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flame retardant, speed limit, and positioning, new regulations for electric bicycles are coming

2024-09-25

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whether it is next to the subway, next to the supermarket or in the community, electric bicycles have become a means of transportation that can be seen everywhere. public data shows that by the end of 2023, the number of electric bicycles in china has exceeded 350 million, which means that on average every four people own one electric bicycle.

compared with other means of transportation, electric bicycles are light and compact, with lower operating costs and no need for a driver's license or age limit, which are important factors in their rapid popularity. however, as a means of transportation that is powered by electricity and has a faster speed than pedestrians and ordinary human-powered bicycles, the number of spontaneous combustion accidents and traffic accidents caused by electric bicycles has also increased in recent years.

on april 15, 2019, the new mandatory national standard for electric bicycles, "electric bicycle safety technical specifications" (gb17761-2018), now known as the "new national standard", was officially implemented. the "new national standard" restricts the weight, motor power, maximum speed, and vehicle size of electric bicycles.

on september 19 this year, the ministry of industry and information technology announced the "safety technical specifications for electric bicycles (draft for comments)". compared with the current standards, the draft for comments places more emphasis on vehicle safety and practicality, while also mentioning the use of intelligent means to improve vehicle supervision capabilities.

there are more than 20,000 fires every year. electric bicycles must first be "cooled down"

as lithium batteries are increasingly used in our daily lives, they can be found in everything from mobile phones to cars. however, discussions about the safety risks of lithium batteries have never stopped since their introduction. the most well-known of these is the "samsung battery gate" in 2016.

at that time, samsung galaxy note7 was released for only one month, and more than 30 explosions and fires occurred around the world due to battery defects. in the end, samsung not only announced the global suspension of sales of this product, but also recalled all sold products. to this day, when many people mention samsung mobile phones, the first thing they think of is still the galaxy note7 that can catch fire and explode.

a smartphone with a battery capacity of only 3500mah can still cause many casualties when it has battery problems. for electric bicycles with battery capacity several times higher, the scale of accidents caused by battery fires will be even greater. on february 23 this year, a fire broke out in building 6 of mingshang xiyuan in yuhuatai district, nanjing. the building on fire was unit 2 of building 6 of the community, which has a total of 34 floors.

according to on-site reports, the first floor of the unit building, the 21st to 34th floors all showed obvious signs of burning or smoke. as of 24:00 on february 23, 2024, the accident caused 15 deaths and 44 people were treated in hospital, including 1 critically ill, 1 seriously ill, and 42 slightly injured. after preliminary analysis, the fire was caused by a fire in the parking area of ​​electric bicycles on the ground floor of 6 buildings.

from a data perspective, the huge base of electric bicycles and the increasing number of electric bicycles each year have also led to an upward trend in the number of fire accidents. according to statistics from the national fire rescue bureau, a total of 21,000 electric bicycle fires were reported nationwide in 2023, up 17.4% from 2022, and a total of 18,000 electric bicycle fires were reported nationwide in 2022, up 23.4% from 2021.

therefore, the newly released "electric bicycle safety technical specifications (draft for comments)" specifically emphasizes the need to reduce the fire hazards of electric bicycles.

the first is to improve the fire retardant performance of the vehicle body, clearly stipulate the flame retardant standards for textiles and foam plastics and other non-metallic materials, and especially tighten the flame retardant performance of key components in direct contact with the battery. at the same time, considering the flammability and toxicity of plastic materials in fire, the new national standard limits the proportion of plastic parts used, reducing the fire risk of electric bicycles from the source.

in other words, the plastic coverings that are now widely used on the exterior of electric bicycles will be limited, and the shape of electric bicycles will be more like a "steel frame vehicle", that is, a metal frame with only a small amount of other materials added. from the perspective of flame retardancy, this design will indeed reduce the spread and intensity of fire after an electric bicycle catches fire.

at the same time, the "electric bicycle safety technical specifications (draft for comments)" also proposed that in order to address the problem that the vehicle identification code logo in electric bicycle fire accidents in the past was easily melted by high temperatures, making it difficult to trace the source of the accident, the electric bicycle vehicle coding should use high-temperature resistant permanent logos. this will not only help to achieve effective tracking and supervision of all aspects of vehicle production, circulation and use, but also help investigators quickly identify vehicle information and trace product quality problems after a vehicle fire accident.

