Two Winnipeggers are suing an electronic bicycle company, alleging their St. Vital home was extensively damaged in a fire caused by the malfunction of one of its batteries.
The statement of claim was filed in the Court of King’s Bench on March 13 on behalf of Azhar and Arnan Shaikh.
Hyper Bicycles Inc., a New Jersey-based company, is listed as a defendant, along with two unknown third parties—John Doe and a corporation referred to as ABC Ltd.
The court documents allege the plaintiffs bought a Hyper e-bike in March 2021 from John Doe, who previously purchased it from ABC.
According to the statement of claim, one of the Shaikhs plugged in the e-bike’s lithium-ion battery on the night of March 15, 2023. The documents say the battery was detachable and could be charged with an A/C adapter and cable that came with the 26 Hyper MTB 36V e-bike.
The suit alleges the battery suffered an internal failure the next day, causing heating that ignited the plastic material in the battery, which sparked a fire.
According to a news release from the city, the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS) responded to a fire just before 3:30 a.m. at a bungalow on Westdale Place—the same street listed in the court documents. Crews arrived to find smoke coming from the home. They fought the flames from inside and were able to get it under control about an hour later.
WFPS public information officer Kristin Cuma told CTV News Winnipeg investigators characterized the fire as accidental and found it was caused by a battery charger for an electric bike.
The fire caused over $640,000 in damage to the plaintiffs’ home and other property, the documents say.
The suit alleges the defendants breached the statutory warranties under the Consumer Protection Act.
It claimed Hyper breached its duty of care to users that their products would not catch fire during normal use.
The suit also alleged John Doe breached their duty of care not to sell substandard or dangerous goods that pose a risk of property damage or injury. The documents also claim John Doe was negligent by failing to properly store and maintain the e-bike, battery and charger.
“By selling the e-bike, battery, and charger to the plaintiffs, John Doe breached that duty of care, and the breach resulted in the fire and the loss for which John Doe is responsible,” the court documents read.
The Shaikhs are seeking $640,000 in damages, as well as costs and interest.
The defendants have not yet filed a statement of defence.
CTV News Winnipeg has reached out to Hyper Bicycles for comment and has not heard back.
