China-based British compliance expert, Clive Greenwood, gives us the lowdown on why cheap batteries from China are risky and can be dangerous for consumers, and how compliance laws are changing so that using them in future will be almost impossible if you’re selling in major world markets such as the EU and USA. He also does a deep dive into regulations governing batteries (and other products) and pinpoints future legislation that YOU will need to comply with ASAP.

Prefer listening to reading?

Listen to the audio here.

The Risks Posed by Cheap Batteries from China.

The numbers of people hurt or even killed by batteries exploding or catching fire each year makes grim reading. In the first 3 months of 2023, fires caused by battery-powered scooters killed 4 people in the UK alone, and around the world electric cars have suffered 44 battery fires causing four deaths. But e-bikes and scooters have caused 500 fires, 138 injuries and 36 deaths.

Clearly, some of the China-made batteries being used for these products have problems. There are two key risks with batteries: safety risks and sustainability risks. We’ll explore both here. (02:41)

The battery lifecycle.

Battery design is important because it needs to be made to withstand shocks, crushing, etc, and have a proper BMS (battery management system) otherwise it may suffer from explosions or catch fire, as happened with the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. If you do not know how a battery has been designed, it’s going to be necessary to do a lot of testing before purchasing it.

Raw material extraction (lithium, cobalt, nickel, etc) can cause environmental degradation and human rights issues, as this is often done in impoverished countries where little attention is paid to them.

Battery regulations have been around since 2006, and while most large manufacturers such as Panasonic, Sony, etc, are probably doing a good job of maintaining a clean battery supply chain throughout the manufacturing lifecycle, there are always risks. (06:09)

Examples of the differences in cost and risk of batteries and EV components from China.

Clive built a high-performance electric superbike in China and chose EU-compliant components, however, this meant it cost 4 times more than if he had chosen components where compliance with EU battery and other relevant regulations was not assured. He added thermal detectors that would automatically cut the power and physically cut off the charger if undue heat was detected, so this was a level of failsafe in the design that would arguably not be included by many manufacturers of cheap e-bikes and e-scooters. A ‘good’ e-bike in China costs around 5,000 RMB, whereas Clive’s bike cost 35,000 RMB. You can buy cheap e-scooters and bikes for around 2,000 RMB very easily, too. So this illustrates the difference in cost for something that is ‘safe’ and compliant with stringent EU regulations.

Regular Chinese e-bikes/scooters come with a regular household charger with an earth-leakage circuit breaker that requires earth on the vehicle, the problem is that bikes/scooters have rubber tires, so the charger is not earthed and therefore may not cut off if heat increases. This increases the risk of fires (thermal runaway) during charging (the most common time when household fires occur).

Thermal runaway begins at 150 degrees C on good-quality batteries but can start when batteries reach temperatures of as little as 40 degrees C (in the case of poor-quality batteries). Li-ion batteries burn at 500 degrees C (932 F) which is enough to melt steel and thermal runaway can’t be easily stopped once it has started. A dry chemical extinguisher (ABC model) would be required to control such a fire, and most people do not have these in their garage or home, but water cannot be used as it will cause an effect similar to a chip pan fire where the burning materials splashes everywhere causing even more fire. The fire also gives off hydrofluoric acid as liquid or vapor and if breathed in it can easily kill you.

Not only are cheap batteries and products a risk in the home but also upon disposal, too. 85% of Li-ion batteries go to landfill, so there’s the risk of thermal runaway in the ground and hydrofluoric acid seeping into the groundwater.

So health and safety, design, material extraction, and end of use for batteries are all connected and need to be covered by a very robust set of compliance requirements that we do not currently get. (11:31)

Existing and forthcoming standards and regulations affecting batteries.

