Thousands of Upper Austrians bought an e-bike for the first time last year. After being stored in garages, basements or outdoors over the winter, they are now being made roadworthy again. This also means that the battery is recharged for the first time after several months.
In a press conference yesterday, the fire prevention agency reminded that special caution should be exercised during this first loading process. “Low temperatures and long intervals between charges can damage the batteries. This damage is hardly noticeable,” says fire protection expert Günther Schwabegger.
He advises staying close to the device and monitoring it the first time it’s charging. Ideally, the charging area should be equipped with a smoke detector.
Battery fires are increasing
In general, according to figures from the Fire Prevention Agency, fires caused by lithium-ion batteries have become more frequent in recent years. While there were still ten in 2010, the number in the previous year was thirty, while in the same period there were constantly around 1000 larger fires per year in Upper Austria. The total damage caused by the battery fires amounted to three million euros.
Batteries from third-party suppliers for tools were the most common cause of the fire. Ten of the thirty fires in the previous year could be traced back to them. In these cases, the cause is usually that the batteries do not match the performance of the devices or the charging stations. “The cost-benefit ratio is clear: You should only use original products or battery systems approved and recommended by the manufacturer,” says Schwabegger.
In addition, no trend can be seen in those devices that catch fire particularly easily. “It starts with mobile phones, although generally more powerful devices such as e-bikes are the cause of the fire,” says Schwabegger. The increase in fires can be explained by the fact that more and more powerful batteries are simply being used. Of course, that’s no reason to avoid cordless devices. “It is important to use it correctly,” says Schwabegger. In concrete terms, this means: Store batteries neither too cold nor too warm and do not continue to use them if they are visibly damaged, but rather dispose of them properly. Even if batteries get hot when charging, caution is advised. “If you follow these rules, nothing stands in the way of safe use,” says Schwabegger.
Source: Nachrichten
