Electric bikes are a great way to get around, especially during the pandemic. The electric motor can help during prolonged climbs or when you’re too tired to pedal your way home from work. But e-bikes must be safe for the user, considering the large battery each one carries. That’s why Ancheer issued a recall for one of its e-bike models, as the battery can spark, ignite, or even explode.
The company has received six reports of incidents that involved fires, explosions, or sparks. In four cases, the battery problems even caused burn injuries.
Ancheer e-bike recall
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published the report on the Ancheer recall at this link. The report notes that lithium-ion batteries in this e-bike model pose fire, explosion, and burn hazards to consumers.
The Ancheer e-bikes in this recall have model number AM001907, but you won’t find it on the bike itself. The model number appears on the e-bike packaging and the instruction manual.
One distinctive sign of the AM001907 model is the cylindrical battery that has the shape of a water bottle. The e-bikes are black and have 26-inch wheels. Finally, “Ancheer” is printed on the downtube.
Ancheer sold around 22,000 units from January 2016 through June 2022. They cost between $280 and $930, according to the announcement.
The bikes were available online from various stores: http://www.aliexpress.com, http://www.ancheer.shop, http://www.amazon.com, http://www.ebay.com, http://www.newegg.com, http://www.overstock.com, http://www.rakuten.com, http://www.sears.com, www.walmart.com, and www.wish.com.
What you should do
Ancheer advises customers to stop using the e-bike model in this recall immediately.
You might not have experienced any issues with your e-bike’s battery. But battery overheating, swelling, and fires can happen spontaneously on electronic devices, even if these are rare events. You might not get any warning before something terrible happens.
The best course of action is to stop using the bike. More importantly, stop recharging the battery. And you should consider storing the bike in a place where you wouldn’t risk any fires.
It’s also a good idea to contact Ancheer for guidance on handling a potentially faulty e-bike from this recall. Contact information is available from the CPSC at this link. The company set up a page for recalls, but it was not functional at the time of this writing.
As for the recall remedy, you won’t receive a full refund for the electric bike. The company has a different solution, offering free repairs to consumers.
Buyers should contact Ancheer for a free replacement battery and battery mount. That’s still a great solution, considering that people who bought the e-bike likely still want to use it to get around.
