Why do e-scooters and e-bikes keep EXPLODING? Experts lift lid on dangers trends now
Electrical safety experts have warned hundreds of UK e-scooter and e=bike owners could be courting disaster by using knock off products that could explode at any moment.
When they do overheat, the lithium battery powdered machines can burn uncontrollably at over 600C with devastating consequences.
In 2021 the residents of a small Tel Aviv apartment block were woken up at 2am to an enormous bang and the smell of smoke.
Fearing they had been hit by a rocket from Gazan militants who had been bombarding the city during Operation Protective Edge, the residents ran to the stairwell to take cover when they noticed the source of the fire was actually coming from inside the building.
'We smelt something acrid, like burning plastic and then we heard the screams' recalls Eitan Goldstein.
Smoke begins pouring out of the e-scooter - seconds later it was ablaze
A second camera showed how the kitchen filled with smoke. Its owner, who bought it off Gumtree, admits he is lucky to be alive
'We knocked on the door of the apartment where the screams were coming from and a man opened up and explained what had happened.
'The e-bike lithium battery had been plugged in overnight to charge and it exploded, the apartment was ruined.'
E-bikes and scooters have exploded in popularity in recent years and despite the majority of them not being road legal in the UK have come to be associated with a greener way of travelling.
However, as their use has risen the dangers of the technology has also become apparent with the lithium batteries propensity to suddenly and violently combust leading authorities like Transport for London to ban them from their services altogether.
In the first five months of 2023 alone, the London Fire Brigade has been called out to a fire caused by these lithium batteries overheating once every two days on average.
Earlier this month, a 37-year-old security guard from London was lucky to escape with his life after the e-scooter bought on Gumtree exploded while he charged it overnight -engulfing his Brent flat in flames.
In January, an e-bike left charging overnight ignited at the home of Rab Shearer, 60, in Litherland, Merseyside. Mr Shearer was killed in the blaze while his son Gary, 23, died in hospital two weeks later after trying in vain to save him.
On New Year's Day, Sofia Duarte, 21, was asleep at her home in Old Kent Road, south London, when a modified electric bike in her flat exploded.
The 'fun-loving' daughter of Portuguese immigrants, who enjoyed dancing, spending time with friends and travelling, is believed to be the first person to be killed in London due to an e-bike fire.
Mobile phone footage from a passer-by showed fireballs emerging fromt he shattered windows, as people in the street screamed.
While her flatmates leapt from the second-storey window, Ms Duarte - who was disorientated and had worked a nightshift - attempted to flee using the stairwell.
Her friend Alda Simoes, 45, said: 'Sofia was confused and instead of going throught he window, she went through the door.
'The fire brigade were there within a couple of minutes but there was nothing they could do. The bikes were at the entrance.
'Some of the neighbours were trying to break down the door because they knew Sofia was inside but they couldn't go past the fire. She was there for I don't know how long.'
Sales of e-bikes in the UK have soared to 160,000 over the past year and are the choice transport method for many workers in the gig economy, particularly low-paid commuter and food deliverers.
Sofia Duarte, 21, died in a flat fire caused by a converted e-bike battery which burst into flames
Gary Shearer (right) has been named locally as the son of Rab Shearer (left) who died in a
