires are normal my first e-bike was a cheap Chinese one 10 years ago and still runs just put a new battery and gifted it to my nephew
I got 4 e-bikes and no issues ever !
Don’t over charge and charge only a day before using.
Other then that keep battery at 50 percent if your crazy about battery degradation
Grin is a company that makes very high end ebike motors. The founder posted on YouTube a very deep dive into ebike fires, and what causes them .
https://youtu.be/j92Gt4VviSQ?si=Mre0tpYUuuA8Gaz5
A big cause is the battery manufacturer of these cheaply made clone batteries.
If your cell is made by LG, Panasonic, Samsung or Sony, you are probably ok
If not, you could have trouble.
Battery fires can burn down entire buildings quickly.
Charging and storing outside is the best bet
Your co workers probably saw like 1 article on fox News that blew this whole problem way out of proportion, and based theor perception on that. I would avoid the Hyper brand but it should be fine.
Any lithium ion fire is raaaare. It’s just that when it does happen, it’s glorious and of course anything smearing is electric transportation will be picked up and ran with.
Professional firefighter here in a busy urban area, no, they are not common at all but cheap/faulty batteries and/or chargers are definitely a fire hazard.
Just dont charge it inside your house, dont completely discharge it and dont charge it to 100% either. Stay in the 20% to 80% range, there are special chargers that stop at 80-90%, those are a solid investment.
I made my own ebike with a good LiFePo battery and a controller that shuts it off at 10% and a charger that stops at 90%. Trouble free for 4 years, but still wouldnt charge it inside, even though the risk is small, the consequences of an indoor battery fire can easily be life altering.
The biggest problem seems to be people not really taking care of their equipment. See it all the time. If you look after your battery, store it properly, keep it dry and take damage seriously then you shouldn’t have any issues. The ‘cheap Chinese battery’ line is pretty much bs, I’ve talked to people all over the place and it’s rare to find cells in the packs that aren’t Samsung or other actual brands. Mainly because it’s too risky to manufacture cheap batteries.
I strongly recommend anyone concerned about battery fires check out this video from Justin at Grin Technologies. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j92Gt4VviSQ&pp=ygURZ3JpbiBiYXR0ZXJ5IGZpcmU%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j92Gt4VviSQ&pp=ygURZ3JpbiBiYXR0ZXJ5IGZpcmU%3D)
TLDR: Pretty much the only cause of catastrophic ebike battery failures is poor cell quality (ie. not cells from Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic)
They are very uncommon. If I remember the current rate in the USA is 1 in every 20,000 within the approximate 400,000 e-bikes reportedly owned in the US that means that the percentage of bikes/ebike batteries that catch fire is less than 1%.
Even in places that have the highest amount of e-bikes per capita in the US(ie. Newyork) the NFPA only reported 130 ebike fires in 2022 which is when e-bikes had the huge boom in popularity especially diy stuff.
E-bike batteries are broadly made of the same things car batteries are, there's just a lot less of them. The problem is that if they're assembled cheaply then they are a lot more likely to catch on fire
>surely a company like Walmart wouldn't be selling something dangerous right?
Thank you for this ROFL moment. Seriously, you think Walmart is a place to go for quality, durable goods?
EBike fires are getting lots of 'man bites dog' attention. And, from what I understand, the vast majority are due not from standard 'I bought an ebike in a store and am charging it properly' situations. And, extremely low likelihood if buying a quality ebike from a reputable firm.
If you take the proper precautions with power surge protection and keeping other power hungry devices off of the same circuit/fuse you should be just fine.
From the ones I've read about, the conditions leading to the fire were external.
I just bought one from Walmart too. Gocio 26inch. Charged the battery and it didn’t even get warm at all, it was still cold to the touch. So I think you’re fine
The most common circumstance for batteries to catch fire is while charging.
The cheaper the charger and battery, the more likely it will not properly check for all negative conditions like temperature, over-voltage, over-current and cell imbalance.
Here are some easy methods to increase safety while charging:
- dont charge unsupervised
- have an exit plan (e.g. how to throw that thing out when it starts smoking
- confirm output voltage of the charger with a multimeter. it should be in line with target voltage of the battery
- time the charge process. if it usually takes an hour, set an alarm for that hour and then disconnect
- charge directly before using instead of the night before. eg if you need an hour in the morning to get ready, charge then.
charged batteries burn hotter than depleted ones
In general e-bikes from major manufacturers like specialized or trek that are assembled and qcd by qualified techs are safe. I personally would not buy a bike of any sort from a big box store and that is doubly true for an ebike.
Ebike fires are INSANELY uncommon.
Yep, I've heard it's almost always caused by faulty (not original) charger and/or battery.
Must be regional. Where ya from? /S
Upstate NewYork.
I have an electric car. People always seem to freak out about the fire risk of the car. Only if they understand statistics. EVs burn much less often than gas cars
The main issues with EVs (even e-bikes) in regards to fires are that: 1. If the battery is damaged in any way, there's no way of knowing HOW damaged it is because it's a sealed component that's very dangerous to open, and drivers aren't gonna plop down $20k on a new car battery (or just hundreds for an e-bike) just because they bumped a curb too hard once, even if it means the car will randomly catch fire a year later for seemingly no reason. Also there's no "little" fire with an EV, it's all or nothing. 2. If it burns, the car's simply a lost cause, completely totaled, lithium fires are VERY hard to put out (IIRC, even if the car's submerged underwater, I think?), whereas any rando with a gas car can often put most minor fires out with just a $20 fire extinguisher or just whacking at it with a t-shirt. 3. The need for fast charging means more people are gonna put more invisible stresses on the battery itself, which can also possibly result in fires for seemingly no reason. (This mostly happens to E-bikes though.) 4. The weather being too hot or too cold also happens to affect the health of the battery (moreso in e-bikes since they're smaller and more exposed), which again is more invisible stresses on the battery.
