'Fire risk' over delivery riders' modified e-bikes

Illegally modified e-bikes and scooters present a fire risk because of unsafe lithium batteries

Self-modified e-bikes and e-scooters used by food delivery couriers have led to major fire safety concerns, a meeting has heard.

West Yorkshire Fire Authority was told that Deliveroo riders were often using kits bought online to convert a regular bicycle or scooter.

The authority said such vehicles, unlike official e-bikes which had been safety tested, were particularly vulnerable to fire because of the "unknown standard and quality of the battery kits".

The fire service said it had attended 80 fires involving lithium-ion batteries, like those used in e-bikes and e-scooters, and that many of the batteries had been "homemade or modified in some way".

'Unknown quality'

A fire authoriy report said: “While looking at incidents nationally it has become apparent that one real area of concern is e-bikes, primarily those that have been self-modified/converted.

“The conversion kits for this can be bought readily on online sites such as Ebay and are cheaper than buying an electric bike.

“With self-conversion comes the unknown standard and quality of the battery kits, non-expert knowledge in the conversion of the bike, in addition to the general risk factors of an e-bike."

At the meeting on Friday, fire chiefs told councillors they had been working with delivery service Deliveroo to raise awareness about the dangers of such vehicles, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Bradford Tong councillor Ursula Sutcliffe said some of the delivery staff she knew lived in shared accomodation, which made the risk of their bikes catching fire even more serious.

“I know a few in Bradford city centre, they are all going home to the same buildings after work and are all charging these lithium-ion batteries at the same time.

“It is only a matter of time before something happens.”

Delivery riders getting illegal e-bikes seized

E-bikes: What is the law and is there an age limit?

Andrew Shaw, road safety lead for the fire service, said food delivery drivers "are people who don't normally engage with emergency services" so it had to look at how to get the safety message across.

The meeting was told an event was recently held in Leeds city centre supported by Deliveroo which was "aimed at engaging with the cycle courier community" with the focus being on such battery fires.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.