E-bike and e-scooter warning issued amid ‘growing’ black market

E-bike and e-scooter fires reached record highs across the UK last year, prompting urgent warnings to riders about products purchased from online marketplaces.

Fire brigade figures, obtained by the Press Association, show 432 e-bike blazes were recorded in 2025. This is up 38 per cent from 313 the previous year, and more than five times higher than the 84 in 2021.

There were 147 e-scooter fires last year, a 20 per cent jump from 123 in 2024. In 2021, the figure was 88.

These dangerous fires are often caused by failing batteries, conversion kits, or chargers.

Products acquired via online marketplaces face a higher risk of malfunction than those from established retailers, largely due to less stringent regulation.

Nick Bailey of BatteryIQ, which monitors e-bike battery safety, underscored this concern, stating that involved e-bikes and e-scooters are “always cut-price products sold through online marketplaces with lax quality control.”

He added: “There’s also a growing black market in DIY and counterfeit batteries, particularly for delivery riders, built using battery cells reclaimed from used disposable vapes.

“I wouldn’t keep a battery in my home without continuous monitoring – regardless of what the manufacturer’s sticker says.”

The Press Association sent Freedom of Information requests to all 49 fire brigades in the UK, asking for the number of e-bike and e-scooter fires they recorded each year between 2021 and 2025.

Thirty-seven brigades provided comparable data.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) recorded by far the most e-bike and e-scooter fires last year, with 171 and 35 respectively.

Nottinghamshire had the highest number of e-bike fires (30) outside the capital, followed by Greater Manchester (13).

Avon Fire and Rescue Service had the next highest amount (10).

Greater Manchester had the most e-scooter blazes (13) outside London, ahead of Avon Fire and Rescue Service (10).

Fires involving lithium batteries used for e-bikes and e-scooters can spread rapidly and produce a toxic vapour.

Eden Abera Siem, 30, died in hospital after being rescued by firefighters when a blaze, which investigators found was probably caused by the failure of a charging e-bike battery, broke out at her home on Lordship Lane, Wood Green, north London on June 21 last year.

It was the fourth fatal e-bike fire recorded in the capital.

Lesley Rudd, chief executive of charity Electrical Safety First, said the issue of fires caused by substandard e-bike and e-scooter batteries is “swiftly becoming a runaway train that needs to be stopped”.

She continued: “Poorly made batteries and accessories, often sold via under-regulated online marketplaces, are of huge concern, and are a major route through which dangerous devices are entering people’s homes.

“Without strong and enforceable changes, lives are at serious risk and further loss of life is, sadly, inevitable.”

Last week the Government published three consultations setting out plans to boost product safety in the UK, which include online marketplaces being legally required to “prevent, identify and remove dangerous products being sold via their platforms”.

Spencer Sutcliff, deputy commissioner of LFB, said the brigade is “extremely concerned around the issue of e-bike and e-scooter fires, and the devastating impact these fires can have on lives and livelihoods”.

He added that its firefighters “continue to be called out to a worrying amount” of the incidents.

Privately-owned e-scooters have been banned from Transport for London (TfL’s) network since December 2021 because of their fire risk.

This was extended to non-foldable e-bikes for the majority of TfL services in March last year after an e-bike caught fire on a platform at Rayners Lane Tube station.

Private e-scooters are banned from being used in public areas across the UK, although they are often ridden illegally in many urban locations.

Legal trials of rental e-scooters on roads have been ongoing in towns and cities across England since July 2020.

Under UK law, e-bike motors must cut out when a speed of 15.5mph is reached.

But police are increasingly finding many have been modified to reach much faster speeds.

Sue Davies, Which? head of consumer rights policy, said: “Online marketplaces are increasingly saturated with unsafe products.

“E-bikes and e-scooters are just some examples of items that can pose serious risks to consumers, while also undercutting responsible businesses that comply with the law.

“The Government has launched a much-needed consultation on updating the product safety framework, including duties for online marketplaces to prevent unsafe products from being sold by third-party sellers.

“These duties must be strong and enforceable, with clear measures in place to protect consumers and reduce the risk of fires and other harm.”