Ad header

Bike industry calls for clear rules on replacement e-bike batteries and warns users against having batteries repaired

Author block

Alex Bowden's picture

Alex Bowden

Alex has been editor of ebiketips since 2021, switching to a world with motors after seven years working on sister site road.cc, where he contributed news, reviews and the occasional feature. These days he combines his road riding with electric bike testing and a dash of ongoing cricket writing (his first book's due out in 2025).

3 comments

2 years 10 months ago

There is some sense to this. Whilst it's quite possible to have a fire started by a phone or laptop battery, there's a lot more energy in an e-bike battery.

A standardisation of chargers would be a good idea, like with EV's. At the moment, it's up the manufacturer whether they put the safety critical over-charge, thermal cut-out and balancing circuitry in the bike, the battery or the charger (or not at all in some cases!).

Alternatively, a technically authorised 3rd party ought to be able to approve a replacement battery based upon the manufacturer's battery interface specification.

But as RoubaixCube states, this only covers failures due to compatibility issues. There remains the risk of failure due to other causes, such as physical damage. So, safe charging practices still need to be adhered to, such as not charging unattended.

2 years 10 months ago

Why is n't there a similar problem with, for example, getting power tool batteries rebuilt,  That's a mature industry.

I also wonder which of the big eBike maufacturers will be able to offer a compatible replacement battery in 10 years time?  Will that be like finding parts for ten year old domestic appliances?

2 years 10 months ago

The thing with dealing with electronics... Is even if you use all the correct chargers & batteries. There is still a chance of critical hardware failure shorting out and causing a fire or explosion.

So saying "use the correct charger/charging equipment" isnt really a silver bullet. If its gonna blow, its gonna blow, correct charger or no correct charger.