Thousands of super cheap Amazon & Walmart e-bikes recalled after fires

VIVI e-bikes, a budget-friendly brand commonly found on Amazon and Walmart, just got hit with a major recall affecting around 24,000 electric bicycles due to fire risks. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that the lithium-ion batteries included with VIVI e-bikes can overheat, catch fire, and potentially cause injury or death.

According to the recall notice, VIVI has received at least 14 reports of their e-bike batteries overheating, with at least three reports of the batteries catching fire, though fortunately no injuries were reported in the recall notice.

The faulty batteries were shipped with a range of VIVI electric bikes sold between December 2020 and November 2023, priced between $365 and $950.

That puts them among the cheapest full-size e-bikes on the market.

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The affected bikes include long list of VIVI models, with the complete found here and seen in the table below.

The e-bikes were most commonly available online through Walmart.com and Amazon.com, but were also sold on eBay.com, Wish.com, Sears.com, Wayfair.com, Aliexpress.com, and the company’s own site (viviebikes.com).

Riders who purchased a VIVI e-bike are encouraged to check their model immediately to see if it matches the list of recalled e-bikes or battery packs.

The problem stems from the lithium-ion battery packs, which were not certified to UL standards, which are the most common safety standards for e-bikes in the US.

Consumers are being told to stop using the bikes immediately and contact VIVI for a free replacement battery. According to the recall notice, “Consumers should immediately stop using e-bikes with the recalled lithium-ion batteries and contact VIVI to receive a free replacement battery and battery charger. Consumers must dispose of the recalled battery at a household hazardous waste (HHW) collection center or follow the instructions of their municipality and confirm that this was done by sending an email to vivirecall@163.com.”

This recall adds to growing concerns about the safety of low-cost e-bikes flooding online marketplaces. While affordability has helped e-bikes become more accessible, it’s also opened the door to corners being cut, particularly when it comes to the batteries, which are arguably the most dangerous component of any electric vehicle when poorly made.

On the other hand, the increase in UL certification in the US e-bike industry has led to higher consumer confidence among respected e-bike brands that prominently display their safety certifications. This practice has helped assuage consumers’ fears and serves as a reminder of why these safety certifications are so important.

Electrek’s Take

Here we go again – another Amazon e-bike brand that was selling what looks like a too-good-to-be-true electric bike with a questionable battery. And surprise: it catches fire.

Now I want to make sure we keep this in perspective here, because the story isn’t that e-bikes are dangerous. Even among these ultra-super-duper-extremely cheap e-bikes, there have been 14 overheating cases and three reported fires out of 24,000 e-bikes sold. So it’s not like batteries are cooking off left and right like meth labs in Arkansas here or something. But this is still a stark reminder of the risks of purchasing bargain-basement electric bikes. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece about the hidden risks of the cheapest e-bikes, and this issue was front and center.

In this case, these VIVI e-bikes are just some of the many aggressively priced models on Amazon, and that’s always a red flag when it comes to lithium-ion safety. At Electrek, we’ve said it before and we’ll keep saying it: cheap batteries are risky batteries. UL certification isn’t legally required in most places (yet), but if a company isn’t willing to invest in the most basic safety testing, it should raise alarm bells.

If you’re hunting for a budget e-bike, stick to brands that at least use name-brand cells (like Samsung, LG, or Panasonic) and ideally have UL certification. Otherwise, you’re not just gambling with performance, you’re gambling with your garage, your home, your apartment building, and potentially the lives of your family and neighbors.