The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) recently hosted a business reference panel focused on new statutory guidelines for lithium-ion battery safety in e-bikes. With mounting concerns over battery-related fires, the session revealed complex challenges facing retailers, manufacturers, and safety professionals.

Why do these guidelines matter now?

If you're in the e-bike business, you've likely heard about the increasing concerns over battery fires. The statistics are sobering: -in 2023 alone, the UK saw at least 10 fatalities and nearly 200 fires related to e-bike and e-scooter batteries. These incidents have prompted the Department for Business and Trade to take action with new statutory guidelines that directly affect how we handle lithium-ion batteries for e-bikes.

Understanding the guidelines

The statutory guidelines establish minimum safety requirements for lithium-ion batteries used in e-bikes and conversion kits in Great Britain. Their primary focus is preventing thermal runaway - a catastrophic battery failure that can occur without warning and lead to explosive fires.

Core safety issue: thermal runaway

When a battery cell overheats beyond a critical point, it triggers a chemical reaction that generates more heat than the battery can handle - think of it as a chain reaction that, once started, is nearly impossible to stop. This creates gases inside the cell, eventually causing it to rupture. What makes this particularly dangerous is that when one cell fails, it can heat up neighbouring cells, creating a devastating cascade effect that can lead to fires and explosions.

What do the guidelines mean for your business?

If you're a manufacturer or importer

As a producer (which includes both manufacturers and importers), your primary responsibility is ensuring product safety before it reaches the market. This is not a new requirement; it already exists under current product safety legislation in the UK.

The guidelines provide more focussed requirements specifically for lithium-ion batteries, implementing several key safety features:

Every battery needs a protective system - essentially a sophisticated monitoring system that constantly watches for danger signs. This system needs to track individual cell voltages, overall battery current, and temperature during both charging and use. The system that is implemented must be able to step in and stop the battery from operating if it detects potentially dangerous conditions, to prevent thermal runaway.

The physical construction of your batteries also needs careful attention. They should be able to withstand the kinds of situations they'll reasonably encounter such as exposure to sunlight, rain, normal bumps and vibrations, and temperature changes. Thought needs to be applied to how customers will actually use these products in real-world conditions.

Documentation is crucial. You'll need to:

  • Keep detailed technical documentation showing how your safety mechanisms work
  • Maintain test reports demonstrating safety performance
  • Be ready to provide these documents to authorities when asked
  • Set up a system to track and investigate safety complaints

If you're a distributor or retailer

As a distributor, you're the crucial link between manufacturers and consumers. Your role focuses on due diligence and ensuring you're only selling safe products. This means:

You need to verify that the batteries you're selling have the required safety features. While you're not expected to conduct technical testing yourself, you should obtain confirmation from producers that their products meet safety requirements.

You also need to ensure all products come with clear information about:

  • Compatible chargers and how to identify them
  • Safe charging practices
  • Any relevant warning signs or safety indicators

When things go wrong

The guidelines include clear enforcement mechanisms. If products don't meet requirements, authorities can:

  • Order product recalls
  • Stop sales
  • Prevent import at borders
  • In serious cases, pursue criminal prosecution

However, the focus is on prevention rather than punishment. Implementing proper safety measures and maintaining good documentation will be key to avoiding these scenarios.

Our advice is to document everything. You will need clear records of:

  • Safety feature verifications
  • Product testing results
  • Supplier confirmations
  • Customer complaints and how you handled them

All businesses will also need to review and consider updating any procedures related to:

  • Checking new products or shipments
  • Handling safety concerns
  • Communicating with authorities if issues arise
  • Training staff on safety requirements

Future developments

The OPSS have confirmed that these guidelines are an interim measure while the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill progresses through Parliament, and when this becomes legislation, these guidelines will be reviewed.

In the meantime, the e-bike battery safety landscape continues to evolve. With the OPSS keeping these guidelines under review, and ongoing research from institutions like the Warwick Manufacturing Group due to be published imminently, businesses should expect continued development of safety requirements and enforcement measures.

Moving forward

Whilst these guidelines represent a significant step in making e-bike batteries safer, concerns remain regarding illegal e-bikes and aftermarket modifications which could pose the greatest safety risks, therefore proper enforcement around non-compliant aftermarket products is crucial, with the OPSS working in tandem with the local trading standards authorities.

Compliance with the guidelines might require some changes to your business practices, but as the e-bike market continues to grow, it is likely to be an important investment in safety and customer trust.

For further advice on product safety, regulatory compliance and enforcement, please contact Andrew Litchfield or Natalie Barton-Howes.