Bike safety issue?

[Nebo1ss]

I own an Orbea Rise and live in a Flat that i own in London. I keep the bike in my Flat and its never been a problem. We recently had a note from the managing agents, which i assume has been approved by the Board that EBIKES should not be stored in Flats because of the risk of fire. I suspect this is something that is becoming more common in London because of a few fires caused by charging Ebikes.

London Fire brigade has admitted that these fires were all caused by Non standard home built or cheap Ebay batteries or chargers. This is a very expensive asset which is why i keep it in my flat .

I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem either in London or elsewhere and any advice on how to approach. While i understand the concern I think it is not well thought out. For example the majority of EBIKES have removable batteries so what is the point of banning the bike while the batteries are still taken up to the flat to be charged as there is no where else to charge them.

 

[RustyMTB]

Tricky one. I agree most of the fires have been around Chinesium Ali Express garbage. Obvs if it's an issue, then there's options to explore, fireproof storage box, store the battery outside, point out it's a quality Shimano item etc. I'd go for compromise/negotiation but If you own the flat, can you not tell the agent to poke it as a last resort?

 

[ilostmypassword]

I own an Orbea Rise and live in a Flat that i own in London. I keep the bike in my Flat and its never been a problem. We recently had a note from the managing agents, which i assume has been approved by the Board that EBIKES should not be stored in Flats because of the risk of fire. I suspect this is something that is becoming more common in London because of a few fires caused by charging Ebikes.

London Fire brigade has admitted that these fires were all caused by Non standard home built or cheap Ebay batteries or chargers. This is a very expensive asset which is why i keep it in my flat .

I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem either in London or elsewhere and any advice on how to approach. While i understand the concern I think it is not well thought out. For example the majority of EBIKES have removable batteries so what is the point of banning the bike while the batteries are still taken up to the flat to be charged as there is no where else to charge them.

Don't tell them.

 

[Another One]

Is it not possible to store battery outside somewhere?

 

[Nebo1ss]

The Orbea Rise Battery is not designed to be removable.

 

[Expidia]

The Orbea Rise Battery is not designed to be removable.

This is indeed a growing concern especially in cities like New York City where food delivery services use these cheap Chinese ebikes for their deliveries then get home and immediately charge and store batteries while they are still hot in their ebikes while in their apartment house's hallways. I'm sure many are altering and rebuilding their batteries too.

Future Ebike safety laws regarding storage will only get worse for us in the future.

If it was my situation and this not be a cost effective solution for you, but as you are already aware you should think about trading your ebike to stay compliant with the managing agents for your flat by selling or trading the ebike and buying one with a removable battery. Then one idea is to store the battery outside in some type of metal lock box fastened or chained to the ground like some do with a ground anchor in their garage and they chain their bike to it (and don't store the battery in the trunk of your car, especially during hot summer weather.

I rent a one unit of a two family, older wooden construction, house and even though my ride is a quality Bosch system and Underwriters approved . . . ANY battery cell can go bad and start toasting the entire battery. . . I store my 650 watt battery in an old broken washing machine tank that I've removed the plastc augar that was inside the tank. I charge it in there too on a wind up AC 1-6 hr timer I installed myself.

If you've ever watched one of those Tesla's cars on fire they burn really hot and take a long time to extinguish. I'd rather have to get a new ebike with a removable battery than torch my house rental. Or for you, watch your London flat go up in flames.

 

[Ark]

Shouldn't the only danger be during actual charging.
I wish the gov would ban the importing of cheap chinese batteries, they are giving a terrible reputation to all ebikes.

These are pretty much the same batteries as in phones, power tools , tooth brushes, cordless vacuum cleaners etc.
I don't see anyone banning electric toothbrushes from flats


You can take Ebikes on most trains in the UK btw as long as you don't charge it on the train, probably not for much longer with how many cheese ebikes from china are flooding the country with 0 safety batteries made for minimum possible and assembled at rapid pace.

BTW With the amount of washing machine and fridge/freezer fires they should ban those from flats too