E-bikes to be banned by employers after dozens of battery fires TfL, NHS trusts and other organisations

[danielrlee]

Earlier in the week I bumped into a couple I know at the local supermarket. She spotted my handlebar display and said, 'Is that electric? Ooo they're really dangerous' taking a step back as she did so.

I used to get this all the time from one of my neighbours and I eventually grew bored of attempting to educate him. Nowadays I tell him something along the lines of “Yes, very dangerous. This bike could burst into flames at any moment. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s also the electrocution risk. You wouldn’t want to be caught riding in the rain. Not only could this bike kill you, it’ll hurt the entire time you’re dying. Best keep away really.”

Haven’t spoken to him for a while now...

 

[saneagle]

There do seem to be a lot of battery fires, but is that because they are "news"? - How do they compare with, say, fires started by discarded cigarettes or faulty tumble driers?

It would be interesting if battery fires could be split into categories -
1) Big-name branded batteries (Bosch, Fazua etc.)
2) Quality Chinese batteries from reputable UK suppliers.
3) Cheapo Chinese batteries from Ali, Ebay, Amazon etc.
4) Home-build batteries *

* Home-build batteries will be very variable, with some built by experts and other by people without much - if any - knowledge but just wanting to save some cash.

There are two aspects to such fire: 1. How likely they are to happen; 2: How serious they are when they do happen.

The problem with a lithium battery fire is that it flares like a flame thrower, but at temperatures of up to 2000deg, and the single cells explode out and burn some distance from the main fire. That gives it every chance to set light to everything around it and burn stuff that wouldn't normally catch fire. On the other hand 99 out of 100 cigarette fires probably self-extinguish in minutes or seconds.

In other words, the reason people are panicking about lithium battery fires is because they have a nasty habit of burning buildings down and killing people, even though they're not that common. In reality, a lot more people are killed by cars or stabbed, but nobody seems to be panicking about that.

 

[Ocsid]

a lot more people are killed by cars or stabbed, but nobody seems to be panicking about that.

In fairness that's not historically true. Over my lifetime [over 80 years] I have seen a lot of development in reducing car deaths, both in technical advancements and in statutory actions. including mandating the inclusion of some of the former.

I do feel there is going to be some similar actions mandated to Lithium battery based kit, both in what can be sold and what/how it can legally be used. Here like domestic storage of petrol for example, the risks associated with such high energy storage does not go pass without finally being noticed.
Though just as with cars, petrol storage & so much else there will be those who operate outside of laws

 

[saneagle]

In fairness that's not historically true. Over my lifetime [over 80 years] I have seen a lot of development in reducing car deaths, both in technical advancements and in statutory actions. including mandating the inclusion of some of the former.

I do feel there is going to be some similar actions mandated to Lithium battery based kit, both in what can be sold and what/how it can legally be used. Here like domestic storage of petrol for example, the risks associated with such high energy storage does not go pass without finally being noticed.
Though just as with cars, petrol storage & so much else there will be those who operate outside of laws

I'm referring to the panic and hysteria about batteries, not the careful thought on how things can be improved over a 20 year period.

 

[portals]

These hire bikes have to be left at their official stations where they get charged, so although one can ride to work leaving the bike at one of those nearby, you wouldn't be taking it into work all day long and paying dear for that.

A choice to hire for the day would suit me better so I can go for a ride at lunch then cycle around the parks or wherever takes my fancy in the evening then dump it back near hotel or restaurant.

And they are so called "last mile" transport, not something you'd take onto a train to go further afield where there are no charging stations for them to end your hire charge period.

If you're cycling across London as a commute then yes I may well want to jump on an overland train, for example Camden to South Clapham or Shepherd's Bush to Stratford. You still have to walk distance to get bike then return it somewhere again not necessarily near where you are actually going. I would prefer 'last 200ft' transport approach...

I'm in London week after next, staying on Edgeware Road going to Harbour Exchange at South Quay, Canary Wharf. Last time I was down the bike station at the underpass was closed so I jumped on tube. I will check out the situation when down and maybe enjoy taking one on train before they ban it.

So they aren't idiots after all are they? They've thought it through.

Having worked for consultancies in London past 20+yrs and have worked on multiple TFL projects can confirm that sure not all of them are idiots. However it's their 'partners' (Cap, Eviden, TCS, HCL Axon etc.) that 'thought it through' for them ...for 7/8 figure sums...

 

[flecc]

I'm in London week after next, staying on Edgeware Road going to Harbour Exchange at South Quay, Canary Wharf. Last time I was down the bike station at the underpass was closed so I jumped on tube. I will check out the situation when down and maybe enjoy taking one on train before they ban it.

If they are considering exempting the Brompton for an outside company, I'd think they'd also exempt their own machines.

But we constantly get these scare stories that never happen. We seem to be in that sort of media age now.
.

 

[portals]

Sadiq Khan has a Brompton...funny that...what a ctn...given he runs TFL...

 

[portals]

They need to consider other charging models.

Let me rent the ebike for a nominal charge of maybe £5 a day then charge me on the power I use on top of that. When my battery is getting low I go to nearest battery/bike station and just swap out the battery for a fresh one in the rack.

 

[guerney]

I used to get this all the time from one of my neighbours and I eventually grew bored of attempting to educate him. Nowadays I tell him something along the lines of “Yes, very dangerous. This bike could burst into flames at any moment. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s also the electrocution risk. You wouldn’t want to be caught riding in the rain. Not only could this bike kill you, it’ll hurt the entire time you’re dying. Best keep away really.”

Haven’t spoken to him for a while now...

Thanks, that made me laugh - if a neighbour objects, I will deliver your script through gritted teeth like Clint Eastwood. My bike's electrickery is obvious by how quickly and easily it climbs the hill I live on, I'm pretty sure curtain twitchers in the immediate vicinity of my home are increasingly uneasy.

 

[Craiggor 2]