Abstract: To investigate the causes of fires involving mixed parking of various types of electric bicycles, this study conducted case studies on electric bicycle fires and various lithium battery fire experiments to analyze the differences in characteristics between lithium battery thermal runaway fires and vehicle electrical circuit failures, and to summarize the special on-site traces of electric bicycle fires. The results indicate that there are significant differences in smoke, sound, and light between the thermal runaway ignition and electrical fault (short circuit) ignition of lithium batteries in electric bicycles. The on-site traces also exhibit different characteristics. Summarizing the characteristics of these phenomena and traces can provide reference for the investigation of electric bicycle fires.

Key words: electric bicycle fire, lithium battery, fire characteristics, fire investigation