Cracking down on the counterfeiting of electric bicycle chargers, the police have conducted centralized investigations and crackdowns on multiple counterfeit processing points
Different brands of electric bicycles come with matching original chargers. If consumers use mismatched counterfeit chargers, it will not only damage the battery, but also pose a great safety risk of fire and explosion. Recently, a gang has been prosecuted by Jiangsu procuratorial organs for producing and selling counterfeit electric vehicle chargers.
In August 2022, Mr. Wang from Yangzhou, Jiangsu spent 15 yuan online to purchase a certain brand of electric bicycle charger, but during the charging process, he discovered a problem. Mr. Wang, a citizen of Yangzhou: Not only does it feel hot, but it also has bulges. Later, he asked the store to return it, and after returning it once, he found that this situation still exists. Mr. Wang felt that he might have bought counterfeit goods, and he had previously seen a fire accident caused by charging in the news. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, he chose to call the police.
After receiving the alarm, the police first contacted the manufacturer of the electric bicycle and identified the charger purchased by Mr. Wang online. The manufacturer determined that the merchant was not their authorized store and the chargers sold were also counterfeit and inferior products. So, the police arrested the person in charge of the online store, Li, through the business registration information of the online store.
Zhang Jingjing, Deputy Director of the Second Procuratorate Department of the People's Procuratorate of Yizheng City: The police found a large number of old chargers, many spare parts of chargers, and several trademark marks in Li's warehouse.
According to Li's account, the chargers he sells online are all sold at three to five times the recycling price by recycling old chargers, reassembling and refurbishing them, and labeling them. As of the incident, more than 30000 counterfeit chargers made and sold by suspects such as Li have been sold online, earning a profit of over 400000 yuan. At present, the Yizheng City Procuratorate in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province has filed a public prosecution against Li and other individuals involved in the case for the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks. The court will announce the verdict at a later date.
Investigation and seizure of illegal charger processing points
This situation is not an isolated case. Recently (March 21), based on the reported clues, the market supervision departments of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces jointly carried out law enforcement on the counterfeit processing points at the border of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.
On March 21st, law enforcement agencies in Jiangsu and Anhui provinces conducted a centralized inspection of some charger production enterprises and processing points near the border between Jiangsu and Anhui. A total of 3 illegal charger processing points were investigated and dealt with, and about 8000 counterfeit and shoddy chargers were seized, as well as some second-hand waste circuit boards and other counterfeit raw materials.
Wu Jian, the captain of the Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Fourth Squadron of the Yizheng City Market Supervision Administration, said: These processing points are all located in the basement or courtyard of residential buildings, and there are no obvious signs at the entrance. The processing sites are very hidden.
At present, the relevant products and raw materials have been sealed and seized by law enforcement agencies, and the case is still being further processed.
Fire test: Counterfeit and inferior chargers contain hidden dangers
When purchasing branded electric bicycles, the original factory chargers shipped with the vehicle generally comply with the national 3C standard and are relatively reliable. And once the charger is broken or lost, many people will choose to buy a random charger to replace it, unaware that safety hazards will be buried. Recently, with the consent of relevant departments, the reporter took the counterfeit chargers that were previously seized to the Yangzhou Fire Rescue Brigade and asked them to conduct on-site charging tests.
Firefighters will respectively power on qualified chargers and counterfeit chargers they have found, and test the voltage status inside their charging interfaces. After connecting to the power supply, the charger that meets the national standard has no voltage when the battery is not connected, but this checked charger has obvious voltage changes.
Yao Xiangyu, a propagandist from the News and Propaganda Department of Yangzhou Fire Rescue Detachment: We know that the voltage that our human body can generally withstand is below 36 volts if you do not feel an electric shock. This has reached 55.1 volts, and direct contact with the human body may pose a certain risk of electric shock.
Subsequently, firefighters charged the newly purchased compliant electric vehicle battery with the collected charger. After 7 hours of continuous charging, a strong rubber odor appeared inside the house, and the battery showed significant deformation. This indicates that the charger lacks overvoltage protection and cannot perform safe trickle charging when the battery is close to full. It still charges at the original high voltage, and overcharging the battery poses a risk of fire and explosion.