batteries are the most likely component of electric bicycles to cause fires, and the "electric bicycle safety technical specifications (draft for comments)" also puts forward requirements for battery pack tamper prevention. specific measures include that electric bicycles should not reserve interfaces or lines for expanding onboard batteries, and should have charging and discharging mutual recognition and coordination functions to ensure that the battery pack can only be charged after matching with the charger and can only be ridden after matching with the entire vehicle.

titanium media app believes that the "electric bicycle safety technical specifications (draft for comments)" puts forward more specific requirements for the exterior covers and battery packs of electric bicycles that are prone to fire, which will indeed help eliminate related safety hazards.

at the same time, from the user's perspective, there is no need to "demonize" the problem of electric bicycle fires. as long as you pay attention to using qualified and compliant products in daily use, and pay attention to electrical safety during charging and discharging, you can still ensure safety to a great extent.

speeding cars will soon become a thing of the past

in addition to strengthening the vehicle's fire retardant properties, in response to the speeding problem that still exists in some electric bicycles at this stage, the "electric bicycle safety technical specifications (draft for comments)" puts forward anti-tampering requirements from three aspects: battery pack, controller, and speed limiter.

titanium media app learned from industry insiders that according to the current "new national standard", the maximum speed of electric bicycles cannot exceed 25km/h, but many users will remove the speed limit by tampering with the motor controller, flashing the program, etc. what's more, some users will buy third-party motor controllers or even high-power motors to modify electric bicycles so that they can reach faster speeds.

the "electric bicycle safety technical specifications (draft for comments)" points out that the controller anti-tampering requirements should not be modified by cutting wires, jumping wires, etc., should be compatible with multiple input voltage modes, have an overvoltage locking function, the current limiting device should not have backdoors, and should not be modified through decoders, internet of things technology, etc.

at the same time, the speed limiter anti-tampering requires that the speed limiter, whether it is a separate module or integrated into the controller, should not have the function of modifying the speed limit value. titanium media app noted that the draft for comments also added indicators such as no-load back electromotive force at rated speed of the motor and the coefficient of difference in inductance value, so as to ensure that the vehicle speed cannot exceed 25 km/h when the motor input voltage reaches the maximum.

taking into account the necessary load-bearing capacity of electric bicycles and practical needs such as short-term climbing that may occur during riding, the standard adds a torque limit indicator when the motor is running at low speed, allowing the motor to briefly output a higher torque, ensuring that the vehicle can cope with special operating conditions such as short-distance climbing and meet the normal riding needs of consumers.

in addition, electric bicycle theft is also one of the pain points that bothers consumers. the "electric bicycle safety technical specifications (draft for comments)" mentions the requirements and methods for adding beidou positioning and dynamic safety monitoring systems to electric bicycles.

among them, the beidou positioning module can record the current longitude, latitude and other information of the electric bicycle, and provide real-time feedback to the user through the communication module. once theft occurs, this information can effectively help consumers find the vehicle as soon as possible. the dynamic safety monitoring function can send consumers the abnormal driving status of the vehicle and the battery voltage, current and temperature outside the normal range in a timely manner, reminding consumers to identify and deal with abnormal safety issues and eliminate safety hazards as soon as possible.

in terms of improving user experience, the "safety technical specifications for electric bicycles (draft for comments)" also has more considerations based on actual application scenarios, mainly including the refinement and changes of requirements such as vehicle weight limits and pedal devices.

taking pedals as an example, the draft for comments only requires that vehicles that can use electric assist mode have a pedal riding function, and does not make mandatory requirements for electric drive vehicles. this will help manufacturers to decide independently whether to design and install pedal power devices based on the model of the vehicle. this also means that users will no longer have to manually remove the pedals for the sake of aesthetics or riding convenience.

titanium media app learned that the public consultation on the "electric bicycle safety technical specifications" will last for one month. the standard text will be revised and improved based on the opinions received, and the review and approval work will be accelerated to strive for early release. after its official release, manufacturers will be given a 6-month transition period to design and produce new products. in addition, an additional 3-month sales transition period will be given to facilitate commercial circulation companies to digest the inventory of vehicles produced according to the old standards.

it is not difficult to see from the "electric bicycle safety technical specifications (draft for comments)" that the product positioning of electric bicycles will be clearer in the future, that is, to become a practical means of transportation to solve the last kilometer of commuting. from the product design and technical level, speed limit is to better ensure the safety of riders. at the same time, more detailed solutions are proposed for practical needs such as pedal structures with high idle rates and user vehicle anti-theft.(this article was first published on titanium media app author |edited by deng jianyun|zhong yi