This Terrifying Video of an e-Bike Battery Explosion Is Much-Needed PSA

An electric bicycle is supposedly more convenient than a traditional, pedal-powered one once past the initial ownership cost. It can save you gas money or get you off public transport, it can get you in better shape, but it also allows you to have fun with zero sweat. It can also kill you in your sleep, though not in a Freddy Krueger kind of way.

EV fires have been a concern since EVs were first proposed as the replacement of ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles. Batteries, it seems, burn faster, more violently, and more uncontrollably than a tank of gas, but the worst part is that they also tend to ignite unpredictably. This isn't limited to passenger cars only, either: batteries of electric scooters or electric bicycles are already posing a serious issue in large cities like New York and London, where several fires resulted in fatalities, injuries, and extensive property damage.

The industry and the public at large moved with great speed to adopt EVs, but regulations and firefighting procedures didn't have the time to catch up. The industry was quick to oversell the product, and the customers rushed to embrace it for a variety of reasons ranging from the desire to lower their carbon footprint to wanting to be part of the new cool, hip wave.

This is all the more obvious in the e-mobility sector, where standards for certification and passenger safety are less strict, if at all. Put simply, we have too many e-bikes and too many e-scooters, and many of them are being used inappropriately or have mismatched or sub-standard parts. And they keep blowing up. That's not a figure of speech either: numbers show that the number of e-bike battery fires has increased exponentially. In London alone, firefighters deal with six such incidents a week.

Last month, non-profit Electric Safety First (EFS) issued a warning to UK politicians, which doubled as a call for stricter regulations of e-bike and e-scooter batteries. The market needs proper control, so third-party vendors or online market sellers would no longer be able to flood it with chargers, batteries, and replacement parts that will increase the number of fires, the EFS says.

It was only a small step from this warning to an overreaction about how e-bikes and e-scooters are death on wheels masquerading as urban mobility solutions, just biding their time until you're fast asleep so they can burst into flames and take you, your house, and your loved ones with them in a blaze of fire.

Similar reactions are now blanketing the media after EFS released their Battery Breakdown report, and especially after the release of the battery fire videos that accompany it. On the face of it, just one of those videos is enough to send chills down your spine and make you swear off any motor-assisted means of urban mobility there is. Check it out below.

The issue with lithium-ion batteries is that they burn fast, uncontrollably, and in an irreversible manner. Once one of the cells is damaged and heats up, a process called thermal runaway sets off, through which it generates exothermic energy that heats the neighboring cells, sparking a chain reaction. It takes seconds from the moment that one cell malfunctions to the entire battery pack being engulfed in large flames, where cell casings are being projected at a distance and toxic fumes are released.

Firefighters say that, in case of a battery fire, the only thing you can do is run out and call emergency services. It's wise advice since even many departments are not equipped to handle battery fires yet, and one such battery fire has the power of six grenades put together.

But before you give in to the panic, know that there are measures you can take beforehand to ensure you're never in a situation as terrifying as the one in the video. They're all outlined in the Battery Breakdown report, which you will also find attached to this story in full.

For starters, you should always buy your e-bike from an established retailer whose products are in accordance with national or EU standards. Any spare parts, especially batteries and chargers, should come from the same manufacturer so that compatibility and quality are not an issue.

Any "hacking" of the bike is out of discussion, even if everyone else is doing it. Hidden settings and gimmicks that override factory settings to allow more power and a higher speed or improvisations that extend range also raise the risk of fire. On the same note, off-the-shelf conversion kits are equally risky.

To prevent over- or undercharging the battery, you must ensure the charger is compatible with the battery. Batteries with visible physical damage or chargers that are not intact should be discharged accordingly and replaced with new ones. Overnight charging is perhaps the number-one rule of safety. EFS adds that charging of batteries should also take place in spots where fire escapes, or stairways are not blocked.

Regarding e-scooters, EFS warns that the models with batteries under the deck are the most prone to catching fire because of the sustained damage to the area from mounting curbs or going across potholes. It's an essentially flawed design of the machine itself that increases the risk of fire. Essentially, the EFS is advising against e-scooters altogether unless they ride on bigger wheels and have the battery pack mounted in the handlebar.

The bottom line is that, yes, EV battery fires are terrible, but the odds of an incident can be reduced considerably if you keep in mind these common-sense guidelines. With great power comes great responsibility, a wise but fictional man once said. In this case, we're talking about the battery; it's just the responsibility that's ours.