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The fire at a home in Yamba’s Palm Lake Resort was contained to the bedroom where a 73-year-old woman passed away die to smoke inhalation after a faulty electric blanket sparked the blaze. Image: Fire and Rescue NSW

Fires force new lithium-ion battery standards

Volatile fires started by lithium-ion batteries being charged to power e-micromobility devices, that have destroyed homes and businesses, have forced the NSW Government to implement new standards for the batteries.

With the explosion in the number of e-bikes and lithium-ion powered e-micromobility devices used around the Clarence Valley over the summer holidays, locals need to be acutely aware of these potentially lifesaving standards.

Lithium-ion batteries power millions of Australian devices daily and have increased in popularity due to their high energy density and environmental benefits, but if they are not manufactured to strict safety standards, they pose a significant fire risk.

Under the new standards, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, self-balancing scooters and the lithium-ion batteries used to power these devices are now ‘declared electrical articles’ under the Gas and Electricity Consumer Safety Act 2017.

As a result, from February 2025, all e-micromobility devices, such as e-bikes and e-scooters sold in NSW must comply with the safety standards, which have been introduced to ensure that only safe and compliant products are available to consumers, reducing the risk of dangerous fires.

Retailers of these devices will be required to provide clear and accurate safety information when selling e-micromobility devices to the consumer, including details about safe use, charging, storage, fire prevention, and disposal of devices and batteries as the new standards come under the Fair Trading Act 1987.

Retailers of e-micromobility devices will require each product they sell to be certified.

The product must be manufactured in compliance with the prescribed standard.

A sample of each product (model) must be tested by an accredited test laboratory.  

The test report for each product (model) must be obtained and submitted along with other relevant documentation (specified by certifying body) to either NSW Fair Trading or any other recognised external certification scheme (REAS) for certification, including any other state base electrical safety regulator.

Once certified as safe, all products must be marked with the relevant approval mark before it is sold.

The NSW Government will begin enforcing the new standards in February 2025, with mandatory testing and certification requirements to be enforced from August 2025, and mandatory labelling of e-micromobility devices will be enforced from February 2026.

For more information about the Australian Standards applicable to each type of e-micromobility device visit https://www.nsw.gov.au/ and search for “New standards for lithium-ion batteries in e-micromobility devices.”