These standards and directives are very relevant for today’s importers of Li-ion battery-powered products as testing alone is not enough any longer:

• EN 60086-4:2019
  Primary batteries Safety of lithium batteries
• EN 62133-1:2017
  Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes. Safety requirements for portable sealed secondary cells, and for batteries made from them, for use in portable applications Nickel systems
• BS EN 61960-3:2017
  Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes. Secondary lithium cells and batteries for portable applications Prismatic and cylindrical lithium secondary cells, and batteries made from them
• The upcoming battery regulation is a key driver for product safety. It demands supply chain transparency, including who makes the battery cells, the packing, and where the materials come from, and this information must appear on the product.
• UN 38.3 (TRANSPORTATION TESTING FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES)
  puts batteries through testing aimed at replicating the stresses they will go through during international transportation, such as vibration, shock, altitude, impact, forced discharge, and more. It’s required if batteries are to be shipped internationally.
• EU ESPR (Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation)
  Requires manufacturers to improve the sustainability of their products, supply chain, and provide this information to customers and market surveillance authorities. Battery-powered products were clearly said to be a target of this regulation almost 2 years ago.
• Lithium battery registration battery passport
  Probably the key regulation for batteries in the future. Coming in 2025, this legislation requires total transparency from the extraction of raw materials, through processing and use, and the complete declaration in accordance with all of the standards (see above).

So batteries now need to be tested for safety and that they will withstand shipping, and importers must make clear manufacturing competence at every step of the way during the manufacturing process, your supply chain information, improve sustainability, and even show who your compliance officer is and your contact details are on the product. (20:19)

How personal EVs will probably be governed by IATF 16949 in future.

IATF 16949 is the standard for automotive parts that go into vehicles and drives manufacturers of such parts to put in place a quality management system that will detect issues and reduce the risks of parts hitting the market being unsafe. Personal mobility products like e-bikes and scooters are not covered by this (yet). However, Clive believes that the new regulations coming in 2025 will mean that they are treated exactly the same as any other vehicle if they go on the public highway. This is likely to force a lot of manufacturers of cheap, non-compliant batteries out of the market which is the intention. (26:52)

New legislation coming in 2024 and 2025 targets consumer lithium batteries specifically and what this means to importers.

The EU ESPR and battery passport legislation clearly targets consumer lithium batteries and manufacturers are strongly advised to be doing an LCA on their key products now. Compliance will be harder to escape and doing a lifecycle analysis for products for example will be mandatory so the supply chain and sustainability becomes transparent. Also included are building materials, fast fashion, and kitchen and household appliances. Each sector will have both general requirements and specific ones.

Importers to the EU will now (from May 2024 for ESPR and in 2025 for the battery passport) need to make a very accurate declaration that their products are, amongst other things, safe, and provide copious evidence to show that they’re manufactured in a compliant manner and provide details of their EU representative so they can be contacted if there are issues. It’s fair to say that China and other manufacturing countries where standards have sometimes not been adhered to very well are certainly in the crosshairs with this legislation, unsafe Li-ion batteries coming out of China being a great example of products that will be cracked down on.

Because people die regularly due to poor batteries the legislation coming in puts more liability on the importers. (29:10)

From 2025 the liability for fires and other dangers caused by poor-quality batteries is going to be on YOU, the importer, and there’s no escape.

Generally, a Li-ion battery that catches fire in a thermal runaway event is caused by:

• Problems during the manufacturing process
• Low-grade materials and refinement (leading to an unstable battery)
• Poor manufacturing standards and QC

All of these risk-causing factors will now be targeted by the product safety requirements outlined earlier. Product liability is also catching up with batteries that cause fires and vendors can’t hide from the responsibility if fire or harm is caused as market surveillance authorities will know exactly who they are and the importer, not necessarily the manufacturer in China or wherever else, will be pursued. In the EU, the regulator’s name, manufacturer’s address and contact details, and the EU representative’s contact details and status will be printed on the battery and included in the passport from 2025.

