Are eBike batteries safe?

Are eBike batteries safe? Some are, but quite frankly most aren’t. At least they haven’t proven to be from my perspective.

The fact of the matter is there are few testing requirements in the US for eBike batteries, up until recently when the FDNY updated their fire code to require UL 2849 (Underwriters Laboratories) testing on all batteries. We have been aware of this safety testing standard and have been advocating for it for years, but it’s really never been enforced.

The bottom line is, if you want an eBike with a battery that you can charge safely in your home I would personally only trust a battery tested to these standards. Sure it adds to the cost, but after the over 200 fires that happened in NYC over this past year alone, we think this is an expense that shouldn’t be cut. We know some disagree and feel we should leave the market to govern itself, but clearly, that hasn’t worked.

Bosch is one of the only widely available manufacturers in the US to meet the UL 2849 standard and they have been this way since their introduction in the US in 2014. It’s always their position to meet or exceed the highest safety standards on the market whether or not they are required and this is part of the reason why we have been primarily offering Bosch products since their introduction in the US in 2014 and made the decision to go exclusively Bosch in 2021.

To learn more about UL and the stringent testing performed along with the updated FDNY fire code please view the links below:

FDNY Firecode
UL 2849 Standard

We have also made several videos on this topic:

Will eBikes see the same fate as the Hoverboard?
Are eBikes actually safe?
That’s it… we’re Bosch exclusive.

We hope that you appreciate this challenging stance we have taken on this topic. We hope you will assist in helping others to become more informed about this topic and together we can make this market safer and more sustainable.

Sincerely,
Chris Nolte – Founder of Propel