![]() ![]() Lithium-ion batteries employ lithium compounds that store less energy than pure lithium, but also make the cells more stable. “I’ve got a battery about the size of a cigar box, and there’s enough energy in there to push my 100 kilos plus another 100 kilos for 60 miles.” The lithium-ion trade-off is volatility: Metallic (pure) lithium will ignite when exposed to water in the air. “You’re putting an awful lot of energy in battery,” says Ed Benjamin, founder and chairman of the Light Electric Vehicle Association. Most e-bike batteries use a series of cells containing lithium ions, the use of which enables a much higher energy density (more power, less weight) than nickel-cadmium and lead-acid batteries, like you’ll find in your car’s battery. → No matter what you need to improve in your riding life, find it with Bicycling All Access! What all battery fires share is a fiery phenomenon called thermal runaway, in which the battery’s cells reach a critical temperature that causes them to spontaneously combust. In January, a modified Pinarello Dogma F8 ignited mid-ride as a 79-year-old rider pedaled up a popular climb in Adelaide, Australia a Pinarello representative blamed the apparent short-circuit on the rider’s aftermarket e-bike kit in a statement to Forbes. Few seem to occur mid-ride, and in those instances that we could find, riders had previously modified e-bikes or retrofitted pushbikes with conversion kits. The conditions that preempt an e-bike fire vary: Charging fires appear to be most common, although plenty of documented e-bike fires occur while bikes sit idle. What follows is an explanation of how and why e-bikes burn up, with safety information to prevent an e-bike fire from happening to you. But although lithium-ion battery fires end in an explosive chemical reaction that leaves little but a charred husk of a battery pack, they begin with a distinct and often preventable cause. The Lyft bike in San Jose was deliberately torched as an act of vandalism, San Jose Department of Transportation PIO Colin Heyne told Bicycling, but the cause of the other three fires remains unknown.Į-bike fires make headlines for the same reason as cell phone fires, Tesla infernos, and self-immolating hoverboards: We don’t expect the batteries that power our modern lives to turn on us. The day the fourth bike burned, Lyft announced it was suspending e-bike service until it could investigate its battery technology.
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