OPINION
Fake e-bikes: An Existential Crisis for the Industry
By Laura Laker F
rom around lunch time, they start gathering. With wires poking out, batteries cable-tied onto frames, or balanced on plywood on pannier racks, secured by reams of tape,
delivery app riders on death trap bicycles accumulate around Stratford High Street for the lunchtime rush.
The machines they ride aren’t legally
e-bikes, but that’s not how the public, press and some politicians tend to see the issue. What most see is ‘cyclists’ zooming around pedestrian areas and blocking pavements, seemingly outside of the law… making the understandable assumption this is a cycling problem, that these machines are simply ‘e-bikes’. While the regulated e-bike industry adheres to strict safety
requirements - things like speed and power restrictions and battery management systems that prevent fires – a shadow market of cheap, unregulated ‘fake e-bike’ products is easily accessible online. These products, often poor quality conversion kits but also readymade ‘fake e-bikes’, have caused a slew of devastating fires in homes and in the waste management sector, killing and injuring, damaging property and placing lives on hold. In May and June, I was involved in an inquiry
by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Walking and Cycling (APPWCG) on the rise of these dangerous machines. On top of the concerns already mentioned is the reputational damage such products inflict on the regulated industry. In jeopardy alongside the cycle industry are the benefits cycling brings in terms of public health, tackling traffic congestion and decarbonising transport. The inquiry discovered, via written and in-person evidence, that much of the problem tracks back to the gig economy using legal loopholes to exploit riders, and online marketplaces selling unsafe products. For delivery app companies, using a ‘substitution’ loophole – where riders
46 | August 2025
can put someone else in their place for work – leaves riders outside of employment laws, from minimum pay to a requirement for company oversight around who does the job, and riders’ equipment and workplace practices. Low pay forces some riders to take risks, buying cheap products and working punishingly long hours to make ends meet. It won’t surprise BikeBiz readers to know
we also discovered dangerous e-bikes for sale on big online marketplaces like Amazon
and eBay. And while these retail and food delivery behemoths say they try to resolve the respective issues,
clearly, what they are doing isn’t working. The impact has been devastating for an industry that’s
already struggling. Confusion around what is a safe vs unsafe e-bike has led to public transport bans for e-bikes in London; it’s led to insurers refusing to cover, or hiking premiums for any e-bike, including in bike shops. The reputational damage is clear, too, on the shop floor: retailers say customers, having heard of the devastating ‘e-bike’ fires, are increasingly thinking twice about buying one, or ruling a purchase out altogether. Fortunately, e-bikes have a lot going for them,
and so there’s a lot to support. That also means a lot of potential levers to help effect change.
‘FORTUNATELY, E-BIKES HAVE A LOT GOING FOR THEM, AND SO THERE’S A LOT TO SUPPORT. THAT ALSO MEANS A LOT OF POTENTIAL LEVERS TO HELP EFFECT CHANGE. CYCLING TAPS INTO THE GOVERNMENT’S HEALTH AND DECARBONISATION MISSIONS, ITS EQUITY GOALS AND MUCH MORE.’
Cycling taps into the government’s health and decarbonisation missions, its equity goals and much more. Locally, it can help unclog streets and improve the catchment area of bus and train services by up to five times, vs walking routes alone. There’s a real incentive beyond the industry, societally and politically, to fix the problem. The APPWCG’s recommendations set out solutions, including closing the ‘substitution’ loophole that’s allowing riders to be exploited with no oversight or protection.
Another is that the industry produces a kitemark to help give insurers and transport providers confidence
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