This was a topical video presentation that we gave at the 2024 BC Bike show on the subject of ebike battery fires, which has been getting a lot of media atte...
Good talk on ebike battery fires by Jason from Grin/ebikes.ca
Early days of Lithium batteries (2000s) were kind of a mess. You’re fine now, thanks to lots of regulations and product maturity.
Batteries can still catch on fire in case they’re smashed, pierced, wet, or exposed to extreme heat (+60C). Have your battery replaced if it was damaged in an accident.
Batteries are expensive. Don’t be tempted to buy cheaper options, and don’t trust Chinese knockoffs. If the price is too good to be true, it’s probably counterfeit and some of the security checks probably haven’t been implemented to save on production costs.
Some micro mobility solutions (think urban e-scooters and bikes) were the first to try to save costs and reduce the quality/security of their batteries. Mostly solved by now, but more regulation is happening.
Apply all these to not only the batteries but also their chargers and you’ll be completely safe 🙂
Li-Ion cells from vendors other than Panasonic, LG, Sony, Samsung have much higher failure rates even when the battery is otherwise executed correctly. They couldn’t set an unprotected MG1 on fire via over discharging or overcharging.The internal cell pressure disconnect open the circuit.
LFP is inherently safer and it’s okay from other vendors. It’s cheaper too, but lower density - less range.
Tldr :
Early days of Lithium batteries (2000s) were kind of a mess. You’re fine now, thanks to lots of regulations and product maturity.
Batteries can still catch on fire in case they’re smashed, pierced, wet, or exposed to extreme heat (+60C). Have your battery replaced if it was damaged in an accident.
Batteries are expensive. Don’t be tempted to buy cheaper options, and don’t trust Chinese knockoffs. If the price is too good to be true, it’s probably counterfeit and some of the security checks probably haven’t been implemented to save on production costs.
Some micro mobility solutions (think urban e-scooters and bikes) were the first to try to save costs and reduce the quality/security of their batteries. Mostly solved by now, but more regulation is happening.
Apply all these to not only the batteries but also their chargers and you’ll be completely safe 🙂
Thanks for the summary, am working right now so couldn’t watch a video