New figures released this week by the Press Association reveal that e-bike and e-scooter fires reached a record high last year. The investigation found there were 432 e-bike fires and 147 e-scooter fires attended by fire and rescue services in 2025, up 38% and 20% respectively on reports from the previous year.
For Andy Spence, Managing Director of leading UK fire extinguisher manufacturer, Britannia Fire, these figures are troubling but not surprising: “Lithium-ion battery fires are by nature more unpredictable and intense than conventional fires. They are harder to extinguish, often behave differently to typical fires and can spread quickly, meaning that standard fire protection measures aren’t always adequate.”
The Government’s newly launched product safety consultation, published at the end of March, acknowledges this concerning trend and explicitly identifies unsafe e-bike batteries, conversion kits and chargers sourced from online marketplaces as a growing and serious hazard. The consultation proposes significant new duties on producers, suppliers and online marketplaces to act proactively to improve safety standards in products containing lithium-ion batteries. As part of this, the British Standards Institution (BSI) is developing a fast-tracked Publicly Available Specification (PAS) for batteries used in e-bikes, e-scooters and conversion kits.
Andy Spence welcomes this consultation as a positive step, but asserts that regulation alone cannot eliminate the risk: “We welcome the Government’s recognition that the current framework needs strengthening, and the focus on online marketplace accountability is long overdue. But while regulatory reform takes time, lithium-ion fires continue to endanger lives and properties today. It’s important for landlords, facilities managers and business owners to consider extra precautions, particularly for locations with charging stations or clusters of battery-powered devices.”
In direct response to the rise in lithium-ion battery fires, Britannia Fire recently launched two new products, the P50 AVD fire extinguisher and the AVD fire blanket, designed to work together to contain, cool and suppress lithium-ion fires quickly and safely.
The AVD fire blanket comes in three different sizes to suit a variety of battery-powered products. The blanket is placed over the device to contain flames, block heat radiation and prevent fire from spreading. The P50 AVD fire extinguisher is the newest edition to Britannia Fire’s market-leading P50 composite range. This can be discharged under the blanket edge to rapidly cool and extinguish the fire, preventing reignition. As with all P50 extinguishers, the P50 AVD has a 20 year lifespan, only requires servicing once every 10 years, and is fully recyclable.
Andy Spence continues: “As a nation we are using many more products and devices containing lithium-ion batteries than ever before. It’s vital that we introduce measures to make these products safer at the point of purchase, but it’s also important that fire safety equipment keeps pace with this growing trend, to keep people and property protected.”
With lithium-ion battery devices now prevalent across a wide range of professional and consumer environments, Britannia Fire’s AVD products are particularly suited to locations such as bike storage areas in residential blocks or offices, IT equipment rooms and office environments, schools, universities and public sector buildings.
For more information on Britannia Fire and its products, visit www.britannia-fire.co.uk or email sales@britannia-fire.co.uk.
About the Author
Britannia Fire
Britannia Fire Ltd are a UK Manufacturer of fire extinguishers, and with 55 years of experience, we are dedicated to designing and manufacturing the highest quality and standard of fire extinguishers to make fire safety simple, easy and affordable.
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