A failed Lithium-ion battery prompted six fire engines and 35 firefighters into action over the weekend, as a London flat caught fire on Sunday afternoon.
According to reports from fire investigators, the unidentified e-bike's Li-ion battery caught fire due to an overheating issue while charging.
The flat containing the e-bike is said to have revceived fire damage to one third of its rooms, while the flat above only suffered heat damage.
The fire started on Sunday at 2.33pm in an apartment building on Camberwell Road, South London, and was brought under control around two hours later at 4.30pm.
Firefighters from five different nearby stations attended the blaze, and London Ambulance Services treated two people for minor injuries.
- Read more: ebiketips's guide to e-bike batteries
Lithium-ion batteries are known to be incredibly stable, and are insanely unlikely to spontaneously combust, you'll be pleased to know. With that said, it is still important to look after your battey.
Our first piece of advice here at ebiketips is to not repeatedly strike the battery while its out of its protective casing. Duh. That'll damage the composition of the battery and could easliy cause a fire.
Our second piece of advice is a little less obvious, but far more important as it's an easy mistake to make. Do not charge your e-bike's battery with anything but the charger supplied by the manufacturer.
Using an off-brand or damaged charger, or charging a damaged battery, can often leaad to overheating issues, like those the firefighters at the scene of the fire on Camberwell Road suspected to have caused Sunday's fire.
Stay sensible, and keep an eye on the health of your e-bike's battery and charger, and you shouldn't end up like the poor residents of the flat on Camberwell Road.