Following a series of recent fires nationwide involving electric bicycles, the public's concern about the safety of electric bicycle batteries has been growing. According to the latest media reports, China is set to introduce mandatory national standards on the matter.
Although many cities have established local technical standards for the safety of the lithium-ion batteries used in electric bicycles, a mandatory national standard has not yet been implemented.
In 2022, Beijing's bicycle and e-bike industry association formulated a group standard called "Technical Specifications for Lithium-ion Power Battery Packs for Electric Bicycles." This standard includes 33 safety technical indicators such as over-voltage protection, charge over-current protection, discharge over-current protection and temperature protection.
In Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, the city with the highest number of lithium battery electric bicycles in the country, a group standard called "Technical Specifications for Lithium-ion Batteries and Battery Packs for Electric Bicycles" was issued on November 20, 2023, as reported by local newspaper the Yangcheng Evening News. According to the new standard, a thermal runaway alarm for a lithium battery electric bicycle must go off five minutes before reaching danger levels that could lead to a fire or explosion.
At the national level, the mandatory national standard "Safety Technical Specification of Lithium-ion Battery for Electric Bicycle," which was drafted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2022, has completed the drafting and consultation stage and is currently under review, according to China Central Television (CCTV).
