Police raid shop selling 'super batteries'
The owner of an e-bike shop in Jiading District has been detained for selling excessively powerful batteries for e-bikes, Shanghai police said on Monday.
Such “super batteries,” which could enable users to ride very long distances without charging, were modified from normal batteries and had huge safety risks, police said.
Police and the fire authority in Jiading District said they had identified an e-bike shop on Huyi Highway after findings that most fire cases involving e-bikes were due to the failure of their unusually powerful batteries.
Battery failure could even results in explosions, police said.
At the shop, customers could pay 5,600 yuan (US$840) to have a lithium battery of 84V80Ah said to last for up to 250 kilometers, while most e-bikes on the market have a range of 50 to 60 kilometers, police said.
Police said the shop had sold over 500 modified batteries so far, with most of customers people working in the delivery business.
The shop’s owner, a man surnamed Zhou, could face a charge of producing and selling fake and inferior products, police said.