Guidelines for Safer Micromobility Devices

The UK Government Office for Product Safety issued new statutory guidelines for e-bike and e-scooter producers and suppliers. This is part of the ongoing response to a series of lithium-ion battery fires affecting both these two-wheelers. We summarize the UK guidelines for safer micromobility devices here, because this is a widespread problem affecting many other countries.

Why Guidelines for Micromobility Transport Safety Now?

Battery fires continue to break out in e-bikes and e-scooters using lithium-ion batteries as their energy source. This thermal runaway can spread rapidly, harm people, and on some occasions even cause their deaths.

The guidelines, that we link to below, form part of the UK government’s ‘Buy Safe. Be Safe’ campaign. The outreach aims to help the public purchase safer e-scooters and e-bikes by avoiding ‘rogue sellers’.

However, the UK guidelines for safer micromobility devices do not only aim to educate consumers. They also ring-fence producers and suppliers, who face penalties if found to be dealing in substandard products.

The regulations extend beyond e-bike and e-scooter suppliers with retail outlets, according to the Fire Safety Website. That’s because they also include poorly designed and / or manufactured lithium-ion batteries, including those sold online or for use with – or as part of – conversion kits.

UK Guidelines for Safer Micromobility Devices

Producer Responsibilities

Producers must ensure that a product is safe before placing it on the market. This means it does not present a risk under normal, or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use.

Producers must furthermore, ensure that lithium-ion batteries possess adequate and effective safety protections, to mitigate the risk of thermal runaway. And are protected from reasonable external damage too.

Distributor Responsibilities

Distributors must act with due care to help ensure that they only supply safe products. They may not supply goods that they know, or ought to know are dangerous, or have been recalled.

They must also cooperate with enforcement authorities by providing information concerning the sources of their products. And take appropriate action to withdraw dangerous products from the market.