E-scooter batteries in Canada

• Toronto Fire Services recorded 29 lithium-ion battery fires in 2022 and 91 in 2025.
• By 21 September 2026 it had recorded 100, and by 6 October, 108. Most involve e-bikes, e-scooters and similar devices.
• Fire Chief Jim Jessop calls these fires "the greatest evolving fire safety risk in Canada's largest city" and has asked the federal government for "some type of standard … for these batteries coming in".

• Health Canada's December 2025 notice of intent proposes safety requirements for lithium-ion batteries in consumer products. It leaves out vehicles.
• Under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, a vehicle is one that "is designed to be, or is capable of being, driven or drawn on roads by any means other than muscular power exclusively". The Canada Consumer Product Safety Act excludes such vehicles and the parts integral to them, including parts that replace those parts. Health Canada states that this exclusion "currently applies to electric micromobility devices, such as e-bikes or e-scooters, which meet the definition of 'vehicle'".
• Ontario's e-scooter pilot sets limits on power, speed and weight. It does not address batteries or identification.

• New York City has required e-bikes and e-scooters sold in the city to be certified since September 2023. Its fire department reports that lithium-ion battery fire deaths fell from 18 in 2023 to 6 in 2024.
• Singapore has registered e-scooters since 2019 and has required certification to UL 2272 since July 2020; uncertified scooters were deregistered.
• New South Wales has allowed e-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries and chargers to be sold since February 2025 only if they meet prescribed standards.
• Germany requires an approval and a factory plate with an identification number; since 2026 the number follows the vehicle identification number structure.
• France has marked every new adult bicycle sold by a retailer since 2021 and keeps a national file. The European Union requires battery passports for light-vehicle batteries from February 2027.

• Germany's type-approval list of 6 October 2026 names more than 90 e-scooter makers and brands; at least 8 of them are also sold at retail in Canada.

• ISO 3779 defines the vehicle identification number for motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motorcycles and mopeds. Its scope does not name e-scooters.
• IEC/TC 125 is the international committee for personal e-transporters. IEC 63281-1 sets their terminology and IEC 63281-2-1:2024 their safety requirements.
• Working Draft 0.1 applies the vehicle identification number structure to e-scooters, adds an identifier for the traction battery, and sets the minimum record behind each number. It is written for adoption by a standards body and names no operator.

A plate, an engraving on the frame, and one record per unit, filed at manufacture. Makers selling in Germany already fit the first two.

Sources dated to 7 October 2026. Published October 19, 2026. Prepared by Cardog Inc., which provides vehicle identification decoding services. The draft names no operator.

• Insurance Business, Toronto Fire Services data, 2026 (insurancebusinessmag.com).
• TorontoToday, 4 and 7 October 2026 (torontotoday.ca).
• Global News, 9 September 2026; CP24, 5 September 2026.
• Health Canada, notice of intent on lithium-ion batteries in consumer products, December 2025; consultation closed 14 February 2026.
• Motor Vehicle Safety Act, s. 2; Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, Schedule 1, item 7.
• O. Reg. 389/19, Pilot Project, Electric Kick-Scooters.
• Elektrokleinstfahrzeuge-Verordnung, §2 and Annex 1, as amended 30 January 2026.
• Ministère de la Transition écologique, identification des cycles.
• FDNY, 8 January 2025; NYC Local Law 39 of 2023.
• Regulation (EU) 2023/1542.
• Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, ABE Elektrokleinstfahrzeuge, list as of 6 October 2026.
• ISO 3779:2009, scope.
• IEC 63281-1:2023; IEC 63281-2-1:2024.
• Land Transport Authority, Singapore, 20 June 2019; Ministry of Transport, 5 August 2019.
• NSW Government, new standards for lithium-ion batteries in e-micromobility devices.

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Light electric vehicles: Identification, Working Draft 0.1

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