Bicycle Association launches ‘Stop e-Bike Fires’ Action Plan for Government

The Action Plan has been consulted on within the Association’s membership, endorsed by numerous stakeholder organisations and submitted to officials in the relevant Government departments as well as to the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling and Walking Group.

The three key actions required of Government are to:

*stop unsafe imports, notably so those slipping through direct to consumers via poorly regulated online marketplaces

*reform the ‘gig economy’ delivery sector, which drives demand for unsafe e-bike conversion kits, batteries and chargers and incentivises de-restriction 

*close legal loopholes which permit the legal sale of non-road-legal e-bikes and conversion kits

“These tragic fire incidents must be stopped and that requires decisive action which goes well beyond technical regulations,” said Peter Eland, technical and policy director at the Bicycle Association. “We need ministers and Government departments to work together to properly regulate both online marketplaces and gig economy food delivery operators so that those sectors take real responsibility for the unsafe products supplied through their platforms or used to deliver their services.”

Eland added: “We also need Government action to take non-legal e-bikes off sale and off the road. Legitimate and road legal e-bikes are known formally as EAPCs or Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles and are rigorously defined in law to be similar in performance to normal cycles. EAPCs from reputable suppliers are enjoyed safely by hundreds of thousands of people in the UK, and millions worldwide, for transport and leisure.”

He continued: “In contrast, the throttle-controlled, high-speed vehicles often reported as ‘e-bikes’ in connection with unsafe riding, or even used in crimes such as phone-snatching, are not legitimate e-bikes at all. They are illegal e-motorcycles. Government must close the legal loophole which allows such vehicles – and the conversion kits often used to create them - to be sold legally. Taking these products off the market would contribute to fire and road safety and help tackle the criminal use of high-speed unregistered e-motorbikes.”

Detailed document

The Action Plan is detailed, with over 20 pages of policy proposals. It opens by emphasising the industry’s support for – and engagement with – the ongoing work of the Office for Product Safety and Standards, the UK’s main regulatory agency for product safety, but also stresses that wider cross-Government activity is absolutely necessary if the incidence of these fires is to be reduced.

The Action Plan also notes that the reputable UK cycle industry has launched numerous initiatives to distinguish its overwhelmingly very safe products from the unsafe direct imports responsible for the majority of the fires, leading with the E-Bike Safety Register of quality-checked brands and working with the Association of Cycle Traders on the E-Bike Positive Retailer Pledge, which helps consumers to identify those e-bike retailers committed to the highest standards of safety.

These initiatives are backed by the E-Bike Positive public information campaign, which aims to signpost consumers to reputable brands and retailers of safe and legal e-bikes.

Further, the reputable industry continues to engage at national and international levels to further improve the technical safety standards for e-bikes.

Reputational damage

The Bicycle Association’s executive director Steve Garidis observed: “From a reputational standpoint, even the safest and fully legal e-bikes are being seriously damaged by association with fires involving unsafe products completely beyond the UK industry’s control. The legitimate e-bike category in the UK is at serious risk. e-bike sales have fallen significantly in recent years, in stark contrast to the worldwide trend, as users face repeated headlines about e-bike dangers and consequent blanket restrictions on access and insurance.”

Garidis stated: “Our experts have been working on this issue intensively for years now, mostly behind the scenes with Government, regulators, Fire and Rescue Services, the insurance sector, transport operators and many other stakeholders, in order to explore possible solutions and limit the damage to the reputable e-bike sector.”

In addition, Garidis said: “We’ve summed up our understanding from years of work in this Action Plan. On the three main points, we now urge Government to act swiftly to prevent more tragic incidents and safeguard tens of thousands of green jobs in the UK’s e-bike industry. The industry has so much potential to grow.”

Garidis concluded: “Companies in the legitimate UK cycle industry take full legal responsibility for the safety of the products they supply. We think it’s high time that the online marketplaces and gig economy delivery companies take on that same responsibility and that sales of non-road legal e-bikes are banned.”

*Further information is available online at www.bicycleassociation.org.uk