BETHESDA, Md. (BRAIN) The Consumer Product Safety Commissions proposed e-bike and lithium-ion battery regulation testing standards could devalue inventory in brands warehouses and on retailers floors if it becomes federal law.

The CPSC received input from its National Product Testing and Evaluation Center staff to create a testing protocol. It proposes using modified UL standards without recognizing European e-bike standards. The European equivalent to UL EN is a globally accepted standard but has what the testing center staff considers electrical testing shortcomings.

The commission will vote Wednesday on the proposal that also would affect other e-mobility devices.

If approved by the CPSC and then Congress, e-bikes that met EN, other standards, or no standards but not UL could no longer be legally sold in the U.S. It's not clear how many e-bikes are currently in wholesale or retail inventory that fall into this category.

Its time to do our part to address this hazard, CPSC Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. wrote in a statement on April 23. There is bipartisan support in both houses of Congress for CPSC to issue a standard addressing this hazard. I look forward to our vote on April 30 about advancing this critical safety rule that could save lives by preventing fires.

The vote takes place at 10 a.m. and can be viewed via webcast.

UL 2849-20 (Standard for Safety for Electrical Systems for E-bikes), UL 2271-23 (Standard for Safety for Batteries for Use in Light Electric Vehicle Applications), and UL 2272-24 (Standard for Safety for Electrical Systems for Personal E-Mobility Devices) are proposed to become the industry standards with the following modifications:

• Adding to UL 2849-20 and UL 2271-23 tamper-resistant battery enclosure requirements from UL 2272-24 to reduce the risk of injury associated with consumers accessing the battery pack.
• Adding to UL 2849-20 and UL 2271-23 post-discharge charge test requirements from UL 2272-24 to reduce the risk of injury by ensuring that the battery management system prohibits charging the battery if the cell surface temperature exceeds the specified upper limit.
• Adding to UL 2849-20, UL 2272-24, and UL 2271-23, a reverse polarity test to reduce the risk of injury by preventing damage to the battery pack due to use of an incompatible charger.

In assessing why it wont recommend European standards, the testing center cited:

• EN 15194: The commission is aware of and considered the European standard for e-bikes which has a narrower scope than UL 2849, and only covers Electrically Power Assisted Cycles (pedal-assisted) e-bikes. Compared to UL 2849-20, the EN standard does not include requirements for electrical systems that provide a higher level of safety than the requirements in UL 2849-20, and in some instances, falls short of adequately addressing all of the product hazards covered by the UL 2849-20. For example, EN 15194 does not include any of the requirements for flammability. The commission considers the flammability requirements in UL 2849-20 critical for fire safety because they help to deter the spread of fire during a thermal runaway event by requiring that the polymeric material extinguish within a specific maximum amount of time as to limit or slow down fire propagation. Accordingly, the notice of proposed rulemaking does not propose to incorporate requirements of EN 15194 into the rule because UL 2849-20 is more robust in addressing the hazards associated with e-bikes. The commission requests comment on this proposal.
• EN 17128: Applies to personal light electric vehicles totally or partially electrically powered from self-contained power sources with or without self-balancing system, with exception of vehicles intended for hire from unattended stations. Staff reviewed this European standard, the requirements of which are primarily focused on mechanical performance of off-road micromobility products. The safety performance requirements for electrical systems of the covered products are not as comprehensive as those in UL 2272-24. Therefore, this notice of proposed rulemaking is not based on the provisions in EN 17128.

In the January 2024 issue of BRAIN, Giant Group USA wrote a response to UL testing standards that said in part:

Giant Group, along with PeopleForBikes, does not believe a unique testing standard (like UL 2849), which is not harmonized with global standards, will bring any additional safety to the quality products sold by Giant and only add additional costs and time to comply with the new test. These new standards will also not affect manufacturers or suppliers that are already circumventing the global safety and compliance standards.

The brand's response also noted cost implications with getting in compliance, additional complexities in product design and manufacturing, and delays in product reaching the market.

In announcing the upcoming vote in his April 23 statement, Trumka Jr. said 227 incidents were highlighted in the proposal, resulting in 39 deaths and 181 injuries in the five years from 2019 to 2023 involving e-bikes, e-scooters, and other micromobility devices. But we know that this is a vast undercount based on reports from New York City alone. This problem is large and growing, beyond what our limited data shows. Its not going away unless we act.

In July 2023,the CPSC held a public hearing with industry representatives concluding mandatory federal regulations are necessary. The nearly four-hour hearing consisted of three panels of industry, independent standards groups, and consumer safety advocates.

"It's not lost on me that this broad group of experts are all calling on us to implement a mandatory standard," Trumka Jr. said at the conclusion of the hearing.