E-bike battery fires burns TTC train

[Dean2]

https://youtu.be/CVki-fKYLBc?si=EZMmy2yWFvoiKvfn

This might be useful for many. Interesting to note that there is no legal requirement for UL or CSA approval on ebike batteries. Thus your only assurance is the quality of the battery being used. This from Biktrix.

Mine is a Duo model and thus has a UL certified battery but I did not realise that this wasn't true for 100% of the batteries they use.

Dean

Thank you for your inquiry. Please be assured that all our batteries are checked for quality and safety before they are shipped out.

Currently, there are no legal obligations for ebike batteries to be certified. The only existing requirements for ebike batteries are related to their shipment, which must comply with the UL dangerous goods categories.

We can provide the MSDS Certification wherever needed and this is proof that our batteries are safe.

That said, on our Duo Series of bikes, the internal hidden battery is UL-certified.

Check out our recent video on how best to care for (as well as store over winter) your battery.


Have a great day


Sincerely,


Shannon

(Customer Experience Team)


Please note our offices and operations will be closed from Dec 25, 2023 to Jan 01, 2024 for our hardworking staff to spend some time with family and return rejuvenated on Jan 02, 2024 in the New Year.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by fishnguy

Admittedly, I didn’t read most of the thread, but I want to chime in because why not, haha.

So I have a dozen or so lithium ion batteries in my house. And so does my neighbour. And the one on the other side. And others all around as well. In the past decade, I have had many more. And so did my neighbours, as well as gazillion other people around the world. I had one swell up (wife's phone, lost some very valuable photos, unfortunately).

Anyway, sounds like the killer bees are coming. Granted, I never looked into any of it, but sounds like the bees sure are coming.

If there were this many bee attacks in New York… you’d be posting a bee thread I suspect.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lithium...-firefighters/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...tery-fire.html

Toronto is seeing a 73% jump in lithium battery fires

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/10/...-fires-ebikes/

It’s not as isolated as you are believing. Lithium battery use is exploding in all sorts of new equipment such as yard and garden and home… the car batteries around are also going to skyrocket as Trudeau demands.

Does it not appear to be an issue worth discussing?

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by barbless

This can't be the first time we have heard about this. EV batteries catching fire
It is good though some are offering ways to maybe safely store them and a way to put them out.

I sent an email to my city councillor and provincial MLA to see whether bureaucrats are up to date with the changing times.

They got back saying they will look into it.

[Sundancefisher]

They put the fire out eventually but a cargo ship carrying a load of lithium ion batteries started on fire. Took days to put the fire out.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-b2471622.html

[Sundancefisher]

Have to think eventually that lithium ion batteries will need to left behind and not carried on a plane.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...orni-rcna69596

What’s the consequences of lying about a lithium battery in your check bag. The airline specifically states none can be in checked bag.

Technically means your cordless razor should be in your carryon.

[Sundancefisher]

https://nationalpost.com/news/why-do...tching-on-fire

Why do EV and e-bike batteries keep catching on fire?
Manufacturer defects can cause a process called 'thermal runaway'

Author of the article: Zacharie Landry, National Post Staff
Published Jan 03, 2024 • Last updated 19 hours ago • 4 minute read
257 Comments
E-bikes
Charred remains of e-bikes and scooters sit outside of a building in Chinatown after four people were killed by a fire in an e-bike repair shop overnight on June 20, 2023 in New York City. PHOTO BY SPENCER PLATT /Getty Images
Article content
An overheating e-bike on board a TTC subway car led to a fire at the Sheppard-Yonge Station on Sunday.

A shipload of lithium-ion batteries caught fire in Alaska burned for days.

The proliferation of electric bikes and vehicles has meant an expansion in the use of lithium-ion batteries — and an increasing number of battery fires.

In the case of the e-bike fire aboard Toronto transit, fire crews were able to extinguish what Toronto fire chief Matthew Pegg called an “aggressive fire,” with one person suffering non-life threatening injuries.

“The failure of this lithium-ion battery pack occurred very rapidly, with the battery pack igniting into a significant and aggressive fire within seconds of the presence of visible gases being omitted from the battery,” said Pegg.

Pegg’s comments come as lithium-ion battery-related fires have risen dramatically in the last year.

How many lithium-ion battery fires happen each year?
In 2022, there were 29 lithium-ion battery fires in Toronto. That number nearly doubled in 2023, with the fire on Dec. 31 bringing the total to 55.

There have also been many reports in the United States of fires stemming from the batteries of e-bikes and e-scooters. In June 2023, four people were killed when fire erupted at an e-bike shop in New York City. In just New York and Los Angeles, there have been at least 669 lithium-ion battery fires since 2019, CBS News reported.

What risks do lithium-ion batteries present?
The main risk, said Michael Pecht, a mechanical engineer at the University of Maryland, is that there can be a fire or explosion. This can be a particular risk if the fire starts in a residential building, especially at night.

“I would be concerned about having an e-bike in an apartment,” said Pecht.

How do these batteries burst into flames in the first place? Is it because of human misuse or because of manufacturing defects?
Often, consumers get blamed, either for using the wrong charger or that the battery was abused. It is true that improper charging can cause batteries to overheat and start fires. But the bulk of the problem seems to be in manufacturing.

“But think about it,” said Pecht. “here have been fires and explosions and recalls as a result, with Chevrolet Bolt, Hyundai’s Ioniq, and almost every other e-car. And those batteries were made by some of the leading battery companies with good chargers and (battery management systems).”

“The problem is that billions of batteries are being made each year by each of these companies and quality issues can affect performance,” Pecht continued.

If there’s a defect in a battery, they can result in internal short circuits and what’s called “thermal runaway,” which is one of the “primary risks” of lithium-ion batteries, according to the UL Research Institute, an independent safety organization.

“It is a phenomenon in which the lithium-ion cell enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state,” it says in a post.

This can overheat the cell, bringing battery temperatures to dangerous and hazardous levels that can destroy the battery and, sometimes, cause fires.

And so, defects within the batteries can spark the fires.

“The companies who make the e-bikes are often smaller battery companies and many have quite poor quality control and are thus at a much higher risk of having defects that can result in thermal runaway,” said Pecht.

What distinguishes lithium-ion battery fires from regular fires?
When fires are sparked from a lithium-ion battery, there is more to worry about than just the intense heat generated by the flames. Experts have pointed out that toxic gases can also be emitted when a lithium-ion battery experiences thermal runaway.

“While the fire itself and the heat it generates may be a serious threat in many situations, the risks associated with gas and smoke emissions from malfunctioning lithium-ion batteries may in some circumstances be a larger threat,” reads the introduction of a paper in science journal Scientific Reports.

This not only adds another layer to the danger bystanders may face when in the vicinity of a lithium-ion battery fire, but also poses a toxicity hazard to firefighters trying to quell the blaze.

[Sundancefisher]

https://globalnews.ca/news/10269950/...ontent=rundown

Charging battery in an apartment and it over charges and starts on fire. One fatality. Pretty tragic to die because of a bike you weren’t even riding.