Let's talk about battery fires

[MagnumPA]

This seems to be in the news a lot recently, NYC fire dept. said there were 400 fires last year caused by ebike batteries.  Anyone here ever have this happen, Rad or any other brand?  It is just from people forgetting to disconnect from the charger once the battery is recharged?  I always plug my charger into a timer in case I forget about it. 

[Altema]

The confirmed number is 274 fires which MAY have been e-bike related. The majority of them with photos showed it was scooters, hoverboards, and home-made e-bikes. If there's a fire and an e-bike is in the vicinity, the e-bike usually gets blamed even if it didn't start it. We do need to be cautious, and I get my batteries from trusted manufacturers, but not every bike is bursting into flames. It's odd that there are 21,800 fires caused directly by space heaters every year, but they focus on e-bike fires...

[wilsh]

The confirmed number is 274 fires which MAY have been e-bike related. The majority of them with photos showed it was scooters, hoverboards, and home-made e-bikes. If there's a fire and an e-bike is in the vicinity, the e-bike usually gets blamed even if it didn't start it. We do need to be cautious, and I get my batteries from trusted manufacturers, but not every bike is bursting into flames. It's odd that there are 21,800 fires caused directly by space heaters every year, but they focus on e-bike fires...

I also think that there is nothing to worry about if you use batteries from a trusted manufacturer. There are also fires because of washing machines, but we all use them.

[handlebar]

https://www.ul.com/services/e-bikes-certification-testing-ul-2849

If you scroll down to Addressing Public Safety, it's an informative talk by Ibrahim Jilani, followed by Matthew Thomas.

[Altema]

https://www.ul.com/services/e-bikes-certification-testing-ul-2849

If you scroll down to Addressing Public Safety, it's an informative talk by Ibrahim Jilani, followed by Matthew Thomas.

Good article, and having UL certified batteries will benefit everyone except shady battery makers. I watched a YouTuber interview a company that makes battery packs for Onyx's and so forth, and although they boast about their batteries being safer than others, the one worker didn't understand the basics of battery pack science.

[Altema]

Today there were a bunch of stories about "E-bike battery sparks 5 alarm fire". It was a terrible fire indeed, and they had news conferences and everything.

Only one problem: It wasn't an e-bike.

[MagnumPA]

Today there were a bunch of stories about "E-bike battery sparks 5 alarm fire". It was a terrible fire indeed, and they had news conferences and everything.

Only one problem: It wasn't an e-bike.

So what was it?

[rjp]

I don't know what you would call it, but it doesn't have pedals. Ebikes have to have pedals.

[Altema]

Today there were a bunch of stories about "E-bike battery sparks 5 alarm fire". It was a terrible fire indeed, and they had news conferences and everything.

Only one problem: It wasn't an e-bike.

So what was it?

It was a sit-down electric scooter with the battery pack under the footboard. 

[Ryan]

We're following this pretty closely and it seems more brands are going with UL certified batteries: https://ebikeescape.com/ul-certified-ebikes-batteries-list/

Curious what other's think about a fire resistant fire battery bag? Also one that protects from water.

[santacruzpaul]

We're following this pretty closely and it seems more brands are going with UL certified batteries: https://ebikeescape.com/ul-certified-ebikes-batteries-list/

Curious what other's think about a fire resistant fire battery bag? Also one that protects from water.

Evening Ryan,
Is My Radrover #5 bought in the USA in 2021 battery UL Approved?
Thanks, Paul

[JimInPT]

Is My Radrover #5 bought in the USA in 2021 battery UL Approved?

From Ryan's article linked above: "It is a goal of ours to certify all of our bikes to UL 2849 standards as they are released in the future."

That's a little ambiguous and could be interpreted to mean only future products will be UL certified.  I don't think it's required, but any product I have that's UL certified has the UL logo on it somewhere; I think the right to use the logo comes with the testing fees.  So a quick check of your battery might be informative, but I doubt you'll find it there. 

I had a countertop water distiller made of Chineseium that actually had a fake UL logo on it and I checked it just shy of catching fire - the connector to the removable power cord was starting to melt because of the heat from undersized wire thickness acting like resistors.  Bought a much-better, certified and USA-made distiller that runs cool and perfectly.  Cut the inside wiring on the defective one and tossed it.