If you’ve been reading about or searching online for information on e-bikes, there’s a good chance you’ve read stories about e-bike and e-mobility battery fires. Though these fires are incredibly rare, especially with e-bikes, the risk of lithium ion battery fires is not zero. That’s why it is so important to make sure your e-bike is equipped with UL certified chargers, batteries, and electronic components.
What does UL mean? UL is the Underwriters Laboratories, which is a non-profit, independent organization that is dedicated to product safety. They test products to make sure they are safe for home and industrial use, among other things, and are the benchmark of standardized test certification- especially among electrical products. Nearly every electrical product that is legally sold in the US has to pass UL testing. Currently, e-mobility devices are not required by the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) to be UL Listed/ Certified. That is likely to be changing soon, however, as there has been a push to increase safety among these products. To be clear, the overwhelming majority of fires associated with e-mobility devices has been among scooters, rather than e-bikes, and predominantly in situations involving batteries that were either tampered with, repaired, or not made for the device.
Troxus 2023 bikes meet UL safety standards and come with UL Certified chargers and batteries, and our entire line of upcoming 2024 bikes will be UL 2849 compliant as well. New York City has been one of the flashpoints of upcoming and new legislation mandating stronger safety protocols and regulations for e-mobility devices, and the CPSC is following along. This is ultimately going to mean that all products sold in the US comply with some form of UL certification … but why wait until then? We’re very proud to stand behind our products and have put them through rigorous testing procedures- beyond existing standards- and for more than just electronic and battery safety.
When considering an e-bike, make sure that one of the first things you look for is that UL logo- it’s your first piece of insurance and reassurance.