If you are developing a new electronic product that uses a non-standard battery, you need to start working on this now as there are only 18 months left to be in compliance (perhaps redesigning to use batteries from larger brands, for example, that may already be more compliant). (37:19)

Selling products with a Li-ion battery? Take these actions to avoid issues…

If you’re manufacturing products with Li-ion batteries you need to take immediate action if there’s a problem:

1. Stop selling, and possibly do a recall.
2. Do a failure analysis on failed samples and get user feedback

However, to avoid this scenario, take these actions while developing the product:

• Doing a risk analysis at the design stage could save you a lot of time and hassle, by preventing a bad battery from even making it to market in the first place.
• Don’t drive for the lowest possible price at all costs as the risks increase that a poor-quality battery will be used.
• The same goes for supplier selection, the cheapest supplier will lead to increased risks of corner-cutting, resulting in risky batteries, components, and manufacturing quality. (41:13)

Most issues with batteries are ‘near-misses’ that importers may never hear about leading to a lack of awareness about the risks with batteries.

We tend to hear about the most serious cases, such as when people are killed by batteries or a house burns due to a thermal runaway event, however, most cases are where a device overheats, a piece of casing melts, maybe there is a little smoke or a few sparks, but this does not turn into a battery fire. This means that many importers are selling products that do have a problematic battery, but because the issues are relatively minor they go unreported. (43:47)

Chargers and the prevention of battery fires.

Only use the charger that is mapped to the battery from the manufacturer, otherwise, it may only last for a couple of months. There is a compliance standard for battery chargers, IEC 60335-2-29:2021+A1:2021, that dictates that they must be fitted with thermal detection. However, not many chargers comply with it. (45:35)

The ESPR represents a serious challenge for importers with a supply chain in China (and other Asian countries to an extent).

In future when the product passport and ESPR come into effect in Europe, this will be partly policed by the public, and if a product is reported as being a risk the surveillance authorities can check it against an EU-wide database of products and they already have an EU-representative to question and hold accountable.

Since China is responsible for 80+% of the manufacture of consumer electronics alone, it’s obviously in the sights of these new compliance regulations, although they cover all products and all countries where manufacturing takes place. (47:51)

Liability for problems won’t wait for the importer to put things right, they need to be right the first time around.

Accidents with electronics and EVs are set to increase as the amount being put on the market increases until these new standards and regulations can come together and be fully adopted across the industry. However, in the past industry self-policing was used unsuccessfully for seven years and has arguably failed, but now compliance is not a ‘should’ it is a ‘must.’ Importers who manufacture products in China or elsewhere MUST do a risk analysis now and this MUST include how the product complies with the law.

If you cannot comply with the regulations outlined you will simply have to stop selling the products into the applicable markets. (50:19)

What changes are happening in other parts of the world regarding health and safety?

The upcoming US consumer protection and health and safety act may be very similar to the EU ESPR and it may be brought in at around the same time – like the EU regulations, it may require adherence to the standards and regulations mentioned earlier. Therefore, US importers will also need to reach the same compliance requirements in order to sell there and large retailers will shun products that don’t comply due to the liability factor. It should also be noted that import taxes for fully compliant products will be reduced.

By 2030, all/most of the major world markets will have regulations in place that are very similar to the EU ESPR, and the goal is to stop low-cost products coming into the markets, and especially those that pose a risk to people and/or the environment.

There will probably be major announcements about product sustainability at COP28. (52:14)

Related content…

• Chinese battery danger Telegraph article
• Get help from Sofeast to prepare to comply with the EU ESPR
• What is the EU Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation?
• The EU Ecodesign Regulation Is Coming, But Are You Prepared? [Podcast part 1]
• How To Comply With The EU Ecodesign Regulation? [Podcast part 2]
• E Waste Impact on the Environment (Analysis)
• Understanding The Environmental Impact of EV Batteries

Disclaimer

We are not lawyers. What we wrote above is based only on our understanding of legal requirements. QualityInspection.org does not present this information as a basis for you to make decisions, and we do not accept any liability if you do so.