E-Bike Batteries Keep Exploding. What’s the Solution?

[ichitan]

E-Bike Batteries Keep Exploding. What’s the Solution?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egq2qzk9qRo


New evidence on e-bike and e-scooter fires

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLaBranpRV8


New eBike Battery Safety Laws

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBZkkGl91pk


If you have an electric car or bike, you may have difficulty renting a place to live. Landlords don't want fires in their properties. There is also a possibility you could be killed.

If you don't really need an electric bike now, I suggest you wait until improvements are made, and they are safer.

[ichitan]

Chinese E-Bikes are Exploding like Crazy - Self Destructing Spectacularly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpNCii-OTqw

[Lss555]

Damn is it just overheating of the batteries or something that’s causing this?

[ichitan]

(09-28-2023, 12:32 PM)Lss555 Wrote:  Damn is it just overheating of the batteries or something that’s causing this?

In many cases it is overheating, due to some kind of malfunction.

This is fairly new technology. Manufacturers did not expect this many fires.

Now that it has become obvious, they need to go back and redesign the batteries, and the electrical system, to make safe electric bikes. Expect it to take some time for research, design changes, and manufacture of safe electric bikes.

The same thing has been happening with electric cars. Everybody involved in making batteries for electric cars and bikes, is going back and researching how to make them safe.

Tesla is closing one of its battery manufacturing plants for three months. One of the reasons is to upgrade it, to produce a much larger number of batteries. Changing the design of batteries to minimize fires, would also be part of it.

Ford has halted construction of its battery manufacturing plant. When they can make safe batteries, expect construction to resume.

[ichitan]

If you want a better idea of the seriousness of battery fires. Look at the ships carrying cars, that have been destroyed by fires. Many ships, worth many millions of dollars each, have been destroyed by car battery fires. Many car manufacturers have lost hundreds of cars in these fires, worth millions of dollars. Shipping companies have lost too much money for this to continue. Car manufacturers have lost too much money for this to continue. Insurance companies have lost too much money for this to continue. There have been people killed in some of these fires.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUTiJsoFNgE

Every company that makes batteries for cars and bikes, is in a mad rush to work out how to make safe batteries.

Tesla should have their upgraded factory operating early in the new year.

If you want an electric bike, but don't need it yet, I suggest waiting until this is over, and bikes come with batteries that don't catch on fire.

[ichitan]

Here is another electric bike news story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyY-tnohLiY

[tc2wheel]

Too much fearmongering.
It is far more important for everyone to know how to process the statistics and pay attention to the whole picture.
https://youtu.be/Kk3Bg2BxOJk?si=5CV9ULDOign0Epog

[Lss555]

Ah they’ll probably get it fixed soon electric just took off all of a sudden there, and now that it’s such a big business they’ll have loads people finding out how to fix the batteries

[ichitan]

(09-30-2023, 02:45 PM)Lss555 Wrote:  Ah they’ll probably get it fixed soon electric just took off all of a sudden there, and now that it’s such a big business they’ll have loads people finding out how to fix the batteries

That's right.

I believe we need to acknowledge there is a serious problem. But know large numbers people are trying to fix this urgently, and it will be fixed.

If you wait, and buy an electric bike at some time in the future, it might be challenging knowing which bikes are the new good ones, and which bikes might be old stock, they are still trying to sell.

It will be interesting to see how this goes as time goes on.

[tc2wheel]

Consider the statistics in NYC, likely a location that have more ebikes or EVs than most other location in the world; vehicle accidents involving automobiles cause far more injuries & casualties than EVs or ebike fires... even considering the number of ICE vehicles vs EVs.
I would consider motor vehicle accidents far more dangerous than battery fires on ebikes.

According to the NYPD's crash statistics, there were 44,754 reported crashes between January 1 and June 23.
Of those, 43,188 — or 96 percent — were caused by drivers of cars, SUVs, trucks, ambulances, vans and other heavy motorized vehicles.
Just 826 crashes — or 1.8 percent — were caused by the operators of e-bikes, e-scooters, mopeds or motorbikes, according to the police.
Another 740 crashes — or 1.6 percent — were caused by regular bike riders, the cops said.

Drilling down further, there have been 3,952 crashes that caused injuries to at least one pedestrian.
Of those crashes, 3,784 — or 96 percent again — were caused by car and truck drivers.
Only 168 — or 4.2 percent — were caused by the operators of e-bikes, e-scooters, mopeds or motorbikes, according to the police.

Source:
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2023/07/27/horrific-crash-on-manhattan-bridge-bike-path-underscores-moped-crisis

[ichitan]

Check this out:

Safer batteries are coming

https://forums.bikeride.com/thread-8612.html

[meamoantonio]

(09-28-2023, 12:50 PM)ichitan Wrote:  

(09-28-2023, 12:32 PM)Lss555 Wrote:  Damn is it just overheating of the batteries or something that’s causing this?

In many cases it is overheating, due to some kind of malfunction.

This is fairly new technology. Manufacturers did not expect this many fires.

Now that it has become obvious, they need to go back and redesign the batteries, and the electrical system, to make safe electric bikes. Expect it to take some time for research, design changes, and manufacture of safe electric bikes.

