Writing in response to a prevention of future deaths report (PFD), the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) says it is assessing the compliance of 60 UK-based businesses involved in the supply of e-bikes, e-scooters or conversion kits. The body says it has already published 10 separate product recalls and nine other enforcement actions for unsafe or non-compliant e-bikes or e-scooters in the last 12 months.
In January, coroner Ian Potter issued a PFD after investigating the death of Bobby Lee in London in July 2023. Potter concluded that Lee died of smoke inhalation in a house fire caused by the over-charging of a lithium-ion e-bike battery.
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The bike in question was fitted with a second-hand conversion kit which was then combined with a charger bought separately from an online marketplace. The charger had a substantially different voltage rating to the battery and the battery was not fitted with a battery management system.
Concerns
Among Potter’s wider concerns were that lithium-ion batteries sold as part of e-bike conversion kits are regularly sold without a charger and that, “chargers for sale on online marketplaces, in particular, regularly fail to meet appropriate standards.”
These comments echoed those of Adam Smith, coroner for Inner North London, who had issued a previous PFD in response to the death of Mizanur Rahman in March 2023 following a fire caused by a faulty e-bike battery.
As a result of these and other incidents, the charity Electrical Safety First (ESF) is calling for:
- A ban on the sale of universal chargers for e-micromobility vehicles
- The development of a product standard specific to conversion kits
- New legislation to make online marketplaces take reasonable steps to prevent or delist unbranded and potentially non-compliant conversion kits
In its response to Potter’s PFD, the OPSS emphasised that, “the UK’s product safety laws already require that only safe consumer products be placed on the market. Manufacturers or importers are required to ensure their products, including e-bikes, e-scooters, their batteries or conversion kits, are safe and there are criminal penalties for those that don’t comply. In addition, distributors, including online marketplaces, must not supply products they know, or should know, are unsafe.”
Enforcement
Many – including the family of Sofia Duarte, who was killed in a fire caused by a converted e-bike battery in 2023 – are however calling for stricter enforcement of these standards.
The OPSS said that both it and Local Authority Trading Standards are responsible for enforcing product safety requirements and that action was being taken.
It said ithas published 10 separate product recalls and nine other enforcement actions for unsafe or non-compliant e-bikes or e-scooters (mostly e-scooters) since March last year, including the removal from the market of the dangerous UPP battery.
It continued: “OPSS is also assessing the compliance of 60 UK-based businesses involved in the supply chain of e-bikes, e-scooters or conversion kits.
“The product safety issues around these products remain complex: products may be safe and compliant with the law when sold, but not when they are modified, or when used in a combination which is not compatible, as appears to have been the case in this tragic fatality.”
Safety standards for e-bike conversion kits
The body also said it was pursuing a new “fast-track” standard for e-bike conversion kits and that initial discussions had been held with the British Standards Institution (BSI) on the preparation of a publicly available specification (PAS) to cover technical and safety standards.
“This new standard will not change the existing legal requirements, and, like the vast majority of standards, it will be voluntary. However, it will function to create and communicate expectations in this important market area and assist businesses in meeting the existing legal safety requirements for conversion kits. All British Standards are drawn up by committees and made by consensus which necessarily takes time. But we are using a fast-track route and would hope that the standard could be in place for businesses to use within the next 12-18 months.”
The OPSS also said the Government was “analysing responses” to a recent consultation on its Product Safety Review, which, among other things, seeks to address concerns regarding the ease with which unsafe products can be sold online.
The Government’s response on this is expected later this year.
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