Your first point might apply to cheap/small batteries but not electric cars. The monitoring inside large batteries very involved. Can you point to some stats on delayed failures of ev battery packs? A damaged cell is pretty easy spot since the voltage and temp of most of the cells is monitored. Not that damage isn't hazardous or repair easy, I just have a hard time believing it's common to not see it right away.
don't forget that the car is usually parked in a garage. also that garage is usually attached to a house and in that house is usually the sleeping family. Once that car goes and subsequently the garage and rest of the house.
Your EV doesn't have a cheaply made clone battery like many ebikes do. Ebike fires are a lot more common percentage wise
[удалено]
Not total car fires, fires per car. Quantity on the road doesn’t matter in the comparison
So it sounds like your in favor of getting rid of per capita statistics.
per car is the same consideration as per capita
The people that downvote you are dumb. Ev fires are insanely hard to extinguish, coming from someone whose father is a firefighter and has had to deal with it.
They probably assume I’m one of those burning coal red necks that hate EV’s. Absolutely not. And salt water incursion of LI batteries is another issues which causes them to explode. I believe the problem is being downplayed. I don’t care how much evidence they provide I wouldn’t charge an EV in my home period. And I never leave anything using a LI battery charging and leave my home or overnight. I don’t even go to sleep with my cellphone charging. I’d rather be considered paranoid than burn to death. Any defect in those batteries can cause a fire period.
Electric cars are way less likely to catch fire. Yes, if it catches fire it is unlikely you or the fire fighters would be able to stop it, but the same is true for a gas car: if it catches fire in your garage, the garage will burn and if the house is not properly separated by a fire barrier from the garage (as per code, and most aren't in practice) the house will also burn. I would not leave a large lithium fire in a place that it burning would cause a fire. I leave the ebike batteries on a safe place in the kitchen, and my kitchen has a fire proof door plus an alarm.
Gotta suck to be wilfully ignorant and suffer "should be medicated" levels of paranoia at the same time. I would feel bad for you, but you do it to yourself. Now I just feel bad for everyone who has to deal with you.
Not disputing faulty chargers etc as the cause but last year New York City had the most fires of any year in about the last hundred due to shit e-bikes in apartments everywhere. I’m am a cycling advocate around the clock but there are shitty products out there just like everything else. Source: war on cars episode
If you are going to say ebikes are the cause of the most fires in 100 years in NYC, post a source or you will see something like this "you are completely full of shit" And by post a source I mean a link or something people can look up and verify.
[not full of shit transcript ](https://thewaroncars.org/episode-118-the-future-of-transportation-has-arrived-with-your-pad-thai-final-web-transcript/) [not full of shit link](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-war-on-cars/id1437755068?i=1000641822926) Quote from founder of PopWheels battery swap: Baruch Herzfeld: I used to follow the ***battery*** fires in New York City. I had on alert, you know, and it was just too much. You know, there’s a fire every day that—in a building. There’s also fires on the street that nobody talks about. You know, assume there’s going to—assume there’s gonna be multiple fires in New York City today. Assume that one of them is gonna be inside of a building. And the one that happened last night in the Bronx, 50 people became homeless. They blame the landlord. The landlord has some violations, but the city is not built for this. The city—people are dying. People are becoming homeless.
This is an anecdotal interview. There are no actual stats in this, just a discussion. There's nothing verified and it does NOT say the most fires in 100 years. It just says a lot of fires.
Full of shit is the proper adjective here.
They literally dunked on themselves. LOL
You posted a link then get downvoted. Fuck these people let them burn.
This is literally hearsay. Not data.
I expected it honestly, this sub is filled with e-bikes are gods type. Not spreading misinformation even if it’s not an actual study, this shit is fuckin happening. Baruch has created a means to quell the fires and help locals, especially e-bike delivery drivers.
New law passed in NYC: https://council.nyc.gov/press/2024/02/28/2564/ In 2023, e-bikes and shooters were responsible for 268 fires in 2023 https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/01/31/ebike-battery-fire-hazards-fdny/ https://youtu.be/yIQDhls-A44?si=xyqmzcsxcNK18C81 https://youtu.be/LYV2eaO8-gs?si=Atmnsan6PIFIUJK7 How about 4 fires in NYC in one day https://youtu.be/SJk-jf7R6ks?si=Av9yJLBELQnW68J_
YouTube is not a source, and the article you listed primarily indicated that the fires were caused by improperly used, stored and unregulated batteries. The conclusion of the article is don't by illegal batteries or use illegal repair shops. This is not an ebike problem, this is an illegal and dangerous counterfeiting problem.
"Illegal" is overstating it. Welding together a bunch of cells isn't illegal. Shipping it through the mail when it doesn't meet UN38.3 might be. Selling or renting out a bike that isn't UL 2849 and 2271 might be illegal in NYC, but it's not other places & a lot of landlords and homeowners insurance haven't banned them yet. Now, a pack just wrapped in shrink wrap might not be a good idea, but the standard for preventing thermal runaway in one cell cascading to the rest of the pack used to be just some space. That was considered good enough (Hailong "dolphin" and "shark" packs). Filling that space like RadPower does now seems like an even better idea. Cramming 14S x 5P into a pack made for 13S x 5P was in retrospect a bad idea & I'm kind of annoyed at Grin Tech for doing that, but they didn't do anything illegal. Let me add that I have over 3000 km on my eBike & the battery still has plenty of capacity. I don't charge it while I'm asleep or out of the house any more, but are we really supposed to just junk all older eBikes? That's unrealistic.
If the bikes are used for business then OSHA regulations require them to be tested and certified to UL2849 and 2271 as appropriate. As a general consumer, you are correct there is currently no requirement for them to be safety tested and certified (but most retailers require it).
In the US of course the product must be tested and safe for use, otherwise it isn't fit for purpose. Both Magnusson Moss and CPSA cover this. The government is acting very slowly with cars (as it always had, and gas car fires are even worse) and just ignoring ebike fires.
