UK fire brigades are now responding to a lithium-ion battery fire every five hours, or 4.8 incidents a day, according to new research from global business insurer QBE, with e-bikes emerging as the largest category of blazes confronting underwriters.
The figure marks a 147% increase since 2022, when crews attended roughly two such fires daily.
QBE recorded 1,760 lithium-ion battery fires in 2025, up from 713 in 2022, with e-bike incidents rising 249%, electric car fires climbing 133% and e-scooter fires increasing 70%.
E-bikes accounted for 520 fires last year, around 30% of the 2025 total, and the London Fire Brigade tackled 44% of these after attending 230 e-bike fires in the capital.
Where data was available, converted or retrofitted e-bikes featured more often than officially manufactured models, a pattern QBE said reinforced the case for buying certified products from established retailers.
The trend mirrors developments overseas, where brokers are being urged to treat lithium-ion exposure as a property, disclosure and underwriting matter rather than a consumer-safety footnote. Fire and Rescue NSW logged 332 lithium-ion incidents in 2025, nearly one a day, with even small devices capable of triggering six-figure losses.
Although electric vehicle fires increased 133%, from 120 to 279, the EV fleet on UK roads expanded by 206%, from 664,148 to 1,971,764 vehicles.
Almost half of lithium-ion battery fires, 46%, occurred in homes, with 31% outdoors and 23% in commercial premises, while a further 45% involved devices such as mobile phones, tablets and power packs.
QBE noted that a typical household contains 15 to 25 battery-powered devices, and that the fires stem from thermal runaway, a chemical reaction in which batteries irreversibly overheat after impact damage, overcharging or heat exposure.
Such fires spread more quickly than ordinary combustion and take longer to extinguish, the insurer said.
Adrian Simmonds, risk manager at QBE Insurance, said thermal runaway fires can require up to 10 times more water to contain than conventional blazes.
“Awareness of safe charging, storage and disposal is essential to keeping people and property safe. People should use only certified e-bikes and batteries, charge them away from escape routes and avoid charging items overnight,” Simmonds said, adding that retrofitted bikes appear more prone to incidents.
Claims data previously released by US carrier Erie Insurance found such fires caused average property damage of around US$222,000, more than three times its US$73,000 average fire loss payment, while earlier estimates from Zurich Insurance Group placed total industrial losses between US$1 million and US$10 million once operational disruption was factored in.
Law firm Kennedys has separately advised property insurers to weigh inserting exclusions for battery-fire losses, or offer endorsements expanding cover for an adjusted premium.
The London Fire Brigade logged the highest volume of incidents in 2025 at 522, followed by West Yorkshire with 126 and Lancashire with 117. Bedfordshire and Luton was the only service to report a year-on-year decline, following updated guidance issued in 2023.
The UK granted royal assent to the Product Regulation and Metrology Act in July, giving government powers to revise product safety rules and address risks from uncertified items, including e-bikes, sold through online marketplaces.
