Brompton boss urges crackdown on “poor quality” e-bike batteries before public perception “snowballs into a world of fear”

The managing director of Brompton Bicycles wants to see a crackdown on “poor quality” electric bike batteries that have been blamed for several fatal fires and other non-fatal incidents.

Will Butler-Adams warned that public perception is already sceptical of e-bikes due to “too many examples of e-bikes, e-scooters and light electric vehicles hurting people” and that this could “all snowball into a world of fear” which could “affect the whole momentum of light electric vehicle transport”.

Telling the Telegraph that this would be an “absolute chronic shame”, Mr Butler-Adams expressed support for the Electrical Safety First charity’s attempts to introduce a new law on the dangerous lithium-ion batteries that have been blamed for numerous fires.

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“We’ve got poor quality stuff coming into the UK and if we’re not careful, that will affect the whole momentum of light electric vehicle transport, which would be an absolute chronic shame,” he said.

“We trust that an electric car is well made, the standards are well adhered to. And we did have some fires in the very early days of electric cars, but they’ve gone because the standards, the controls, the regulation is such that now we trust them. There are too many examples of e-bikes, e-scooters and light electric vehicles hurting people and scaring people.

“Then suddenly you can’t carry them on public transport, you can’t store them in buildings, and it all snowballs into a world of fear.”

London Fire Brigade (LFB) data shows that fires involving e-bike and e-scooter batteries are London’s fastest growing fire trend and that on average there was a fire caused by one every two days in 2023. Just last week, the LFB released footage of a “ferocious” e-bike fire on the platform of Sutton station in south London.

In January, the family of Sofia Duarte, a 21-year-old woman who died in a fire believed to have been caused by a converted e-bike’s battery bursting into flames, called for stronger legislation on e-bikes and e-scooters to ensure their safe usage. 

The LFB backed the campaign, assistant commissioner Charlie Pugsley commenting: “We’re warning people that cheaper parts bought online are more likely to be unsafe, increasing the risk of a fire. We always recommend purchasing items from a reputable high-street seller. If there’s an offer that seems too good to be true, it probably is. It’s also essential to use the correct charger for the battery, otherwise the risk of fire is much greater.”

Labour MP Yvonne Fovargue is to submit a ‘Ten Minute Rule’ bill supported by Electrical Safety First later in the spring, with the aim of helping to “weed out bad operators producing dangerous batteries that put people’s lives at risk”.

Lesley Rudd, chief executive of Electrical Safety First, said: “The support for our bill by Brompton Bicycles demonstrates how reputable manufacturers want to protect shoppers and their industry from the bad operators in this space who may be producing substandard batteries.

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“Our bill will better protect the public, protect good businesses and weed out bad operators producing dangerous batteries that put people’s lives at risk.”

The bill has also received support from 46 organisations, including the College of Paramedics, the National Residential Landlords Association and insurance providers Axa and Zurich.