If you happen to’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, typically catching headlines for battery fires. 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 units on NYC’s streets than ever earlier than, why are the hearth loss of life figures heading in the wrong way?
Initially, as we’ve typically 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 present rolling across the US and battery fires are extremely uncommon.
Even in New York Metropolis, which is dwelling to extra of those units than wherever 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 somewhat 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 fee, 2024 has seen a significant drop in e-bike fireplace fatalities. As of final month, simply 4 deaths have been recorded in battery fires, marking greater than a 60% drop in comparison with 2023, in response to 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 might be enticing to shoppers resulting from 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 dwelling, however they arrive with security issues resulting from unscrupulous manufacturing strategies.
New York Metropolis, for its half, has made a significant effort to maintain these batteries out, implementing a ban on mobility units 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 scale back their availability and the variety of cheaply made e-bike batteries out on the road.
NYC has additionally undertaken main instructional packages which have inspired metropolis residents to cost their batteries safely, that means both outdoor or in fire-protected areas akin to specifically designed charging bins, as a substitute of in the lounge of their flats.
Town has partnered with a number of third-party battery cupboard corporations that provide safe locking storage for battery charging and swapping. This permits supply riders and others to soundly and rapidly cost their batteries or swap them out for brand new ones.
Such out of doors charging services have gotten considerably extra frequent, however are nonetheless uncommon in the USA. Corporations like Beam have debuted solar-powered charging stations for e-bikes, however the requirement to convey their very own wall charger has been a standard criticism of such designs.
Different corporations, akin to Mod Bikes, have debuted e-bike charging stations that present locking storage for the e-bike chargers.
The number of totally 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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