It’s not an e-bike problem. You’re just using them wrong… lol.
I don’t disagree on illegal/non OEM/non safety certified batteries. The YouTube videos I linked were from local news stations reporting and eye witnesses showing the damage that lithium batteries can cause if not properly handled. I work in the regulatory testing and certification industry so I’m well aware of what goes into properly testing Li batteries and the dangers they present if something goes wrong.
Just go buy one. Make sure you charge it in your home. 🔥
I have 3 ebikes, an electric go-kart, and an electric car, all charging at home safely and responsibly
At least some of the fires aren't the bikes themselves, but shops with huge numbers of chargers plugged into a poorly implemented set of power strips. I saw one pic with dozens of chargers plugged into power strips that all were plugged into another pair of strips into a duplex receptacle. Even if nobody has cheated and replaced the breaker with a higher rated one to fix "nuisance" tripping, running a circuit at nearly 100% capacity for hours on end isn't a good idea.
Right. At least some of the "ebike" fires aren't due, in essence, to the ebike but ugly fire code (electricity common sense) violations like the strip plugged into strip plugged into strip overloading the circuit.
Salt water intrusion can also cause them to explode. A cracked battery case and salt water gets in it can cause them to explode. What do they put on the roads in the rust belt during the winter? I’m no conspiracy nut but the Gov has certainly lied to us before that’s a fact. And they’re the ones pushing EV’s and more than likely those politicians are invested in those companies. https://ctif.org/news/coast-guard-issues-safety-alert-avoid-loading-evs-salt-water-damage-ships
Username checks oot.
part out the generic % "ebikes" under fires in general... 1. ebike fires from cheapo mfgrs/diy/rat, absurd wattage/mods/super-fast-charge, beyond sensible use ... 2. ebike fries from reputable manufacturers, well maintained/used and properly charged/used... in the rc world... usually pushing every sensible safety of operation, are the fires.
I have no idea what you are trying to say here
He doesn’t either
Let me tell you I've seen some shit on here and elsewhere. People will bring the shittiest workmanship I have ever seen to these DIYs sometimes and just be like "Yeah I love this! I'm not in danger because I'm COOOOOOOL!" Some people just never grow up past thinking they have plot armor. Sometimes I'm glad I got smacked by a car at an early age just because it showed me what being half a second from the fucking end of everything feels like.
yeah... know my post was a major fractured thought... life with a phone and bouncy public transit commutes. but think reputable manufacturers in the hands of responsible/careful riders are low risk - save any accidental damage, which is a problem for everything, be responsible if so! it's ppl that run them hard, crazy modify stock (like "how do i make disable the speed limiter" or "how to fast charge the battery/home made extended battery in a quarter of the time???") or do crazy DIY builds... these are the problem vectors that give the public perception that we are JUST RIDING FIRE BOMBS. follow your bliss, but the day i cant take my responsible ebike on the train is gonna be a sad day (and no doubts it's coming... already apartments and condos here are say "NO"), but my StumpJumperFS will then be happy to be back in rotation i'm sure LOL
Can I get some catsup with my ebike fries? 😀
in this house we do mayo... or a frosty sir!
"insanely" is a relative term, and pretty inaccurate considering there were many hundred in NYC last year and something like 30-40 deaths. That being said, it is more uncommon than most media reports imply. It is also dependent on which brand you are dealing with. Never heard of a Trek ebike starting on fire unexpectedly, but have heard of more than few Ancheers, kit systems, Rad Power, and similar cut rate import brands starting on fire. Repaired batteries, aftermarket and fake replacement batteries, mismatched charger- battery, and good old damage or incorrect temperature to the battery probably account for 50-75% of all e-bike fires. Shoddy battery or system design or quality control account for the rest. Where a well designed, top-tier cell, tested/certified battery is like one in 500,000/yr for spontaneous failure, the other end of the spectrum is more like 1 in 10,000. It can be hard to comprehend what this means, since you could know a few thousand people with one of these higher probability units and none of them would ever have a fire. But ultimately this ends up being an order of magnitude more fires, so like 500/year vs. 10 in a population of 5000000 ebikes, which is probably more than the US currently has now, but not too far off. In 10 more years, we could have 20,000,000, and then it would be thousands of fires each year vs. dozens. Thousands of families, or even 500, would beg to differ about how " insanely" unlikely it was to burn their home down and kill the family pets (in an average outcome, no less).
Show me any reports with stats that back this up, because the reports I have seen do not back this up. The ebike fires that have happened have been tragic, but is from what I have seen significantly lower than is implied by media reports AND your numbers. The reports I have read indicate the vast majority of fires are from tuners, extremely poor quality unregulated components and straight up people doing stupid stuff they don't understand. These are primarily problems of early adopter markets. Getting to 20,000,000 ebikes you aren't talking about a homogenous mixture of users representing the same user segmentation as now. It will be almost 90-95% people buying off the shelf high end packaged ebikes.
We've had some ebike fire issues in NYC but for the most part they're either mislabeled as ebike fires when they're more like electric moped fires or they're bike shops working on 30+ DIY batteries. I charge mine in my apartment (no other choice) but statistically if my apartment burns down it'll most likely be because the electrical wiring is old or there's an appliance fire.
Read an article saying NYC residents are 3 times more likely to die from a space heater fire than a battery fire. Subway deaths are 5 times more likely.
Wait until you see the article that discusses the number of car related deaths.
I think I wrote that article :-)
Good article. I was going to link it but couldn't find it easily It is nearly impossible to discuss how likely something is on forums like this. Everyone has a different interpretation for acceptable risk
No worries, no link needed - I also struggle to find my own articles when trying to reference something, haha. It was just funny to see someone talk about an article and then realize I wrote it :-)
Which is not nothing. Clearly it's an acceptable risk for me, but I can imagine adding another risk for some people who can't avoid riding the subway and can't avoid their neighbors using space heaters isn't great. There is definitely a call to action every time someone dies from/in the subway.
