The Bicycle Association (BA) has called on the UK government to crack down on illegally converted e-bikes to prevent the rising number of related fires in the country.
The number of fires caused by e-bikes has been on the rise, with government statistics showing 170 e-bike fires reported in 2024, 45% of which were related to post-market conversion kits used to make a bike electric.
One of the key actions the BA said the government must take to address this issue is to properly regulate delivery operators (such as Deliveroo and Just Eat), as a significant proportion of the drivers delivering for these platforms use illegal e-bikes to facilitate these deliveries.
“These tragic incidents must be stopped, and that requires decisive action which goes well beyond technical regulations,” said BA Technical and Policy Director Peter Eland.
“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.”
Eland also called for the government to forbid the sale of non-legal e-bikes and take these vehicles off the road.
He said these throttle-controlled, high-speed vehicles which are often reported in connection with unsafe riding and criminal activity are not bicycles at all but 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,” he said.
The BA has also called on the government to prevent the sale of illegal conversion kits and to halt the import of these unsafe products.
BA executive director Steve Garidis said the issue of illegal e-bikes is also having a damaging effect on the legitimate e-bike industry in the UK, which provides green and efficient transport alternatives.
“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,” Garidis said.
“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.”
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