Electric scooters and e-bikes are one of the UK’s fastest growing fire risks.
In total:
At least 16 people across the UK have died as a result of e-bike or e-scooter fires since July 2022.
By May 2023, at least 190 people across the UK had been injured in e-bike fires. Many more have been injured since.
Up until the end of September 2024, there were three e-bike fires a week in London alone.
Electric scooter and E-bike fires are devastating. They are generally caused by the scooter or bike’s lithium-ion battery pack, which, if defective, can lead to a chain reaction called “thermal runaway”.
An average lithium-ion e-bike battery is said to contain as much explosive energy as six hand grenades. Within minutes of thermal runaway, homes can be destroyed and lives lost.
How can we ensure that members of the public are safe when buying and using e-bikes and scooters? And how can those who have suffered injury, lost their homes, or even loved ones at the hands of defective e-bike batteries secure justice for themselves and their families?
Claims under the Consumer Protection Act 1987: Part 1
One way to hold the manufacturers of dangerous and defective e-bike batteries to account is to bring a claim against them under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (‘the CPA’).
Who is liable under the CPA?
Under the CPA, manufacturers of e-bike batteries are strictly liable for the damage to property and personal injury caused by their defective products.
Any person who, by putting his name or trademark on the product, has held himself out to be the producer of the product, and any supplier who has imported the product into the UK, can also be held liable under the CPA.
The Claimant must prove that a defective product, produced or supplied by the Defendant, caused them damage to property or personal injury.
What is a defective product?
Section 3 of the CPA explains that there is a “defect” in the product “if the safety of the product is not such as persons generally are entitled to expect.”
When determining what a consumer might be generally entitled to expect in relation to a product, all the circumstances will be taken into account, including the manner and purpose for which the product has been marketed, any warnings that accompany the product, and the time the product was supplied to its producer by another.
Please see Part 2 for more information on bringing a claim under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
How we can help
Imran Khan and Partners act for clients who have suffered personal injury, death and property loss as a result of these devastating electric scooter and e-bike fires.