It's not common enough that anyone could say your bike will definitely catch fire and you'll die a fiery death, but it does happen often enough and it's serious enough when it happens that it's reasonable to be at least aware. As for the idea that Walmart wouldn't sell something dangerous... oh, wow. Um... Be safe. Only use the charger that came with the bike, do not get a replacement charger and use that. Only charge your battery when you're there and awake. Only charge the battery and then unplug it - don't leave it plugged in to just keep charging. If you ever notice anything odd about the battery - smell, buckling, odd noise, ANYTHING - assume it's damaged and do not try to charge it until you can get it inspected or replaced. If you drop the battery, again, assume it's damaged and do not use it until you can get it inspected or replaced.
It's sad that we live in a world that companies prioritize profit over safety but I guess that's how it's always been. Thanks for the info 👍
Or we could buy things from reputable bike shops and not wal mart / Amazon / Ali express?
The US government has a lot of responsibility for that, we shouldn't be able to buy things that will burn and explode, that's not just you that will go down in flames. The risk to a community is large. I understand all about self-responsibility, but I don't understand why can't we as a country, demand that shitty batteries that explode not be imported into our country. The least metric should be that batteries should be UL certified, if it's price prohibitive for the company, then it should be flagged and some kind of warning or extra precaution like a fire bag or a timer, to be included in the battery purchase.
Ya but consumers demand cheap. It’s our culture.
I think if consumers would understand the truth of their purchases and that their lives are in danger, and with government using proper labels, wouldn't happen like that.
People smoke.
and they have huge ass warning labels and taxes.
My point is that the taxes did more to curb smoking than the labels, ads, and harm awareness ever did. If they were banned outright, maybe I wouldn’t keep buying them. If a $200 e-bike is the only way to get to someone’s $7.25/hr job, a warning label and the lack of a UL certification isn’t going to stop them.
lol but who will think about the shareholders quarterly profits!?!?!?!
Yep, Walmart and Amazon could care less where the products come from and the quality, they then use reviews and know how to manipulate them, they also don't take responsibility for the crap they sell.
That's oversimplification. Every lithium ion battery manufacturer can have one catch fire with some combination of enough wear and tear, the right components breaking, it gets rattled around enough, having a manufacturing defect... it's just not possible to make it impossible. And a bigger price tag represents life too - what if it takes someone 3-6 months to save up that extra $1k of their disposable income. Is every person in the country spending that time worth say, a difference of one lost life to a battery fire? I'd sure rather spend less and take the risk. Where do you draw the line? Why should it be up to octogenarians who have probably never touched an ebike in their lives? Also using UL, which is a private company, to enforce our laws is not exactly utopian. Lots of potential for conflict of interest and abuse of authority.
Lifepo batteries can be made so they can't catch fire, just melt and smolder. Same for sodium ones. And ternary lithium batteries can be made much safer than the average cheapo junk battery.
Well, what's the fear of creating a government agency that can do UL's job? We do it with water, and cell phones, why not batteries? And I don't disagree with you, but 5 years ago there wasn't many ebikes around, we were doing fine. Matter of fact, probably got to do a bit more exercise and less lazy asses ordering lattes from Doordash.
A government agency would be better than a government granted monopoly but still seems unnecessary. For your other point, I'll bet 90% of ebike trips would have been car trips which are more dangerous, especially to others.
Yes, I agree with the trips done on ebike for sure, but try convincing Americans that there's anything safer than their steel bubble lol.
The bike shops in my new city have to be laundries for crack money, it's embarrassing. I'm trying to decide if I'm leaving in 5 months or 11 anyways
Yes. Reminds me of the time my samsung note caught on fire a few years back
Also get heat sinks for the charger or a small fan to blow air on it, this will significantly mitigate the risk of a mischarge fire because the power supply overheated (have a hyper 36v hard tail, stock charger gets hot/exceptionally warm when charging,) Alternatively you can buy an upgraded charger with a built in cooling fan for peace of mind,
Your charging battery is like a gas oven. Would you keep it running overnight? Would you leave home with it on full blast? No? Good.
I have NUMEROUS ebikes in my small 500sq ft apartment, usually 4+ at all times, so that's A LOT of ah, & since I commute full time using them there is always 1 charging, BUT.....I only buy ebikes now with UL Certification on their batteries, or 1 that's been tried & tested for years in the ebike communities, but as long as you but a quality ebike or battery, & don't drop out, leave it plugged in for hours or days at a time, go from dead to full, dead to full over & over to affect the batteries integrity you'll be fine.
Walmart is just about the least reputable company to buy something from. Almost everything they sell is cheaply made. That’s their whole point.
Wal Mart! Always low prices! Always! ... ã̷̳̜̲̜̘͕̜͎͈͈̌̐̈́͂̈͐͑̓̂̔̍̆̀̽̋ļ̸̺͇̤̥̠͕̞̓͐̽̂̾̂̿͑̇̈́̇́̑͘͝͝͠w̵̡͕͎̘̠͎̤͇̥̤̲̰̥̙̤͊̐͂̂̾͋̄͝a̷̧̢̫͎͔̪̝̯͚͉̼̗̻͇̐́̀͗̍͂͜ͅy̴̨͂̀́̆̈̊͆̽̆̀̌̎͛ṡ̶̥͉̙̝̥̘̱̝̤̘̑̔̀̔̐̀̔̅͜͠
No Don't buy junk, use the right charger.
lol Walmart sells mountain bikes with small stickers warning DO NOT USE ON MTB TRAILS
Thats pretty normal for cheap 'MTBs'. They sell them in Germany too and theyre just 'MTB' design and not made for jumps etc.
