The number of injuries from e-bike and e-scooter fires in London has increased for the seventh year in a row, new data reveals.
A total of 109 injuries were recorded by the London Fire Brigade (LFB) in 2025, with three deaths resulting from lithium and electric vehicle fires.
According to LFB, a record number of these fires involved e-bikes and e-scooters – with faulty batteries, which often do not meet UK safety standards, being blamed for starting the blaze.
Spencer Sutcliff, Deputy Commissioner, said: “Firefighters are currently attending an e-bike or e-scooter fire, every other day, on average.
“Already in 2026, we have seen several fires involving lithium-ion batteries. These fires can be explosive and have devastating consequences.”
In an attempt to tackle this problem, the government introduced the Product Regulation and Metrology (PRAM) Act, which received Royal Assent last summer.
However, Sutcliff wrote to the government to bring forward its consultation for secondary legislation of the Act as soon as possible.
“We hope this is done as soon as possible to reduce the number of customers being exposed to dangerous products available for purchase online, and ultimately drive down the number of fires,” he added.
The recent data release from the LFB helps to paint a full picture of 2025, and shows a peak of lithium battery and electric vehicle fires in the summer.
E-battery fires tend to increase in the summer because of the higher ambient temperatures.
Direct sunlight can also accelerate battery overheating, speeding up degradation and triggering ‘thermal runaway’.
The Brigade’s Charge Safe campaign, launched in 2023, aims to increase Londoners’ awareness of the risks associated with faulty e-bikes or e-scooters.
The campaign has outlined the main signs of lithium battery failure which are:
- Heat: if a battery feels extremely hot to the touch, there’s chance it’s defective and may start a fire
- Bulging: A battery bulging or swelling out of shape is a common sign of it failing.
- Noise: Failing lithium batteries have also been reported to make hissing or cracking sounds
- Smell: A strong or unusual smell coming from the battery could also be a sign of it failing
- Performance: A failure to fully charge or an excessively longer charge times can be a sign that a battery is failing
- Smoke: If your battery or device is smoking, a fire has already started and you should get out, raise the alarm and call 999
However, the LFB insists ‘more work is required’ to educate people about the risks, especially among the gig economy riders, who often use unsafe, modified conversion kits to travel around for work.
“The Brigade is continuing its calls for the likes of Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo to do more to share awareness about the risks directly with their riders,” they added.
Lewisham saw the highest number of lithium battery and electric vehicle-related fires in 2025, with 33 recorded incidents.
16 of these were directly related to e-bikes and e-scooters.
In March 2025, Jahmell Campbell, his father and his grandmother had to flee a fire at their Lewisham flat in Hither Green.
It was later determined that the cause of the fire was a faulty lithium battery in an e-scooter.
Speaking to the BBC, Campbell said: “It was like a grenade had been thrown into the flat.
“I jumped out of the front first-floor window to escape.
“My grandma jumped and my dad was injured too – my grandma was in hospital for a week.
“I am not sure how we all made it out of the house alive, but thankfully everyone is fine now.”
Featured image credit: Samson Ng on flickr.
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