Posted by: syncro
Likewise I think proper context is important. If there is a notable level of risk from an ebike battery spontaneously combusting on the trails then I'd support a ban on that basis as I don't want to see our local trails burned down either.
It's not very hard to find battery fires that did not involved charging. These high capacity batteries have fairly delicate internal construction due to the need to get so much power into a small physical space. If a BroPed battery is damaged it might catch fire while being charged or it might catch fire while it's being stored or ridden.
This e-bike fire started a grass fire. Had the bike been in the forest it would have been a lot worse.
https://wildfiretoday.com/2019/01/16/bicycle-with-electric-motor-starts-fire-in-australia/
The key to fire safety will be to identify damaged batteries quickly and have some plan for what to do with them. The issue as I see it is that when someone buys a $10K+ BroPed and crashes into the rocks or the bike tips over into a creek/pond how are they going to feel about replacing an expensive battery? Are they going to first just see what happens or are they immediately taking that battery out of service, storing it outside and taking it to a professional who can assess the situation?