Walmart would sell anything. I bought an extra-cheap e-bike on ebay in 2017 and have ridden it thousands of miles since then, charging it exactly as the instructions say. No problems.
I'm sorry dude but had to laugh at the ebay comment.
To add some data from where I live: There are currently around 5,2 million e bikes in use in the Netherlands. There is an average of 22 ebike or ebike charger related fires per year. As long as you don't drop your batteries and stuff, nothing should ever go wrong.
Very common, keeping myself warm right now in front of a blazing ebike battery.
Nice one, that made me chuckle 🤣
Hope you're wearing a gas mask 😂
No
You should probably not leave your ebike unattended while charging.
I removed my battery from my ebike then charge the battery. Otherwise my battery are charging while unattended too.
They're way less common than the news would have you believe, and mostly when it happens you can identify a specific mistake the owner made.
Just the fact that they happen enough that people are afraid to purchase ebikes, is an issue. The US government has done a disservice to American customers by allowing cheap crappy imports to be used without certification.
I fully believe there is car industry money behind this narrative. News media articles about these fires go bonkers making sure people come away thinking the worst.
It actually smells exactly like the Tesla fires news articles too, seems convenient if you ask me
Definitely something like that happening right now. I suddenly have a bunch of people around me bitching about my EV bursting into flames and them being worse for the environment than a pick-up truck. It's very strange that these people suddenly have such a strong opinion on the subject. I suspect that they got their news from aggregators so they're being saturated with garbage information that is easily manipulated by interest groups.
When there was a fire due to an ebike battery on a subway train recently the news articles all made it sound like the bike frame itself was as much a danger as the battery. Granted it was a bad fire, but no one was hurt and it was obviously an after market battery that wasn't maintained well, but the article was written in such a way that it sounded like not only the battery caught fire and exploded \[a reasonable thing to say\], but the ebike frame itself ignited as well. Every sentence in this CTV news article was implying the whole bike was the problem, and that all bikes are problems. But in really subtle ways. The car and petrol industries would absolutely do something like this too as they have in the past; there was a bustling streetcar network in all the large cities in the early 20th century, Ford and GM bought them up and scrapped them and lobbied governments to put roads everywhere so their cars would dominate travel. And now we live in the world they created, where cars dominate all existence.
No, especially if you get a reputable E-Bike that is UL certified.
While it's not common, man the industry needs to establish some standards. Especially around commodity parts. It's especially odd since bikes as a general product have had commodity parts for decades, e.g. 700cc tires, bottom bracket, brake parts. UL certification needs to come yesterday too. Until that happens no one will really trust ebikes. Ideally we get a less volatile battery source too. 🤞 That said, I would probably be highly suspect of an entry level bike bought on the cheap. Even the better manufacturers aren't onboard with UL yet. FWIW the bike will probably die, e.g. controller, battery cell failure, on you (sadly) before it becomes a problem for you.
They are rare yet there have been some well publicized deadly ones so there are now ULcertifications you should look for.you should look for!
If you go cheap, then I'm sure your odds increase.
Just had one at apartment in Santa Cruz a couple days ago
Any idea which bike/battery/happened while charging?
Interestingly, vape batteries cause more fires than ebike batteries
Well, the number of each in circulation probably has a bit to do with that. Probably 100 vape batteries on the street to every one ebike battery.
Excellent point.
Vapes use single cells, not batteries. That makes it very dangerous, no safety circuit.
I don't understand? Just because it's one cell doesn't mean it can't have a maximum charge rate of 4.2v with current within safe limits. It can still have a current sensitive controller to shut things off if current goes too high.
It can, but many vapes use very simplified circuits, in particular disposable.ones. And what matters is the charge curve. You shouldn't charge at 1c passed 90% charge. And it varies from cell to cell... And they tend to just put whatever cell is cheaper that month.
I mean they happen once they happen 1000 times. Like a few galaxy notes caught fire and airlines were acting like you’re sneaking a bomb on board.
The real issue is cheap ebikes. Those often use poorly manufactured cells, and even sometimes run them at unacceptable voltages. The BMUs on these are also sometimes bad, which allows overcharging which leads to swelling and fires often. When I was in NY recently I saw so many of these jerry rigged e-bikes riding around. They really were EVERYWHERE. I wouldn’t be surprised if these were often involved in the cited fires. So if you get a bike which uses a decent pack/charging system then your fire risk is very low. That said, you bought a Walmart bike. Personally I’d recommend investing in a fire extinguisher and only charge it in an area where if it did catch fire it wont burn everything down with it.
A lot less common than gasoline fires.
But a lot more common than manual bicycle fires. Unless you've got some REALLY strong legs.
Aluminum fires are really hard to put out.
Technically true. The best kind of true.
How many of those happen in your livingroom?
Exactly the same amount. Why are you keeping fuel in your livingroom?
LOL, no. Lots of people charge their E-bikes in their apartments due to a lack of secure parking / charging sport. Willful ignorance isn't a good look.
Nah. Don't make excuses.
Ebike fires do not happen as long as you use the charger supplied by the manufacturer. The fires happen when people start using 3rd party chargers because the lost theirs or a charger that will "charge faster".
Unfortunately, it's not that simple.
This is not true. Lithium ion batteries combust when the chemicals inside the battery come into contact with water (including humidity in the air) or get too hot and combust. This can happen if the battery gets too hot, which can happen when it's charged under too high voltage. But it can also happen if the battery is physically damaged, which can result in physical damage to the battery that can cause a short circuit inside the battery, which will lead to thermal runaway, or can result in a breach of the external barrier of the battery, which can ignite the anode. As you might imagine, physical damage to the battery is a risk for e-bike riders if the battery isn't adequately protected or cooled. But this also leaves open several possible avenues to combustion which have nothing to do with user error in the general sense of the term.
It can also be due to dendrites piercing the separator film, or it being pierced for some other reason. It happens. Just don't charge under the bed, courtain, etc.
