Monday February 20, 2023

Look at Micromobility Li-Ion Battery Fires, CPSC Urges UL

CPSC staffers February 10 asked UL to form a working group to look at lithium-ion battery fires in micromobility products. The letter (bit.ly/3S1lwUJ) to the standards organization's 2272 and 2849 panels cited 208 fires in 39 states from January 2021 to November 2022. There were 19 deaths (11 hoverboards, five e-scooters, and three e-bikes) and 22 injuries treated in emergency departments (12 e-scooters and 10 e-bikes).

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A new working group, urged the letter, should look at:

Discouraging users from servicing or replacing batteries such as via tamper resistant or sealed battery compartments.

Ensuring charger-to-battery compatibility, possibly including performance requirements for when batteries are attached to chargers with higher than intended voltages.

Developing temperature test provisions that account for reasonable worst-case use.

Attached to the letter were CPSC's fall 2022 responses to requests by the New York City council and fire chief for attention. The fire chief wrote again February 10 (bit.ly/3I5gOAS).