New Battery Safety Law Mandates Federal Standards for E-Bikes and Scooters Within 6 Months to Curb Fire Risk

If you own an e-bike, electric scooter, or any of those smaller personal electric vehicles, you’ve probably heard the horror stories about lithium-ion batteries catching fire. The Setting Consumer Standards for Lithium-Ion Batteries Act is Congress’s direct response, aiming to make those devices significantly safer, and fast.

This bill cuts straight to the chase: it requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to adopt three specific, existing industry safety standards—UL 2271, UL 2849, and UL 2272—and turn them into official federal safety rules within 180 days of the law passing. Think of it as taking the industry’s best practices for battery and electrical system safety and making them the law of the land. This means that within six months, every new e-bike, scooter, or light electric vehicle sold to consumers must meet these stringent federal requirements, specifically focusing on the battery packs and electrical systems that have been the source of so many dangerous fires (SEC. 2).

The New Standard for Your Commute

For consumers, this is a huge win for peace of mind. If you rely on an e-bike to get to work or use an electric scooter for quick errands, this legislation means you’ll soon be buying products that have been tested and certified to a much higher standard. For example, the UL 2849 standard, which covers e-bikes, ensures the entire electrical system is safe, not just the battery cells themselves. This shift mandates that manufacturers, who previously might have skipped certification, must now comply or be kept off the market. This will likely hit cheaper, imported models the hardest, forcing them to upgrade their components and testing protocols. While this may slightly increase the cost of entry-level devices, the trade-off is a massive reduction in fire risk in your garage or apartment building.

Automatic Updates and the CPSC’s Safety Check

The bill also sets up a smart system for the future. Since technology moves fast, the organizations that create these safety standards (like Underwriters Laboratories) frequently update them. The law states that when these organizations update a standard, that revision automatically becomes the new federal rule after 180 days. This keeps the safety rules current without Congress having to pass a new law every few years. However, the CPSC gets a 90-day window to veto any update if they determine the revision actually makes the product less safe. This is a crucial check, ensuring that industry groups can't water down safety requirements under the guise of an update. The criteria the CPSC uses to define “less safe” aren't detailed, which gives them significant, if slightly vague, power to regulate the pace of future innovation (SEC. 2).

Five Years of Data for Accountability

Finally, the CPSC is required to collect data and report back to Congress five years after the law takes effect. This report must detail every fire, explosion, or hazard linked to these batteries, noting the make, model, whether the product met the new safety standard, and who manufactured it. This mandatory reporting is essential for accountability. It ensures that if fires continue to happen, Congress will have the specific data needed to figure out if the standards need to be tightened further, or if certain manufacturers are cutting corners despite the new federal rules (SEC. 2).

Overall, this bill is a straightforward attempt to solve a major consumer safety problem by implementing existing, strong safety measures. It’s good news for anyone using these devices, though manufacturers who haven't yet invested in quality control will face pressure to adapt quickly.