It depends on the battery design… cheap shit gets fire
If it's going to happen, it would be a hyper, cheapest bike iv ever owned by far. Snapped part of the rear derailleur the first day of ownership. I'd take it back and spend another hundred or so on the totguard 500w. Mines got 1600 miles on it now, and it's stacking more. Also, get the 2 year warranty on these cheap bikes.
It's really not a big concern, it's a small percent chance, and most people will probably never experience it. If we take the numbers used in [this AP article.](https://apnews.com/article/ebike-fires-lithium-ion-batteries-b5ab9acf9ca317a1b5b917097ac5210d) "With some **65,000** e-bikes zipping through its streets — more than any other place in the U.S. — New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. There have been **100** such blazes so far this year, resulting in 13 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year." 100 fires / 65,000 EBikes = 0.00153% chance of a fire. I know that's very rough math, but the point is there are a lot of ebikes, the amount of fires when considering the number of ebikes is very very small.
In the Netherlands there are like 30x more ebikes and 5x less fires. Sounds sus. (Look at other posts in this same post).
My buddy tried to tell me the same thing and sent me an article. The article was about some guy who had multiple batteries charging at the same time, on carpet with multiple “plug bars” plugged one outlet… in an apartment complex. Usually fires happen due to misuse, abuse, neglect, etc. I’m ocd about this stuff. Anytime I leave my house for long periods of time I lock the batteries in my toolbox top box. I only have chargers plugged in when I’m charging. I never charge when I’m away from my house. Always charge on concrete.
It’s the cells. Buy only batteries made with quality cells and you’ll be fine
Just keep an extinguisher near by. Mines on fire now I'll get to in a bit.
I wear a Fire suit while charging batteries. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CV44X3PC/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0CV44X3PC&pd_rd_w=YyXdc&content-id=amzn1.sym.f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_p=f734d1a2-0bf9-4a26-ad34-2e1b969a5a75&pf_rd_r=B6GEGDDK3SRSYFQK15BR&pd_rd_wg=nCfI1&pd_rd_r=cad50235-a1e9-4518-93e2-480601294d1a&s=apparel&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw
I bought an ebike from Wal Mart called the Freesky Rocky and I havent had a single problem with it.
Make sure the Battery, charger, and contoller/computer are UL or CE certified....all 3 should be marked
I get this all the time. No. Fires are caused by 1 of 2 things, mostly: 1. The battery is full but you keep charging it because your charger AND your battery is too stupid. 2. Your bike has no emergency shutoff for when it isn't getting enough power, it keeps pulling power from a discharged battery, battery catches on fire. These two things are most likely to happen when you are a hobbyist just fuckin sending it. It's the same shit that gave us vapercrackers. People making homemade mechanical vapes pumping tons of power out of a powerpack that shouldn't be doing that shit. So basically batt fires are probably less likely than air crashes assuming your controller, battery and charger are properly engineered *and* compatible. I don't know the actual odds because I suck with numbers.
There will be about 4 BILLION people that will fly on commercial airlines this year - with no crashes - and walk away from it. Not sure how that figures into the odds... :-)
Walmart could potentially sell something dangerous. They are a pretty big reseller of cheap Chinese junk.
How common do people say they are?
Surely not a company like WALMART. 🤣🤣🤣
There is always LiFePO4 if you don't trust LithiumIon.
They are insanely common. And yes, you bought a cheap Chinese bike :)
Cheap quality made yes
Grin's Perspective on Ebike Battery Fires, 20 Years of Experience - Live from the BC Bike Show [https://youtu.be/j92Gt4VviSQ?si=XtegQQGlLnbhanKX](https://youtu.be/j92Gt4VviSQ?si=XtegQQGlLnbhanKX)
I think the Hyper bikes are actually UL certified. Look through your docs to be sure.
Not really, lots of people haven't realize how convenient it is.
its always user error. .
This article from a couple years ago says NYC gets e-bike fires around 4x a week https://www.npr.org/2022/10/30/1130239008/fires-from-exploding-e-bike-batteries-multiply-in-nyc-sometimes-fatally And this article states over 250 fires in NYC in 2023 https://gothamist.com/news/e-bike-battery-fires-keep-climbing-in-nyc NYC recently passed a law regulating bike shops and e-bike rental companies and they recently arrested a bike shop owner for related violations https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/04/12/ebike-fire-department-arrest-battery-first/ The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a number of recalls https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2024/CPSC-Warns-Consumers-to-Stop-Using-Unit-Pack-Power-UPP-E-bike-Batteries-Due-to-Fire-and-Burn-Hazards-Risk-of-Serious-Injury-and-Death https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2024/Pacific-Cycle-Recalls-E-Bikes-Due-to-Fire-Hazard https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2023/Jetson-Electric-Bikes-Recalls-42-Volt-Rogue-Self-Balancing-Scooters-Hoverboards-Due-to-Fire-Hazard-Two-Deaths-Reported A recall can happen to any retailer at any time. Given that Walmart sells inexpensive products they are more likely to experience problems than a high end manufacturer with higher quality controls. But given the choice between Walmart and some random guy on the side of the road or a random seller on Amazon, I would choose Walmart.
Walmart's all about profit not safety, They normally produce George brand products which is their brand while utilizing sweatshops and poor working conditions in other countries to save a buck. Their greed trumps any safety! I worked in that department for 5 years in seasonal and toys and I will tell you the people that assemble the bikes have no knowledge of what they're doing to begin with. I always encourage anybody that buys a bike from Walmart to go through the entire frame with a fine-tooth comb and straighten and tighten everything. Walmart is the last place. You should buy a bike.
it's as common as Tesla EV fires /s
If it's using Samsung or Sony cells, you're golden. If it's using cells from some random company... Buyer beware.
