The trade body for the cycle industry has presented a comprehensive action plan to government and called for its urgent implementation
After consulting its members, the Bicycle Association (BA) action plan identified three key areas that need action: stopping unsafe imports, reform of the gig economy delivery sector, and the closure of legal loopholes that allow the sale of non-road-legal e-bikes and conversion kits.
The number of fires caused by e-bikes has been on the rise, with government statistics showing 170 e-bike fires reported in 2024, compared with just 2 in 2017 and 26 in 2020. Of these 170 e-bike fires in 20224, 45% of them (77) were confirmed to have occurred where post-market conversion kits had been used to make a bike electric.
Speaking on the launch of the action plan, Peter Eland, Technical and Policy Director at the BA said: “These tragic incidents must be stopped, and that requires decisive action which goes well beyond technical regulations.”
“We need Ministers and government departments, especially the Department for Transport, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Home Office, to work together to properly regulate both online marketplaces and gig economy food delivery operators, so that those sectors take real responsibility for the unsafe products supplied through their platforms or used to deliver their services.”
He also called for action to ensure non-legal e-bikes cannot be sold and are taken off the road, saying that the “throttle-controlled, high-speed vehicles which are often reported as ‘e-bikes’ in connection with unsafe riding, or even use in crimes such as phone-snatching, are not legitimate e-bikes at all – they are illegal e-motorcycles.
“Government must close the legal loophole which allows such vehicles – and the conversion kits often used to create them - to be sold legally. Taking these products off the market would contribute to fire safety, road safety and help tackle the criminal use of high-speed unregistered e-motorbikes.”
Eland highlighted the difference between these non-legal e-bikes and the many road legal e-bikes, known as EAPCs – Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles – which are rigorously defined in law.
The BA action plan includes over 20 pages of policy proposals and emphasises the industry’s support for and engagement with the ongoing work of the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). Highlighting the work of reputable manufacturers, the BA’s Executive Director, Steve Garidis, said:
“Even the safest, fully legal e-bikes are being seriously reputationally damaged by association with fires in unsafe products completely beyond the UK industry’s control. The legitimate e-bike category in the UK is at serious risk as a result.
“E-bike sales have fallen significantly in recent years, in stark contrast to the worldwide trend, as users face repeated headlines about e-bike dangers, and consequent blanket restrictions on access and insurance.”
With e-bike fire safety information being rolled out across the country, such as London Fire Brigade’s ChargeSafe and the OPSS’ Buy Safe, Be Safe campaigns, Garidis went on to say that “on the three main points above we urge Government to act urgently - to prevent more tragic incidents and to safeguard tens of thousands of green jobs in the UK e-bike industry which otherwise has so much potential to grow, and to secure the future of this healthy, enjoyable and low-impact form of transport.
“Companies in the legitimate UK cycle industry take full legal responsibility for the safety of the products they supply. We think it’s high time that the online marketplaces and gig economy delivery companies take on that same responsibility, and that sales of non-road-legal e-bikes are banned."
You can download the full BA E-bike Safety Action Plan here.