It’s a broadly held opinion that enhancing security in lithium-ion batteries used for electrical bikes and e-scooters is usually thought-about to be factor. And but it’s possible you’ll be stunned at why Texas senator Ted Cruz is obstructing a bipartisan invoice to enhance battery security within the US. Imagine it or not, it largely comes right down to a wierd tradition conflict over fuel stoves.
Whereas e-bike battery fires are exceedingly uncommon in comparison with the hundreds of thousands of models charged every single day within the US, such fires nonetheless value American lives every year. The principle wrongdoer is the inflow of poorly constructed lithium-ion batteries flowing into the US, lots of which have reduce corners in manufacturing high quality as a way to scale back prices to be used in ultra-budget merchandise. The phenomenon isn’t seen in higher-quality e-bikes as a result of voluntary adoption of higher-quality manufacturing strategies.
Even so, the problem of lithium-ion battery fires is a crucial one, and Washington has taken discover. A pair of Home and Senate payments intending to provide the Shopper Product Security Fee (CPSC) the mandate to manage lithium-ion battery security requirements have been progressing with uncommon bipartisan assist in each chambers of Congress. Nonetheless, as reported by The Metropolis, Senator Cruz has been working to scuttle the Senate invoice.
Because the rating minority member of the Commerce Committee the place the Senate invoice was pending, Cruz added an modification that the invoice’s sponsors mentioned “would intestine the patron company’s skill to manage the protection of the possibly risky batteries.”
And all of it comes again to fuel stoves.
Practically two years in the past, CPSC commissioner Richard Trumka floated the concept of decreasing emissions in residence stoves. Gasoline stoves have been confirmed to be dangerous to the well being of occupants in a house and likewise contribute to emissions that exacerbate local weather change. The concept to additional regulate them was rejected by the CPSC, however not earlier than it impressed a fuel range campaign amongst many conservative firebrand politicians resembling Cruz.
Since then, Cruz has come out strongly towards the CPSC, and has labeled the proposal that may give the CPSC a mandate to manage lithium-ion batteries as an “anti-gas range” initiative.
Each payments are involved purely with lithium-ion battery security rules and neither comprise any point out of stoves.
Security certifications resembling UL-listing for batteries and electrical bicycle programs has change into a extra well-liked characteristic amongst many main electrical bicycle corporations within the US, although there’s nonetheless no federal mandate for such certifications. Some cities, resembling New York Metropolis, have handed their very own UL certification necessities. Many organizations and universities have additionally both handed rules concerning security certifications or have outright banned the parking and/or charging of electrical bicycles on their premises.
Such circumstances of battery fires within the US are nonetheless fairly low compared to use figures, however a single hearth can nonetheless show deadly, and the quickly rising charge of e-bike adoption has led to growing requires some sort of federal security requirements to stem the circulate of inferior high quality battery cells.
Different international locations, resembling China, have already instituted nationwide requirements for e-bike battery security. Now with growing obstruction from conservative politicians resembling Ted Cruz partaking in unusual fuel range crusades, it seems that the US continues to be set to lag behind.
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