eBay bans private electric bike sales in the UK
Comments Off on eBay bans private electric bike sales in the UKSource: Electrek
In a recent announcement, eBay has unveiled new plans to ban electric bike sales by specific users on its platform in the UK. However, the eligibility criteria and plan specifics both remain unclear. The ban will go into effect at the end of October.
As reported by the BBC, eBay’s new policy aims to restrict private sellers from listing electric bicycles, allowing only certain “eligible business sellers” to continue offering them on the platform. However, eBay has not disclosed the criteria businesses must meet to qualify.
The ban appears to be driven by fire safety concerns, although it remains unclear how the new rules will address these risks.
Last year, the UK saw 155 reported e-bike fires, while estimates suggest there are between 500,000 to 1 million electric bicycles in the country. In contrast, there were 19,256 car fires among the 33.5 million cars, making car fires several times more likely (0.05%) compared to e-bike fires (0.01-0.02%). Despite this, eBay’s move seems voluntary, as no UK regulations currently govern private e-bike sales on online platforms.
So far, eBay has not implemented similar bans in other markets, such as the US. While the number of e-bike fires has been rising, the overall frequency is still low compared to the total number of e-bikes in use.
Nonetheless, the e-bike industry has been advocating for stricter voluntary measures to enhance battery production quality and promote international safety certifications. Most e-bike battery fires stem from very low-cost models with poor manufacturing practices, while high-quality e-bike batteries, which often come with safety certifications, rarely catch fire and can even be submerged in water without issue.
In the US, cities like New York and several college campuses have introduced local regulations for e-bike battery safety. Proposed national regulations have stalled due to political debates.