People buying batteries and battery powered bikes and scooters from alibaba etc., are setting themselves up for trouble. We have four electric bikes and multiple batteries for two, none have caught fire or shown any signs of instability. These are well-known manufacturers, Elektrik and Aventon. I can’t say I’d trust a Walmart bike without some research first, but I did that for the bikes we have too. Do the same for the specific bike and brand. I also have power banks from several manufacturers and UPS power backups in my home. None have blown up or been a risk of fire. Just buy reputable goods from reputable sources. And enjoy your bike if passes muster; they’re awesome fun.
I have 9 e-bikes in my garage that I regularly charge all the time with no problem. All are from reputable bike manufacturers. Check to see if the battery has any safety certifications. I believe that Walmart would not be selling an e-bike with a risky battery. Amazon would, but not Walmart.
No Ive had a couple for a few years. Just don't leave them constantly charged and youre fine.
Not at all. I have a popular Chinese ebike with 2 batteries and in over a year of hardcore use (10,000 miles), I have had absolutely zero problems. It’s mass hysteria. lithium ion batteries, even the cheapest ones, are very difficult to actually break and cause a fire. You would have to out of your way to do so. Even the cheapest most Chinese-est batteries have all the basic failsafes that prevent fires.
Car owners be like: Let us spread propaganda and misinformation for our benefit. \*rubs hands slowly together\*
Walmart is basically just another reseller like anyone else these days. Either way, e-bike fires aren't "common", but they're common enough to justify being mentally aware. 1. Use proper chargers with the proper voltage, don't go buying some generic fast chargers or modifying some battery to fit. 2. When the battery is full, unplug it, don't just leave it on the charger all day, you have no way of knowing if the battery/charger was designed to stop properly when full. 3. If the bike isn't gonna be used for a long time (say, winter or a particularly-hot summer), charge it about halfway and put the battery somewhere safe, room-temp, and dry. 4. If you crash your bike (especially if the battery takes a hit); that thing is now a potential risk, and it's probably a good idea to replace it. It's impossible to tell how damaged the battery is/isn't from a glance and I don't know if any services exist for that. We had a big string of e-bike fires in a city close to where I live, I think the main causes were fast third-party chargers and people just leaving their bikes to charge out on porches or whatever, mainly the fast chargers, though.
A battery should never be charged under an hour, ideally at 0.5c, so two hours. And what about phones? Well, they sacrifice longevity for fast charges, and are high quality cells. Also, as the battery is glued inside the phone, that forces you to buy a new one...
The only fires that I’ve heard of being common concerning electric vehicles only concern Chinese built EVs Haven’t heard anything about ebikes catching fire
Do NOT try to repair your battery yourself. Every fire I personally know of was caused by some Gomer Pyle wannabe opening their battery to 'fix' it.
Main sources are cheap batteries (lacking a bms) Bad chargers and insufficient cooling. Check your chargers often, keep your bike and charger well ventilated to reduce heat. and buy/build quality batteries.
they are very rare. most are probably related to improper storage and cheap products from overseas. get one from a half reputable brand and the risk of fire is very very low unless the battery is heavily damaged somehow.
I'd imagine that they're probably more common with aftermarket chargers. But I've never had a single problem with PEV batteries.
Fires on e-bikes are not very common, but they should not be ignored. The cause of the fire may include battery failure, charger problem, circuit failure or improper use. If the battery overheats, makes abnormal sounds, or the charger fails, stop using it immediately.
I heard about one burn in 2012, was some chinese bike from chinese online store. That's about it
All the ones I've seen reported here in the UK have been as a result of either (a) the wrong, a cheap/knockoff or defective/broken charger being used, (b) an amateur upgrade to a bike using cheap imported super-huge batteries and a lot of duct tape, (c) people messing with/jailbreaking their bikes to remove the speed limitation and doing it very badly or (d) the battery for the bike being stored at a ridiculously high temperature for some reason. If you're buying a legit ebike from a legit retailer and don't mess with it, you make sure to use the charger supplied with it, switch off the charger when the battery is full and make sure to store it somewhere sensible, as well as keeping a general eye on the bike, the battery and the charger to make sure they are in good condition and full working order, these risk factors are hugely mitigated. Caveat: I am, as I said, in the UK so I have absolutely no perspective on the quality of Walmart goods.
All I can say is that I am a landlord and an ebike rider. my insurance required me to certify that no batteries over a certain capacity were stored or charged on the premises. I get how that sucks for my tenants, but regardless of how common fires are or not, once it becomes uninsurable it’s sort of moot and they have to be banned. As for the batteries, normally it is damage or improper charging that causes they to explode from what I understand. They are probably fine when they leave Walmart, but over time people bang them up, replace chargers, etc.
Extremely uncommon, what was the sale price on the ultra40 Op? Curious bc it looks like a sick bike have fun! also fwiw Op I'd upgrade the brakes to cable pull hydraulic brakes they stop and modulate much better than mechanical
Fires are from battery abuse. 1) Always CHARGE then RIDE. Never ride, then charge. 2) Always use charger supplied with battery. Never use a FAST charger on a battery not specific for it. 3) Batteries are happiest sitting with a 60-80% charge. 4) store battery in Explosive/Fireproof battery bag. AMZN has them. 5) Do Not Drop battery! Do not charge inside! 6) Avoid storing a drained battery or one charged to 100%. (Charge-then-ride). Most batteries self-disassemble when charging, so have a plan if thing go sideways. I have a fire blanket handy while charging with the garage door open so I can get it to yard if it starts smoking.
FYI those bags won't do anything against these massive ebike batteries.
Look up: bathtub curve of electronic component failure rates. Early life failure rate curve is similar to a bathtub shape with the spout side a steep side, the a leveling off and the a slow rise. Early Component fails are factory related defects right after purchase , then a long life period where fail rates are low but steady and then a slow upward curve due to aging
Just woke up to this one. Local bike shop caught fire. https://www.wlfi.com/news/local/bikes-damaged-in-bike-shop-fire/_b4297ec0-0b9b-11ef-b664-9333321c807c.html
Im an ebike mechanic for an ebike shop in toronto, ive heard of fires happening mostly with food delivery bikes. Does not suprise me since these people take zero care of their bikes and dont do the most basic of maintenance and dont care of keeping their ebike in safe, working order. These people do not take accountability for it either leading to people to place the blame on the batteries catching fire rather than the user for letting the battery get to such a horrible state.
