E-bike lithium-ion batteries are exploding in New York
%2Favatars%2FBUoTZ6lM79yi.jpg&w=96&q=75)
%2F2023%2F07%2F29%2Fimage%2Fjpeg%2Fi1Hphfkl5smV7GTxtjuHPJb83jTAUFVCWlusX94K.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
The presence of e-bikes has grown significantly in New York city but unfortunately so has the frequency of fires and deaths blamed on the batteries that power them. Now officials are seeking to better regulate how the batteries are manufactured, sold, reconditioned, charged and stored to avoid such devastating incidents.
This is according to a report by Global News published on Thursday.
Consumer advocates and fire departments have asked the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish national safety standards that would see unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries be taken out of commission.
Alarms sounded
“We’ve been sounding the alarm for months,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams noted a day after an exploding battery ignited a Chinatown e-bike shop fire last month according to Global News. “We need real action, not only on the state level, but on the federal level.”
New York City has recorded 100 such blazes so far this year, resulting in 13 deaths.
Luckily, something is being done. New York’s two U.S. Senators, Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, came up with legislation last month that would set mandatory safety standards for e-bikes and the batteries that power them.
Meanwhile, New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh explained that these fires are particularly dangerous because they don’t smolder; they explode, a fact he shared during a public hearing on the matter that took place Thursday in Washington.
“When they fail, they fail quite spectacularly,” said Kavanagh.. “Once one of these ignites, there is a huge volume of fire, often so much so that the person in their home can’t get out and the firefighters can’t get in to get them.”
Rise during COVID-19
Use of these unsafe bicycles grew dramatically in the city during the COVID-19 pandemic. Delivery workers like Lizandro Lopez note they are aware of the dangers and take precautions to avoid fires.
“As soon as the battery is charged, I disconnect it. You shouldn’t leave it charging for too long,” Lopez told The Associated Press in Spanish, “because if you leave it on there too long, that’s when you can cause a fire.”
E-bike batteries function pretty much the same as the lithium-ion batteries in cellphones, laptops and most electric vehicles.
Tighter regulations, safety standards and compliance testing drastically reduced the risk of fires in such devices and could do the same for e-bikes said Robert Slone, the senior vice president and chief scientist for UL Solutions, a product testing company that certifies safety compliance for a host of electrical products.
“We just need to make them safe, and there is a way to make them safe through testing and certification,” Slone said, “given the history that we’ve seen in terms of fires and injuries and unfortunately, deaths as well — not just in New York, but across the country and around the world.”
SHOW COMMENT (1)
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/8W6NTtRSWBC9A0P97d4JgJ7ZdaJ8QU2w5PuuXxW2.jpg "Study shows Earth’s inner core is dance floor for iron atoms")
/2023/08/30/image/jpeg/79rLCSNuXkygYT4n4NHbsaeEzi0PBuvPGTEd9Hl5.jpg "Are smart phones destroying our mental health?")
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/jo40qtNQ98mmPxRK2q1oipKnH8rBocsFgXrpEJTi.jpg "Print-on-demand for US Navy ship parts is now a thing")
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/CxUBYC3GrWAJN1xNxxWfeFrQnabHYIYkt4enfNEM.jpg "Droneliner promises 70% less cost for air freight transfers")
/2023/08/07/image/jpeg/Ud2zDGb2iGOiBAo4pvLO543XFvNGkPlUEZCF7qSY.jpg "Why do matter and the universe exist at all? Scientists get closer to the answer")
/2023/09/02/image/jpeg/kVfib67OvUtCNGT9wiJFzhnr2NjVyYwWpVHsFNXg.jpg "Cleaning tech that makes people want to wash their hands")
/2023/08/10/image/jpeg/cyOAiEwaMk2ITtOhy2mnmZPlf3twLEu0vpYcIeXJ.jpg "From scraps to solutions: Charting progress in metals recycling")
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/WvHEcY0RkULdAxP9npLLLQVCNzs9QAchbyfMPelA.jpg "122 million-year-old fossil identified as new sauropod species")
/2023/10/01/image/jpeg/wN9nHTaqLVSSYvY5n6xpVilUKa3ED4SDfXI8lOeO.jpg "How much matter exists in the universe? Scientists find new results")
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/zP7nT9CM4OigYk7QAtUcsZ0dXW5MOVagfHc0yOAP.jpg "No mirrors: In a first, lasers deflected using only air")