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The Electrical Safety First (ESF) charity campaigns to reduce the number of deaths and injuries caused by electricity in UK households.
According to Electric Safety First (ESF) Charity, Dangerous electric bike chargers were found on sale on Amazon and eBay.
In a report from ESF, online shopping sites Wish.com and AliExpress were also selling chargers, which can carry the serious risk of fire and electric shock.
Credit: ESF
In all cases, the chargers investigated failed safety standards and have since been withdrawn from the online market retailers. According to each of the four sites, new safety procedures have since been implemented.
The chargers are advertised to power lithium-ion batteries used by e-bikes. Most of these were labelled as e-bike accessories, but some were also sold as hoverboard and e-scooter chargers.
Martyn Allen, ESF technical director, said that the chargers that were found “should never have been available for sale to UK shoppers”.
“The lack of vital regulation needed to ensure online marketplaces are responsible for the safety of goods sold via their platforms is contributing significantly to dangerous products entering people’s homes,” he said.
Serious risk of FIRE
The charity looked at the mains plugs in the charging devices and found them all to be so visually substandard that no test purchase was necessary. It said all of the chargers failed to meet the UK plug standards, with most appearing to lack fuses, which could lead to serious fires. Additionally, the investigation found that the plugs advertised appeared to be smaller than the UK standard, increasing the risk of an electric shock.
Incorrect plugs have not been tested adequately, which means other things may be wrong with them. A total of 60 charger listings were found across the four marketplaces, with 21 appearing on eBay. Amazon and Wish.com both listed 13, while AliExpress listed 12.
According to eBay’s spokesperson, the company takes the safety of consumers very seriously and works closely with stakeholders to prevent the sale of unsafe products. AliExpress and Wish.com said merchants must comply with their policies, while Wish said it had requested further compliance documentation from the merchants selling the products. A spokesperson for Amazon said they monitor all products sold for safety concerns and prevents suspicious products from being listed.
Speak to our engineers
At Electric Bike Sales, it has been our mission from the beginning to prioritise our customers’ safety. As a result, all our products fully comply with all UK safety legislation.
Not only do we have a huge range of eBikes and accsessories for sale, but we also don’t need pushy sales staff (our bikes sell themselves!!) only highly trained e-bike technicians. So when you visit us at one of our stores, you’ll be served by an expert technician whose job is to help you figure out just what you need. Electric bikes are technical products, and it helps to know your stuff. So whether you shop online or in-store, you can have peace of mind that you are buying the best from the best.