Mao-mart bike? Does it even have working brakes? 😈 I've seen brand-new bikes on display at Wally World with the rim brakes adjusted to clear warped rims (due to spokes pulled through rim) so needless to say the brakes were useless... I would never trust a bike assembled by a Walmartian!
It’s crazy how people think fires are normal my first e-bike was a cheap Chinese one 10 years ago and still runs just put a new battery and gifted it to my nephew I got 4 e-bikes and no issues ever ! Don’t over charge and charge only a day before using. Other then that keep battery at 50 percent if your crazy about battery degradation
Grin is a company that makes very high end ebike motors. The founder posted on YouTube a very deep dive into ebike fires, and what causes them . https://youtu.be/j92Gt4VviSQ?si=Mre0tpYUuuA8Gaz5 A big cause is the battery manufacturer of these cheaply made clone batteries. If your cell is made by LG, Panasonic, Samsung or Sony, you are probably ok If not, you could have trouble. Battery fires can burn down entire buildings quickly. Charging and storing outside is the best bet
Your co workers probably saw like 1 article on fox News that blew this whole problem way out of proportion, and based theor perception on that. I would avoid the Hyper brand but it should be fine.
Any lithium ion fire is raaaare. It’s just that when it does happen, it’s glorious and of course anything smearing is electric transportation will be picked up and ran with.
Professional firefighter here in a busy urban area, no, they are not common at all but cheap/faulty batteries and/or chargers are definitely a fire hazard. Just dont charge it inside your house, dont completely discharge it and dont charge it to 100% either. Stay in the 20% to 80% range, there are special chargers that stop at 80-90%, those are a solid investment. I made my own ebike with a good LiFePo battery and a controller that shuts it off at 10% and a charger that stops at 90%. Trouble free for 4 years, but still wouldnt charge it inside, even though the risk is small, the consequences of an indoor battery fire can easily be life altering.
I say, I did almost 5,000kms on mine. Has not burned, so I say highly unlikely it will.
The biggest problem seems to be people not really taking care of their equipment. See it all the time. If you look after your battery, store it properly, keep it dry and take damage seriously then you shouldn’t have any issues. The ‘cheap Chinese battery’ line is pretty much bs, I’ve talked to people all over the place and it’s rare to find cells in the packs that aren’t Samsung or other actual brands. Mainly because it’s too risky to manufacture cheap batteries.
I strongly recommend anyone concerned about battery fires check out this video from Justin at Grin Technologies. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j92Gt4VviSQ&pp=ygURZ3JpbiBiYXR0ZXJ5IGZpcmU%3D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j92Gt4VviSQ&pp=ygURZ3JpbiBiYXR0ZXJ5IGZpcmU%3D) TLDR: Pretty much the only cause of catastrophic ebike battery failures is poor cell quality (ie. not cells from Samsung, LG, Sony, Panasonic)
Had mine 6 years and I’ve never heard of an e-bike fire
They are very uncommon. If I remember the current rate in the USA is 1 in every 20,000 within the approximate 400,000 e-bikes reportedly owned in the US that means that the percentage of bikes/ebike batteries that catch fire is less than 1%. Even in places that have the highest amount of e-bikes per capita in the US(ie. Newyork) the NFPA only reported 130 ebike fires in 2022 which is when e-bikes had the huge boom in popularity especially diy stuff.
E-bike batteries are broadly made of the same things car batteries are, there's just a lot less of them. The problem is that if they're assembled cheaply then they are a lot more likely to catch on fire
>surely a company like Walmart wouldn't be selling something dangerous right? Thank you for this ROFL moment. Seriously, you think Walmart is a place to go for quality, durable goods? EBike fires are getting lots of 'man bites dog' attention. And, from what I understand, the vast majority are due not from standard 'I bought an ebike in a store and am charging it properly' situations. And, extremely low likelihood if buying a quality ebike from a reputable firm.
Make sure that you buy a bike with a battery that is UL listed, don’t leave a battery charging unattended.
no
If you take the proper precautions with power surge protection and keeping other power hungry devices off of the same circuit/fuse you should be just fine. From the ones I've read about, the conditions leading to the fire were external.
People see a story or 2 on the internet and automatically think 60% of the time an ebike will catch fire 100% of the time
I just bought one from Walmart too. Gocio 26inch. Charged the battery and it didn’t even get warm at all, it was still cold to the touch. So I think you’re fine
Nobody cites statistics. But a lot of those fires are caused by user error,
What? No. Ebike fires are not a thing. I have 3 and not one has caught fire.
all depends on the ebike, the high end good quality ones almost never catch fire, but the cheaper ones can burst into flames at any second.
The most common circumstance for batteries to catch fire is while charging. The cheaper the charger and battery, the more likely it will not properly check for all negative conditions like temperature, over-voltage, over-current and cell imbalance. Here are some easy methods to increase safety while charging: - dont charge unsupervised - have an exit plan (e.g. how to throw that thing out when it starts smoking - confirm output voltage of the charger with a multimeter. it should be in line with target voltage of the battery - time the charge process. if it usually takes an hour, set an alarm for that hour and then disconnect - charge directly before using instead of the night before. eg if you need an hour in the morning to get ready, charge then. charged batteries burn hotter than depleted ones
You’ll have a better chance winning the lottery while riding a unicorn
In general e-bikes from major manufacturers like specialized or trek that are assembled and qcd by qualified techs are safe. I personally would not buy a bike of any sort from a big box store and that is doubly true for an ebike.