Should the feds be doing more about e-bike fire safety?

As e-bike usage has risen in Canada, so has the number of fires caused by the lithium-ion batteries that power them.

In Toronto alone, 55 lithium-ion battery fires were reported in 2023, a 90 per cent increase from 2022, Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg told reporters in January. In the United States, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) received reports of at least 208 e-mobility fire or overheating incidents resulting in at least 19 deaths involving e-scooters, e-bikes and hoverboards, according to a 2023 public advisory from Health Canada.

The advisory details how too much heat can build up inside damaged, malfunctioning or misused lithium-ion batteries and result in “thermal runaway” — a process where the intense heat, in combination with the flammable contents of a lithium-ion battery, causes fires or explosions that are challenging to extinguish.

It also warns about the dangers of misusing or modifying lithium-ion batteries in e-mobility devices and reassures Canadians the risks associated with lithium-ion batteries are under examination by Health Canada and Transport Canada.

At the moment, e-bike safety regulations in Canada are in a grey zone; there are no clear-cut rules on the import of safe, high-quality batteries. However, some local government agencies and private sector corporations are taking action to address fire safety concerns. Some condominiums and apartment buildings have banned the storage of e-bikes and other battery-powered transportation devices and at least one transit authority has restricted the types of e-bikes it will allow to charge in its facilities.

Despite growing safety concerns, e-bike usage continues to soar and is becoming one of the world’s fastest-growing forms of transportation. The Canadian e-bike market size was estimated at US$733.4 million in 2022 and is projected to grow at an annual rate of 12.6 per cent from 2023 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.

On top of providing exercise and being more affordable than a car, e-bikes are a form of transportation that does not cause air pollution or affect carbon emissions, which contribute to global heating.

A study from the Transportation Research and Education Center at Portland State University found that emissions would fall by four per cent if only five per cent of commuters were to switch their mode of transportation to e-bikes, The Atlantic reports.

Anders Swanson, former director and current board member of Velo Canada Bikes, a national non-profit organization that promotes cycling, says that while they don’t have all the answers for how e-bikes should be regulated, e-mobility should be incentivized and the safety aspects need to be put into context.

“Every single fire is horrible obviously, but at the same time, we know about car crashes and we still drive,” says Anders. Nobody wants anybody to get hurt but it’s really important to look at this comprehensively and seek the highest level of best practice adoption that considers both the risks and rewards of e-mobility, he adds.

The fear of fire has resulted in some complete e-bike bans. CBC News reported that Oberon Development Corporation, a Toronto landlord, banned all-electric personal transportation devices including e-bikes, e-scooters, e-unicycles, hoverboards, mopeds, Segways and skateboard scooters from two properties in Parkdale last September. A growing number of B.C. strata councils are following suit, according to the Vancouver Sun. And earlier this month, Ontario’s Metrolinx brought in a new safety policy requiring all e-bike batteries to meet standard UL or CE requirements to ride on and charge on GO Transit property.

William Leishman, owner of Canadian e-bike retailer Scooteretti, says the blanket bans are unfair and insists lithium batteries are safe when built correctly.

E-bikes are an amazing product, he said. “So many people are getting so much enjoyment, it’s changing people’s lives.” Leishman says better product controls and enforcement can solve the fire problem.

E-bike safety standards

E-bikes are regulated for wattage and speed by Transport Canada. But when it comes to battery safety, there are currently no rules governing import standards.

Restrictions on the types of batteries that come with e-bikes or standalone after-market batteries are still in the works, said David Thibault, program officer of consumer product safety at Health Canada. The safety agency is so far relying on the public safety advisory on e-bikes to caution consumers against buying products that don’t meet UL or CE standards.

UL certification is a North American standard being adopted in some places. It is run by an American company, UL Solutions, that backs its ratings with third-party safety testing. The European standard is CE where manufacturers self-declare their products to be safe.

The quality, security and safety of the batteries are not being tested, says Kriti Yadav, director of strategy and operations at Zen Energy, an e-mobility battery producer and parent company of e-bike retailer Zen Energy Bikes, headquartered in Halifax. The only customs checks at the border are on battery wattage, she said.

“You can import anything into the country and get away with it,” Leishman added.

Anyone with a safety concern about a battery or battery-powered product is instructed to fill in a customer incident report, Thibault said. “We’re still monitoring this. If we receive more reports about a certain type of battery that is unsafe, we may take action on that,” he said. The public health advisory on e-bike safety will also be updated if new information arises, he added.

Leishman says this is a nationwide issue that needs to be federally regulated.

“Typically, Health Canada would be the one responsible for the enforcement. Usually, we’re a little behind what happens in the United States. So once CPSC enforces it, Canada will typically follow suit after that,” Leishman says. “We’re not proactive enough” he adds.

Unfortunately, most e-bikes sold in the country are not UL2849 certified, says Leishman. “Most of them come from China or places where there are no standards, per se, or the importer has decided not to pay the extra couple of dollars to have their product tested.”

Some e-bike buyers are aware of the safety issues and are shopping accordingly.

Gordon Nore, a retired elementary school teacher and e-bike enthusiast from Toronto, retired his car last year to economize on transportation and find ways of getting around that were healthier and more environmentally conscious.

After a summer of running errands on his old Trek mountain bike, Nore bit the bullet and purchased his first e-bike in September of last year. Amid growing e-bike fire safety incidents, Nore was adamant about purchasing a bike that was safe.

For Nore, this involved purchasing a bike from a retailer that was UL-certified. “I read up a great deal on batteries and questioned the salesperson who sold me the bike to make sure that I understood everything I needed to use the battery correctly,” he said.

In response to the new Metrolinx policy, Nore said that the requirement for batteries to be at least UL-certified is completely prudent. “It is possible to get batteries in the marketplace that are not [certified] and I would feel safer as a transit user knowing that people bringing their bikes have batteries that have been properly tested,” he said.

While Nore understands the concerns of tenants and landlords, if an e-bike user can verify that they’re using a properly certified battery, he doesn’t see the problem with bringing it onto the premises.

Unfortunately, not all consumers are as informed as Nore. But, “there’s nothing the consumer is doing wrong,” Leishman defends.

“Anytime we go out and buy something, we're under the assumption that whoever developed this product or whoever's selling that product would never put a consumer's life at risk, right? Unfortunately, people are financially greedy and retailers will take advantage of the consumer.”