Should 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 loss of life figures heading in the other way?
Initially, as we’ve usually reported right here on Electrek, the phenomenon of an electrical bicycle hearth, and particularly fatalities from electrical bicycle fires, are exceeding uncommon. They get loads of information protection due to the outdated “if it bleeds (or burns), it leads” adage. However the truth of the matter is that there are hundreds of 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 residence to extra of those gadgets than wherever else within the US, the town noticed simply 14 fatalities from dozens of e-bike fires in 2023. That isn’t to say the issue isn’t severe however reasonably to place issues in perspective. New Yorkers are 3-5x extra prone to die from choking or driving the subway than from a battery hearth.
Regardless of that already low charge, 2024 has seen a significant drop in e-bike hearth 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 Occasions.
The most important contributing issue to e-bike battery fires is the prevalence of low-quality batteries produced by ultra-budget producers. These batteries may be engaging 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 bought with batteries that aren’t UL-compliant. For the reason that ban started, metropolis inspectors have visited lots of 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 definitely helped cut back their availability and the variety of cheaply made e-bike batteries out on the road.
NYC has additionally undertaken main academic applications which have inspired metropolis residents to cost their batteries safely, which means both open air or in fire-protected areas comparable to specifically designed charging bins, as an alternative of in the lounge of their flats.
The town has partnered with a number of third-party battery cupboard firms that supply safe locking storage for battery charging and swapping. This permits supply riders and others to soundly and shortly 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 deliver their very own wall charger has been a typical criticism of such designs.
Different firms, comparable 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 schooling and public consciousness round e-bike fires have seemingly helped NYC make such a significant discount in e-bike hearth fatalities in simply the previous yr.
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