In the event you’ve been following the information on electrical bicycle fires within the US, you’ll already know that New York Metropolis is broadly seen because the epicenter, usually catching headlines for battery fires. The town hosts extra electrical scooters and e-bikes than ever earlier than, and but this yr is seeing a drastic drop in fatalities brought on by battery fires.
So if there are extra battery-powered mobility gadgets on NYC’s streets than ever earlier than, why are the fireplace dying figures heading in the other way?
To begin with, as we’ve usually reported right here on Electrek, the phenomenon of an electrical bicycle fireplace, and particularly fatalities from electrical bicycle fires, are exceeding uncommon. They get loads of information protection due to the previous “if it bleeds (or burns), it leads” adage. However the reality of the matter is that there are thousands and thousands of e-bikes and e-scooters at the moment rolling across the US and battery fires are extremely uncommon.
Even in New York Metropolis, which is house to extra of those gadgets than anyplace else within the US, town noticed simply 14 fatalities from dozens of e-bike fires in 2023. That isn’t to say the issue isn’t critical however fairly to place issues in perspective. New Yorkers are 3-5x extra more likely to die from choking or driving the subway than from a battery fireplace.
Regardless of that already low charge, 2024 has seen a significant drop in e-bike fireplace fatalities. As of final month, simply 4 deaths had been recorded in battery fires, marking greater than a 60% drop in comparison with 2023, in accordance with the New York Instances.
The largest contributing issue to e-bike battery fires is the prevalence of low-quality batteries produced by ultra-budget producers. These batteries will be enticing to shoppers attributable to their considerably decrease costs. Such low cost batteries are generally utilized by supply riders and different low-income staff who depend on their e-bikes for a residing, however they arrive with security issues attributable to unscrupulous manufacturing strategies.
New York Metropolis, for its half, has made a significant effort to maintain these batteries out, implementing a ban on mobility gadgets offered with batteries that aren’t UL-compliant. Because the ban started, metropolis inspectors have visited a whole bunch of e-bike shops and battery restore outlets, serving to to implement the ban on non-conforming batteries.
Whereas this hasn’t utterly stemmed the tide of poorly-made batteries, it has actually helped cut back their availability and the variety of cheaply made e-bike batteries out on the road.
NYC has additionally undertaken main instructional applications which have inspired metropolis residents to cost their batteries safely, which means both outdoor or in fire-protected areas corresponding to specifically designed charging containers, as an alternative of in the lounge of their flats.
The town has partnered with a number of third-party battery cupboard corporations that provide safe locking storage for battery charging and swapping. This allows supply riders and others to soundly and shortly cost their batteries or swap them out for brand spanking new ones.
Such out of doors charging services have gotten considerably extra widespread, however are nonetheless uncommon in the US. Firms like Beam have debuted solar-powered charging stations for e-bikes, however the requirement to deliver their very own wall charger has been a standard criticism of such designs.
Different corporations, corresponding to Mod Bikes, have debuted e-bike charging stations that present locking storage for the e-bike chargers.
The number of completely different safe charging areas, the crackdown on poorly-made batteries, and the funding in training and public consciousness round e-bike fires have possible helped NYC make such a significant discount in e-bike fireplace fatalities in simply the previous yr.
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