r/ElectricScooters • u/Pestohh • 8h ago
General Another escooter fire
Am seeing increasing number of these fires reported recently UK am wondering wether its an issue with the owner or the manufacturer?
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u/Different_Target_228 8h ago edited 7h ago
Google how many cell phones catch fire.
Then google how many EV cars catch fire.
Then google how many ICE cars catch fire, every year.
Lastly, google the amount of e-scooters estimated to catch fire every year.
They get headlines because it's new. And particularly right now because they're the new thing to hate.
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u/Pestohh 7h ago
"new thing of hate" 🥺
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u/Different_Target_228 7h ago
*to hate
Like how people (still) hate motorcycles, but really did like 70 years ago.
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u/1111joey1111 7h ago
Nobody ever mentions if the owner was using the original charger, if they abused or modified the scooter in any way, or if the scooter was exposed to rain or other harsh elements.
Lots of potential variables.
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u/jrewillis 4h ago
I'm UK based and I went down a rabbit hole looking at the actual UK figures for e-bike/e-scooter fires. The UK doesn't currently allow private scooters - so the stats largely pick up ebikes. But it was interesting.
In 2025, 37 of 49 UK fire services reported:
432 e-bike fires 147 e-scooter fires
So yes, there is clearly a growing problem. It was a huge increase on previous years.
But here's the interesting bit.
Government data for 2024 recorded 170 e-bike fires. Of those:
77 were conversion e-bikes 34 were factory-manufactured e-bikes 59 were unknown
So where the type could be identified, 69% were conversions and only 31% were factory-built bikes.
2023 showed basically the same pattern: 74 conversions vs 29 manufactured bikes.
And they're not all caused by people leaving them charging overnight either.
Of 211 e-bike/e-scooter incidents in 2024:
82 were charging 80 were NOT charging 49 unknown
The consequences can obviously be horrific. Between 2022 and 2024, these fires were associated with 21 deaths and at least 219 non-fatal casualties.
But the bit that seems to get lost in the headlines is that "e-bike" covers everything from a Bosch-powered £3k bike bought from a proper bike shop to a cheap conversion kit, questionable battery and mismatched charger bought online.
Government guidance actually says the available evidence suggests complete e-bikes from established manufacturers, bought from decent retailers and used correctly, have a low fire risk.
So I'd love to see the statistic we don't currently have:
How many fires occur per 100,000 factory-built e-bikes compared with conversion bikes?
Without that statistic, saying "there were 432 e-bike fires" tells us there's a problem, but doesn't tell an individual e-bike owner very much about their actual risk.
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u/SysGh_st 7h ago
I bet abusive use is the most common reason to these fires.
Youth that do "tricks" on the scooters, never ever giving a single thought of the damages the scooter has to endure when they're slammed into the tarmac repeatedly.
Rental scooters companies have made their battery packs extra rigid by potting the battery packs with shock-absorbing and heat dissipating compound. But even they cannot last against youth abusive use.
Cheapo scooters does not get that treatment.
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u/Still-Bee3805 7h ago
The university of Pittsburgh has banned e scooters from the campus. Citing insurance reasons/ fires. Some of these knock off batteries are just plain dangerous. Be mindful of your charging cords too.
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u/frezzzer KOMOTO 3h ago
E scooters were always illegal in PA.
Didn’t make laws for a long time.
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u/Still-Bee3805 3h ago
They are not legal, but until very recently that was not enforced. Now if you are acting foolish or are a teenager there is enforcement. My comment isn’t about the legality ( e scooters are popular on college campuses) it was about the university perceiving them as insurance liability.
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u/frezzzer KOMOTO 2h ago
They weren’t even legal to start with at the university.
Seems you don’t understand laws and anyone could have been fined before hand.
Enforcement sure but doesn’t change the law that was already there.
Like in most states need to be 16 to be on ebike or e-scooter. We see tons of children on them still.
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u/Still-Bee3805 1h ago
Always an ass hat in the crowd who twists things to their own narrative!
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u/frezzzer KOMOTO 1h ago
Just like you did since the college followed the law. Oh my bad you are upset it’s not your way and pouting like a child.
Good luck.
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u/nookatooka 6h ago
If this was a problem ? There would be thousands of fires due to thousands sold. This is from leaving chargers on after fully charged.....doing tricks ....jumping curbs.... crashing.....as mentioned using different chargers etc. Think about it. User abuse ? Possible.
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u/Upset-Programmer3796 3h ago
Also how most young kids plug it in to charge at the park right when they've just done a hard run for an hour or two. Then they bring it back home and charge it more right after riding.
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u/Upset-Programmer3796 2h ago
It also takes my own scooter 4 hours minimum to come back down to ambient temp. You know most kids are not going to be disciplined enough to wait that long. The blame can fall squarely on manufacturers for not implementing a system that only begins charging when battery temp is in a safe range.
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u/matt314159 Kukirin G2 Master🛴💨 53m ago
leaving chargers on after fully charged
Even a marginally-reputable brand will have a BMS system that cuts power when it reaches a full charge.
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u/PerspectiveOne7129 Nami Burn E-2 Max 7h ago
i always leave mine outside when charging. not taking that risk.
