Ontario to ban modified e-bike, e-scooter batteries after record fires: solicitor general

Warnings about lithium-ion batteries have become more and more common in recent years. When these batteries, the ones used to power e-bikes and other electric vehicles catch fire, firefighters say they're almost impossible to extinguish and are extremely dangerous. Since 2023, we have had well north of a 200% increase in the number of lithium-ion battery fires, the evolving risk of lithium-ion battery fires. ...is the greatest public fire safety risk now in Canada's largest city. When manufactured and used properly, e-bike batteries are generally safe, but the risk becomes much higher when they're tampered with to increase a vehicle's speed or to stretch their range. Proper storage is also an issue. We have responded to fires where at the end of the fire we have counted north of a dozen e-bikes in a single apartment unit that obviously causes a significant risk not only to those living there but also to the responding firefighters. Back in September, the city said it had recorded the highest number of lithium-ion battery fires in a single year. That's one of the reasons Ontario's Solicitor General says he's ready to move on putting forward new regulations in the province's fire code. What we want to do is we want to make sure that people do not modify batteries for an unintended purpose or juice them up. If passed, the new regulations would give Toronto's municipal fire inspectors the power to issue orders or penalties for things like modified batteries or for unsafe storage. The crackdown is being welcomed by e-bike shops where staff say customers regularly ask them to skirt safety limits. People do ask, can you open the battery up? Can you take... Pull it apart, can you give me more battery range? We do get that pretty often. We actually don't work with any modified battery packs just because it is a huge fire risk. He says the best way to stay safe is to purchase certified batteries from reputable in-person sources. If you buy something from online, you don't know what you're getting, and if something goes wrong, you definitely have no recourse, no way to fix it. The Solicitor General says he expects to finalize the new regulations and have them in place early in the new year. Tyler Cheese, CBC News, Toronto.