Calls have grown for increased regulation of e-scooters and e-bikes following an increasing number of building fires from lithium-ion batteries in London.
Tower Hamlets Council said an e-bike or e-scooter catches fire its area every month on average, with one fatality in March, after which a coroner wrote to the Office for Product Standards and Safety (OPSS) asking for further safety standards to be introduced.
The London Assembly Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee said three people have died in London in fires believed to have been caused by a failure of an e-bike battery, while 51 people have been injured this year.
Tower Hamlets called for improved legislation, more funding for local authorities to create safe charging spaces, more robust sampling and examination on importation of lithium batteries - including a national registration body for businesses providing them - and more research.
Mayor Lutfur Rahman said: ‘As we see more and more e-bikes and e-scooters on our city streets, we’re also seeing more and more fires caused by their batteries - which are putting lives at risk.
‘Given that 80% of homes in Tower Hamlets are flats, it’s a particular concern because of the rapid rate at which fire could spread from home to home.’
Richard Tapp, Tower Hamlets borough commander at London Fire Brigade, said: ‘It’s incredibly concerning we’re continuing to see a rise in incidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters. When these batteries and chargers fail, they do so with ferocity and because the fires develop so rapidly the situation can quickly become incredibly serious.’
The council said it had written to ministers on the issue and received a reply from Kevin Hollinrake, minister for enterprise at the Department for Business and Trade, who said the safety of consumers is ‘a top priority for the Government’ and that the OPSS is ‘undertaking a safety study to better understand the causes of product failures and the risks presented as a result’.
On Monday the London Assembly Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning Committee called on the department to outline what action it is taking on the issue, including an expected timeline for achieving better regulation.
It said the key issue is unregulated products bought online that are usually cheap in comparison with those that meet UK standards, adding that it is particularly concerned that unsafe e-scooter or e-bike charging is taking place in multiple occupancy or multi-storey residential buildings.
Committee chair Anne Clarke AM said: ‘E-scooters and e-bikes have the potential to offer quick travel across the city, with minimal carbon footprint.
'However, we are hugely concerned that some of the batteries in e-bike kits that are being bought online are not regulated and could be putting lives at risk.
‘With many Londoners living in homes of multiple occupancy or multi-storey residential buildings, this could not only be a risk to the owner but others living around them.’
