E-bikes just got a whole lot safer - though, they were already plenty safe - thanks to a new European Standard that gives the industry universal battery testing procedures.
The standard, named EN 50604, comes from the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and its representing bodies like NEN in Holland.
The official line from CEN is that EN 50604 “specifies test procedures and provides acceptable safety requirements for voltage class A & voltage class B removable lithium-ion battery (packs and) systems, to be used as traction batteries of or for electrically propelled road vehicles.”
>Read more: ebiketips's guide to e-bike batteries
What does that mean for us non-standardisation familiar mortals? Well, NEN - Holland's Standardisation office which manages standards of international and local relevance - says that the standard will enable the setting up of a dedicated test plan for batteries for electric vehicles, and only applies to batteries that work in conjunction with equipment described in the International Standard for charging electric vehicles (IEC 61851-3) and applies only to batteries already covered in the International Standard for EV battery standardisation (ISO 12405-1).
So, this battery safety test allows for further, more specific safety tests on products that have already seen one round of standardisation.
NEN says the testing standard only relates to the testing of safety performance of battery packs and systems for their intended use for a vehicle, not for their repair, maintenance, vehicle production or storage.