The same thing has been happening with electric cars. Everybody involved in making batteries for electric cars and bikes, is going back and researching how to make them safe.

Tesla is closing one of its battery manufacturing plants for three months. One of the reasons is to upgrade it, to produce a much larger number of batteries. Changing the design of batteries to minimize fires, would also be part of it.

Ford has halted construction of its battery manufacturing plant. When they can make safe batteries, expect construction to resume.

I never imagined I could learn about battery manufacturers while hanging out in a Bike Forum, what a time to be alive!

[ichitan]

Luton Airport fire rips through multi-storey car park

Bedfordshire Fire Service believes the fire was accidental and started in a vehicle at about 20:45 BST.

One witness said he saw an explosion on the roof of the car park followed by a "flame that shot across the car park like a flame thrower". After that, he saw cars exploding "every few minutes".

Over a thousand cars were destroyed.

The car park suffered structural damage.

More details may emerge in the future.

This was cars, not bicycles.

At the risk of repeating myself:

I don't plan to buy an electric bike in the near future, but wait until safer batteries have been developed.

[ichitan]

Calls for massive crackdown on e-bikes in New York city after latest fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ErKMALD_18

[Jesper]

Not one statistic provided on how many bike batteries are presently in use without issue compared to how many had proven faulty on their own, and not by misuse or other non-manufacturer related issues.

Vehicles using volatile fuels (petrol, etc.) have been catching fire for over a hundred years and still do, but I do not hear people screaming about them and their dangers (probably because of the low percent of fires compared to the amount of vehicles in use). Heck, if hydrogen starts to become more commonplace for fuel cell usage there will be more fires and explosions; but again to what degree and what percentage. Having a destructive fire because of a location is not the issue since that is coincidence. Having a fire due to bad tech being sold without properly being researched and tested is something completely different regardless of the extent of the resulting fire and its location if it could have been avoiding through better engineering before it was prematurely put on the market and being sold to "unsuspecting" consumers.
When accurate numbers are available that show this is an industry wide problem and not just a "pick and choose" of media headlines which are the worst cases does nothing to solve the problem other than to hype that which is happening infrequently, and may be happening due to factors not related to the design/manufacture of the battery or bike (or car, computer, etc.) in the first place. Nothing will be 100% safe, and as the numbers ebikes increase so in turn will the numbers of problems with their batteries and more.

[ichitan]

I will share what to look out for in future statistics.

Expect European car manufacturers, like Mercedes, BMW and Porche, to sell less electric cars in the near future. The Luton airport fire where over 1000 cars were destroyed, went on main stream media, and people are now more wary of electric cars.

Insurance companies cannot just go along with the spin by the main stream media. They are losing too much money. The Luton airport fire alone may cost insurance companies around $100,000,000. Insurance premiums will go up a lot. Many people wont be able to afford insurance on electric cars, so they wont buy them.

Bookmark this page, come back in 5 years, and tell me sales of European cars, like Mercedes, BMW and Porche, increased following the date I posted this.

It is alright for people who just chat on a forum to suggest there is no big problem. But try to convince the insurance companies.

Would you buy an electric bike, put it on a charger in your house, and hope that a battery fire does not kill you, or burn your house down?

It is just a matter of waiting a while. Safer batteries will be developed. Why not wait until then?

[ichitan]

There are now places where e-bikes are being banned.

If you have an e-bike, and it happens where you live, it might create challenges.

If you don't have an e-bike, and it happens where you live, you might be happy.

   

[Ratio]

I heard recently to look for UL certified bikes. Because of NY regulations, many bike manufacturers are implementing UL certifications. I saw Rad is starting it. The higher-end bikes should be UL certified already. Unlike my cheap ebike... ☹️

[ichitan]

Most people are in favor of certification and regulation. There should be some uniform standard across North America. The same type of thing across Europe. The same for other areas of the world.

Then what is allowed to come into the country, should be controlled.

Expect a couple of challenges.

One is the bikes that are not certified, and not sold yet. Bike shops will want to sell them.

Expect Chinese and some others to have fake certifications, so they can sell batteries or bikes.

If appropriate laws are put in place, as time goes on, things should improve.

[ichitan]

A lot of people have now become aware of electric car fires. Insurance companies have also put up insurance premiums, making them too expensive for many people to insure. As a result, the number of people buying electric cars has reduced significantly. Car manufacturers and dealers are having difficulty selling electric cars. As a result, electric car prices are being reduced. Most car companies will sell them at a loss to get rid of them, if they can.

Expect a number of car manufacturers to go bankrupt. Expect governments to bail out some of them.

Tesla is still making a good profit, and doing well. It should be the dominant car manufacturer for many years. Tesla is also putting safer batteries in many of its cars, so they are less likely to catch fire.

Expect the number of people buying electric bikes to also reduce. Expect bike companies, and bike shops to have difficulty selling them. Expect the prices to be reduced on some of them.

Companies which manufactures batteries for electric cars and bikes are in a rush to develop safer batteries.

This is likely to take some time before people buying electric bikes can feel confident that their bike wont catch fire.