Ebike Company Suspended For Misleading Safety Policy. It Points To A Big Problem

Amazon and UL, a company that tests and ensures that products meet safety requirements, settled a lawsuit in July with several Chinese companies that manufacture ebikes under the Aipas brand name.

US companies the accused Chinese companies in January claimed on Amazon listings and on the Aipas website that ebikes were certified by UL, providing a clear guarantee to online shoppers who are concerned about the dangers of lithium-ion ebikes. battery fire. But that was not true. On July 15, a federal judge you have signed on a permanent rule that the industry has agreed to no longer use the UL mark. It also prohibits them from “helping, assisting, or assisting any other person or business” to do the same.

The documents show that the Chinese companies have not admitted any liability or wrongdoing linked to Amazon and UL’s allegations of knowingly using fraudulent security certificates. (The businesses involved are Jiangmen Meijiasheng Bicycle, Hong Kong Manchester International Trading, Shenzhen Aibosi Sport Technology, Guangzhou Aierfeile Sport Technology, and the person Tang Shuhui, who the case says participated in the Amazon sales account.)

But WIRED has found a Facebook account associated with Aipas Ebike still have advertisements that include the red UL mark. A WIRED reporter was sent one of the ads in mid-July, despite the companies agreeing to issue a permanent ban. One other ad using the UL logo has been running on Facebook since April, months after the lawsuit was filed, according to Meta’s Ad Library. Another ad that includes the UL logo and began posting in May appears to be missing from the Ad Library after WIRED contacted Aipas and UL for comment.

WIRED also discovered that while some Aipas ebikes and their batteries have received safety certifications from a nationally recognized organization, it appears that just months after the company began advertising UL safety marks, some of these certifications are now invalid.

An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment on the lawsuit. Bradley Carlson, a spokesman for UL, also declined to comment on the lawsuit but said the UL team is “aware of and working to resolve” issues related to Facebook ads. Neither Aipas Ebike nor a lawyer representing Chinese businesses in court responded to several requests for comment.

Although disputes over fraudulent security certificates are not always in the public eye, “it’s a common problem and has been a common problem for a long time,” says Donald Mays, a longtime security expert. own support company.

This trend has implications, especially for electronic devices such as ebikes. Report published by the US government in April found that 45 deaths between 2017 and 2024 were linked to fires related to lithium-ion batteries in mobile devices19 of them related to ebikes only. The New York City Fire Department, which tracks lithium-ion battery fires, he entered Moto 277 connected to technology in 2024, compared to 268 in 2023, and connected them to ebikes.

The majority of ebike fires in the country have been linked to faulty battery packs, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an independent body. The agency has urged consumers to use only micromobility devices “designed, manufactured, and approved to be followed by an accredited laboratory with the corresponding safety standards,” according to his page.

Fake certificates are common in online marketplaces like Amazon, said Gabe Knight, senior policy analyst at Consumer Reports. “Just as consumers are at risk of buying a fake product, at times, from other sellers, they are at risk of buying a product with a manufactured identity,” he says. In general, sellers who sell products directly to consumers, rather than through wholesalers, do a better job of substantiating their product’s safety claims, he says; These vendors often have in-house compliance programs to verify the manufacturer’s products.