IRVINE, Calif. (BRAIN) — The National Bicycle Dealers Association and consultant group Human Powered Solutions are asking retailers and suppliers to participate in a survey on e-bike lithium-ion battery incidents.
Both organizations have been active in providing education to retailers and the industry about e-bikes and safe storage and handling of batteries. The aim of the survey is to provide depth of the issue and possibly expose trends retailers and the industry can gain insight from.
"NBDA and Human Powered Solutions are working hard to document and understand all of the circumstances surrounding potentially dangerous incidents involving e-bike lithium-ion batteries," said Mike Fritz, HPS chief technology officer, in an email to the industry. "Your experiences in this regard are critically important to this effort, and we deeply appreciate you sharing your experiences. Better understanding of the issues will result in better guidance to minimize risk."
The NBDA and HPS are working jointly to educate retailers and the industry about the growing safety problem created by the surge in consumer purchases of e-bikes and scooters that utilize lithium-ion batteries. Both organizations say a need exists not only for independent testing, but for an information campaign aimed at retailers, suppliers, and the public to make them aware of safe charging and storage protocols.
In addition to the survey, the industry has access to a Fall Roundtable Series about E-Bikes and Retailer Best Practices. The first two events took place earlier this month and the next two take place in November with Fritz updating on the Safe Storage and Handling of Lithium-ion Batteries on Nov. 4, and on Nov. 18, a webinar on E-bike Specific Certifications and Education. The complete series list is available on the NBDA website.
Recordings of the first few sessions of the fall webinar series, along with the spring series that the NBDA hosted earlier this year, are available on the NBDA YouTube channel.
In addition to the webinars, the NBDA has made documents prepared by HPS available to its members. They include information on safe storage and charging in-store and consumer-facing materials on safety. These are available for NBDA members in the NBDA Member Resources area.
