Feud Watch: Toronto fire chief versus e-bike batteries
A 591 per cent uptick in battery explosions is the fastest-growing fire safety risk in the city
Toronto fire chief Jim Jessop is calling on the federal government to help curb a growing public safety threat: e-bike battery fires. We have questions.
How many fires are we talking? Toronto has seen a 591 per cent increase in lithium ion battery fires since 2020. In 2023, there were only three fires caused by e-bikes or e-scooters; so far this year, we have seen 39. The uptick is largely based on the growing adoption of e-bikes and regulators’ failure to set safety standards.
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Why do e-bike batteries keep exploding? There is no required certification for e-bike batteries—unlike the lithium-ion batteries used in cellphones or laptops—which means manufacturers compete on cost. A lot of the fires result from products that use cheap materials or that aren’t being operated properly (or both). Over the weekend, the fire department responded to a fire on a balcony in Windsor believed to be caused by a mismatched charger and battery. Lithium can also react to the salt used on sidewalks in winter, which is why the TTC will ban e-bikes on its vehicles for the second year in a row between November and April.
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Wasn’t there a fire on the TTC? Back in January of 2024, an e-bike burst into flames on a TTC car near Sheppard-Yonge station. No one was seriously injured, but the incident prompted transit officials to ban the bikes during winter. (Critics of the policy say the ban disproportionately affects gig workers and other low-income Torontonians.)
What could the government do? In New York and California, there is legislation to regulate standards for batteries. Jessop is asking Ottawa to consider similar measures and has also called on the provincial government to limit the number of e-bikes that can be stored in a communal building. In the meantime, a group of University of Toronto engineering students are tackling the problem with a proposed storage facility that would mitigate fire risks.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
