The e-bike revolution started with the pandemic and has been hailed as the answer to everything from traffic congestion to greenhouse gas emissions to fitness to depression. Indeed, it has the potential to spark real change, but there’s a deadlier side that is putting off some consumers.Get more news about Custom Electric Bicycle Battery,you can vist our website!

We’ve all seen the headlines over the last couple of years. “Mom and two kids killed in fire caused by e-bike battery”; “4 dead, 2 critically injured in NYC e-bike store fire”; “FDNY says e-bike fires on pace to double this year.”

The prevalence of warnings about fires sparked by e-bikes and other light electric vehicles is in stark contrast to the current urban zeitgeist touting electric micromobility as the answer to creating safer streets, more efficient transportation and greener cities. So which is it? Are e-bikes and e-scooters going to kill us all in a lithium-induced blaze? Or will they save the world by converting would-be drivers to micromobility users?
Amid the hype and the hellfire, there’s been a lot of confusion around what types of vehicles are at risk of starting a fire, why lithium battery fires are so prevalent and so deadly, how to stay safe and what governments are doing to alleviate the risk as electric bikes and scooters take hold.

The bad news is that e-bike, e-scooter and e-moped battery fires aren’t going away anytime soon. The good news is that we can stop the spread by raising awareness about why they happen and how to avoid them.
Why do battery fires happen?
There’s a chemical and a practical answer to this question. The chemical answer is that lithium-ion cells undergo a process called thermal runaway, which results in a sharp increase of battery cell temperature and pressure, accompanied by the release of flammable gas. The flammable gas can ignite from the battery’s high temperature, resulting in a quick fire that’s hard to put out and emits toxic fumes.

Experts who spoke to TechCrunch say cheap e-bikes and low-quality batteries — often imported from China — are more likely to explode due to a lower-quality manufacturing process. If battery companies cut corners or use cheap materials, there’s more likely to be a defect that can lead the cells to expand and bulge, according to Leo Raudys, president and CEO of Call2Recycle, a nonprofit battery-recycling program. If they bulge, they can burst, which can also cause thermal runaway.

“You just have to remember, you get what you pay for,” Raudys told TechCrunch. “These batteries are highly engineered devices, and if you’re only spending a couple hundred bucks on a battery, you’re probably getting one that’s cutting corners in a number of different places.”

In New York City, where food delivery workers rely on e-bikes to do their jobs, fires have been increasing at a startling rate — doubling each year from 2020 to 2022, according to Fire Department of New York data. As of July 3, 2023, there have been 114 investigations into lithium ion fires, 74 injuries and 13 deaths. That’s 13 deaths this year as a result of lithium batteries, compared to six in 2022 and four in 2021. While the FDNY doesn’t break down their stats into what types of devices caused the fires, 80 of the fires occurred in structures like homes, buildings and offices.

Many have speculated that many of the fires happened because so-called deliveristas — gig delivery workers with low incomes — have purchased cheap vehicles online or secondhand in order to do their jobs. Not only are those bikes and batteries off to a bad start already by dint of being cheap, but they’re also put through their paces.