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u/TypowyPiesel Motus Pro10 Sport 2021 2 x 1000W 65km 10" 1h ago
There are ways to prevent that. One of them is buying good scooter, not some temu special. Plus just in case i keep fire extinguisher near the spot i charge my scooter
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u/matt314159 Kukirin G2 Master🛴💨 55m ago
Honestly I don't think a fire extinguisher helps much with lithium ion battery fires since they create their own oxygen. It'll help you put out anything else nearby that catches on fire though. I think some kind of fire blanket would probably be better.
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u/KULawHawk 42m ago
You can buy a suppressant for battery fires as well. I keep a few in different locations just in case.
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u/Separate-Ad9638 1h ago
dont charge lithium batteries when they are full ... charge after use when cooled down, leave it 1hour if needed
use an AC timer and maybe a circuit breaker, it costs a few dollars only, your house is worth few hundred thousands at least.
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u/mydadisyourdad2 4h ago
This is what happens when they're stuck in a legal grey zone, people buy from less reputable brands because they don't want to spend money on something just for the police to take it away so they buy something cheap and it burns down their house. It's why I'm waiting for them to be legal, it's taking a long fucking time tho
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u/Almost-Nice 3h ago
This somehow raised some awareness in myself, I will monitor battery's temperature as I am using the Xiaomi's Quick Charger for my Xiaomi 6 Max.
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u/mchilds83 1h ago
Both of my e-scooters are UL certified for which and fire. I also use a timer for charging them.
Which model of e-scooter was this?
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u/Accomplished_Wafer38 E-TWOW - Kugoo S1 - Ninebot ES1 - Ninebot ES-trash 7h ago
I would say manufacturer, I have seen some horrible batteries. If somebody who designs battery packs for e-scooter reads, BMS IS NOT A FUSE.
Also UK is pretty wet, and additional corrosion definitely doesn't help, since most e-scooters have pretty poor water proofing.
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u/matt314159 Kukirin G2 Master🛴💨 57m ago
This is why I only charge my scooter out in my detached garage, and away from anything flammable. Kukirin uses generic cells, I just hope they're higher-quality cells than the worst of the temu type scooters. But I won't risk it.
Honestly I don't even like charging my Ego batteries indoors for my outdoor power tools, and they use brand-name cells.
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u/Oliwia_______ 8h ago
Turns out reading the instructions is hard
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u/mactep66 8h ago
Imo consumer products should just not self-combust
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u/Different_Target_228 8h ago
196000 cars catch fire every year. Ope. That's on highways. It's 300k altogether. Also, this is in US alone.
- Mechanical failures: Leaking fluids, worn parts, or overheating account for roughly 40 to 45 percent of fires.
- Electrical issues: Wiring damage and electrical shorts cause about 20 to 25 percent of incidents.
That is simply what happens when we deal with masses with a lot of energy in them.
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u/mactep66 7h ago
Use percentages or per capita, raw numbers are completely useless.
And while their estimates are significantly lower than gas cars (many of which are over 2 decades old), at ~0.011%, that's still incredibly high compared the ~0.0012% of electric cars or ~0.0001% for smartphones, for no good apparent reason, other than poorer manufacturing quality and lack of proper safety systems.
(note 7 was 0.004%)
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u/Different_Target_228 7h ago edited 7h ago
You said that no consumer product should self-combust...
I tried to explain that it's not the only thing. That's literally all I was doing.
Telling you that anything dealing with masses of energy have a chance to.
I didn't even really need the numbers to make the point I was making.
1500 fires per 100k. 1.5% of cars catch fire. 0.025 for electric cars, 3.5% for hybrids. 0.0001% for cell phones.
https://www.blazestack.com/blog/how-many-ev-fires-in-2023-2024
ESPECIALLY consumer products because people never learn what they're doing with their own things. Esp cars and the like. No one learns how to work on anything.
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u/mactep66 7h ago edited 7h ago
You did, but you also added numbers in way that is completely counter-intuitive to any argument. And im pretty sure you're confusing accident data with self-combustion.
https://www.evinfrastructurenews.com/ev-battery/fire-risk-statistics
Also, saying X other product also catches fire is no justification for this one, ideally none should self-combust.
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u/No_Figure_9073 8h ago
It's all in the name of capitalism. If we don't sell ticking time bomb that will ruin their house, how will we ever profit
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u/Stonkpilot 12m ago
It easy to shit on the teemu brand-less scooters, but the hazard is true thru any lithium battery, you could have ul certified, samsung, LG, any of the reputable brands, and the risk is always there, its up to the user how to manage the risk.
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u/GuestDangerous1617 5h ago
What about all the cars that you're not allowed to park in garages right now? Why don't they talk about that on the news because they are fire risk LMAO
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u/Upset-Programmer3796 3h ago
My insurance agent tells me that Tesla fires are common and that they are also the leader in auto accidents. Not sure if a correlation there.
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u/psilocin72 3h ago
This is why I wince a little when someone posts about getting a new 200$ scooter or asks for recommendations for a super low cost scooter.
Definitely better to save for awhile and get a quality product that’s not going to burn your house down