Watch the terrifying moment when an e-bike battery EXPLODEs – releasing plumes of toxic white smoke, sparks and flames

It’s a terrifying sight: an e-bike battery spewing toxic white smoke and bursting into flames with such ferocity it could be fatal.

That’s the warning from electrical safety experts, who say that if such a fire breaks out, it can destroy a room in minutes.

To make matters worse, a new study from the charity Electrical Safety First has found that hundreds of e-bike and e-scooter owners are at risk of accidentally causing such fires by using incompatible chargers.

Nearly half (43 percent) of those surveyed said they used a charger that wasn’t included with their bike or scooter when it was sold, raising fears that such a device would not be compatible with their battery’s voltage.

Of the 430 people who admitted to doing this, 1 in 3 knew that the charger they were using was not compatible with their e-scooter battery, while 1 in 5 did not.

The danger of incompatible chargers, safety experts warn, is that they risk over-charging a battery, which can then trigger a catastrophic process called thermal runaway.

This is where the battery goes into an uncontrollable chemical reaction that heats itself up, leading to a fire that can destroy a room in minutes.

That is why Electrical Safety First is calling for a ban on universal chargers for e-bike and e-scooter batteries, where a charger comes with multiple sockets to connect different batteries.

The charity has shared a video of what such a fire might look like, coinciding with the release of its new report, Battery defectivewhich looks at ways to crack down on a spate of deadly e-bike fires across Britain.

The footage shows for the first time a toxic smoke from the battery that can be incredibly harmful if inhaled.

It is then only a matter of seconds before sparks are generated and the battery catches fire.

Such is the ferocity of thermal runaway that blasts the battery across the room as the massive amount of energy is dissipated.

“Incorrectly charging your e-bike or e-scooter battery comes at a dangerous cost,” says Giuseppe Capanna of Electrical Safety First.

‘Due to the large amount of energy stored in these batteries, the risk of fire is considerably greater if the battery becomes unstable.

“It’s essential that you use a compatible charger, ideally the one that came with the device, and that you never block outlets while charging, the results could be fatal.”

Often exacerbating the problem, campaigners say, is that many e-bike and e-scooter owners charge their devices in areas that could block escape routes, such as a communal hallway or stairwell in an apartment building.

More than half of those surveyed (52 percent) also admitted to charging their device overnight while they sleep – adding to the danger as they have less time to react if a fire breaks out.

Just over a quarter (28 percent) said they charged their device in a hallway in their home, while more than 1 in 10 (14 percent) did so in their bedroom.

Electrical Safety First recommends charging e-bikes or e-scooters away from vital escape routes – ideally in an outbuilding where possible.

Scott Angus, 32 from London, revealed how he luckily escaped after a neighbour’s e-bike caught fire in a communal hall of a converted Victorian house last year.

He and his partner had to jump out of a second-story window with their dog after their escape route was blocked.

“I woke up around 1 am to the strong smell of carbon. I opened the door and all I could see was a wall of thick black smoke. If that smoke had entered our flat sooner, I probably wouldn’t have been here,’ Mr Angus said.

‘A battery of an e-bike was being charged on the ground floor in the common corridor of the building, it took over our escape route and we could only go out through the windows.’

Mr Angus revealed that he and his fellow neighbors had to be rescued by ladder firefighters.

“When we got down, all I saw was chaos. The front door of the building was broken open. The fire department tried to put out the fire and I saw a lot of individual batteries all over the floor. They looked like shotgun shells,” he added.

‘My partner damaged her back when she jumped and it has been bothering her ever since, it has affected her quality of life.

“We just feel lucky to have escaped with our lives.”

Others, however, have not been so lucky.

Eight people have died so far this year in Britain as a result of burning e-bike batteries.

On New Year’s Day, Sofia Duarte was killed when an e-bike caught fire in her home, while a mother and two children were killed in a fire believed to have been caused by a charging e-bike in Cambridge this year.