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TfL e-bike ban from Monday
March 26, 2025
Transport for London (TfL) has announced a ban on non-folding e-bikes across the Tube and rail network, coming into force on 31 March 2025. The move follows concerns about battery fires, particularly after an e-bike battery exploded at Rayners Lane station earlier this year, causing a fire and severe disruption. The incident prompted calls from the RMT and Aslef unions for a total ban on e-bikes, even threatening industrial action if TfL didn’t comply.
The issue of lithium battery fires is serious. But is banning non-folding e-bikes really the solution - or is this just another example of reaching for the quickest and easiest option rather than the most effective one?
E-bike fires are overwhelmingly caused by unregulated conversion kits or incompatible chargers, not by factory-produced e-bikes from reputable manufacturers. And yet, all non-folding e-bikes are being singled out, while folding e-bikes are permitted because TfL claims there’s no recorded instance of a folding e-bike fire in London. TfL also argues that the shape and size of folding bikes make them less likely to be converted using dodgy kits. Yet, a quick search online reveals countless front-wheel conversion kits designed for 20” folding bike wheels - many exceeding the UK’s legal power limits.
Fires on public transport aren’t new. In 2017, a mobile phone charger exploded on a District Line train, leading to an evacuation - but there were no calls to ban mobile phones. Airlines around the world have faced a growing number of lithium battery incidents, with American carriers reporting 84 such cases last year, up from 32 in 2016. Yet rather than banning electronic devices outright, airlines have quietly introduced mitigation measures: Requiring passengers to keep portable chargers within reach, banning their use during flights, and equipping aircraft with ‘fire bags’ to contain overheating batteries.
This type of safety measure may not be workable for e-bikes on an underground rail network, and yet TfL’s selective ban feels more like a reaction to union pressure and scaremongering in the media rather than a considered approach. E-bikes are not the enemy – unregulated conversion kits, chargers and batteries are.
Insurance for e-bikes
We cover all road-legal electric bicycles as standard. If the output of your electric bicycle does not exceed 250 W/15.5 mph, we’ll cover it and also include Cycle Rescue as standard. If your e-bike develops a mechanical fault, puncture, or even a flat battery, you can call on our breakdown team 24/7.
Every ETA cycle insurance policy includes the following as standard:
• Theft, accidental damage & vandalism
• E-bike battery theft cover
• Cycle Rescue (breakdown cover for your electric bicycle and you)
• No devaluation of your bike over time
• £2m third party PLUS £20,000 personal accident cover
• Shed and garage storage
• Low standard excess of 5% (£50 minimum)
Read a full list of everything we include as standard.
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The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
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Information correct at time of publication.
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