80% of e-bike fires occur while charging The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology solicited opinions: e-bikes plan to ban on-board chargers

National Business Daily

2024-04-25 23:07Published on the official account of Sichuan Daily Economic News

Every reporter: Zhang Rui Every editor: Chen Xu

On April 25, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) publicly solicited opinions on the No. 1 amendment to the mandatory national standard (draft for comments) of the "Safety Technical Requirements for Chargers for Electric Bicycles", with a deadline of May 24, 2024.

The draft clarifies that this document does not apply to charging facilities such as charging/swapping cabinets, charging piles, and fast charging stations for electric bicycles.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology mentioned in the instructions for the preparation of the No. 1 amendment order that in view of the recent large number of on-board chargers, which may affect the safety of electric bicycles, it is proposed to ban on-board chargers and improve the content of permanent labeling.

Citizens scan the code to charge at the centralized charging point of electric bicycles Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ziheng

The quality of e-bike chargers currently on the market varies from good to bad

Recently, the fire hazard of electric bicycles has attracted much attention.

As the world's largest producer and consumer of electric bicycles, China's electric bicycle ownership has reached 350 million. Behind the huge amount of data, security issues cannot be ignored.

Among them, the hidden danger of the charging link is a major pain point. Statistics from the National Fire and Rescue Administration show that a total of 21,000 electric bicycle fires will be reported nationwide in 2023, an increase of 17.4% compared with 2022. Among them, 80% of e-bike fires occur during charging, which is caused by the explosion of lithium batteries.

The reporter of "Daily Economic News" noted that on April 7, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology publicly solicited opinions on the standard conditions and announcement management measures for the electric bicycle industry (draft for comments). In view of the design and manufacture of lithium-ion batteries, which account for a large proportion of fire accidents, the standard conditions propose that the lithium-ion battery products produced or purchased by enterprises should meet the requirements of mandatory national standards, and enterprises are encouraged to code and identify the electric bicycle batteries produced or purchased, and promote the traceability management of battery information. At the same time, enterprises should strengthen the management of dealers, and urge dealers to resist illegal tampering behaviors such as increasing the voltage capacity of the battery and lifting the speed limit.

In addition to the safety of lithium batteries, the safety of e-bike chargers is also particularly important.

The reporter learned that previously, most electric bicycle charger manufacturers used industry standards or enterprise standards. The national standard GB/T36944-2018 "Technical Requirements for Chargers for Electric Bicycles" released in 2018 is a recommended national standard, and many charger manufacturers have not strictly implemented this standard.

In addition, due to the relatively low threshold for electric bicycle chargers to "enter the industry" and the fierce market competition, many manufacturers have made great efforts to save costs, which also makes the quality of electric bicycle chargers sold on the market uneven, leaving hidden dangers to safety.

The current "Safety Technical Requirements for Electric Bicycle Chargers" was officially implemented on July 1, 2023, which stipulates the mechanical safety and structure of electric bicycle chargers, and its implementation has greatly improved the safety of electric bicycle chargers.

It is proposed to add a permanent mark for high temperature resistance

The draft proposes that chargers for electric bicycles shall not be designed, manufactured and used in the form of on-board vehicles.

At the same time, it is clear that the charger should have a code. The charger code adopts a 13-digit code structure, which is composed of three parts, from left to right is the manufacturer code, the production year code and the model specification code, separated by "-". The content of the charger traceability code should be explained in the specification or manual. 

Also, the code should be marked on a permanent high-temperature resistant signage. The coded tag was placed in a (950±10) °C oven and kept at this test temperature for 0.5 hours. The coded tag is then removed and naturally cooled to room temperature in the air. The post-test identification information should be complete and clear.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology mentioned in the preparation of the No. 1 amendment list that the working group first discussed the requirements of the brief letter of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, combined with the implementation opinions of the standard for one year, analyzed the recent fire accidents, and dissected the principle and structure of the on-board charger in the process of 3C certification of electric bicycles. After many discussions and revisions, the V9 draft modification list was formed, and the working group reached a consensus to complete the No. 1 modification list of the national standard "Safety Technical Requirements for Chargers for Electric Bicycles" (draft for comments). 

The note also mentions that during the drafting of the draft for comments, the main drafting units and main drafters were convened for discussion. It explains the current situation and task needs, and implements the relevant policy requirements, which will increase the permanent identification of high temperature resistance and ban the on-board charger, without major differences.

For the proposed ban on car chargers, CCID Consulting Automobile Industry Research Center senior analyst Yao Yinguo said in a telephone interview with the "Daily Economic News" reporter that the proposed ban on car chargers is mainly for safety considerations, worried about fire, because now once the electric bicycle is on fire, the fire spreads very fast, especially if some users are put in the corridor in violation of regulations, once a fire occurs, the harm will be relatively large, and even a chain reaction may occur.

As for the provisions on increasing the permanent identification of high temperature resistance, Yao Yinguo believes that the charger should be required to have a code, and the code should be marked on the permanent high temperature resistance sign, which can promote the traceability management of charger information.

The note also mentions that the transition period for the implementation of the draft is recommended to be 6 months. Due to the addition of permanent high-temperature resistance labels, it takes a certain amount of time for enterprises to improve their designs and upgrade their production equipment, and it is recommended that the transition period between the release date of the draft and the implementation date be set at 6 months to ensure that production enterprises can fully digest and understand and ensure the implementation of the document.

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