E-Bike Batteries Are Catching on Fire Way Too Often And delivery workers are demanding safe charging stations.

[m@Robertson]

NYC is set to ban e-bikes with electric drivetrains that haven't earned UL certification.

No, its set to ban the sale of ebikes without UL certification when the retailer is within their jurisdiction. It does nothing to an Amazon-bought bike. And much more importantly it does NOT ban the ownership or use of the kind of junk in common use in NYC by the working class.

So, I'm going to say this will have no material effect and people who want them will have ample ability to get what they want. The linked article makes a very good point: Standards have to be set and enforced at the federal level.

 

[Asher]

No, its set to ban the sale of ebikes without UL certification when the retailer is within their jurisdiction. It does nothing to an Amazon-bought bike. And much more importantly it does NOT ban the ownership or use of the kind of junk in common use in NYC by the working class.

So, I'm going to say this will have no material effect and people who want them will have ample ability to get what they want. The linked article makes a very good point: Standards have to be set and enforced at the federal level.


View attachment 148562

You're right, my mistake.

Once it passes, it will be interesting to see if Amazon complies. I imagine they'll wait until someone from the city fines or threatens them.

 

[m@Robertson]

You're right, my mistake.

Once it passes, it will be interesting to see if Amazon complies. I imagine they'll wait until someone from the city fines or threatens them.

Amazon *does* geo-fence some products. No idea if they can do it at the municipality level though. I had some issues with certain red dot sights getting shipped to California (a different, identical model with a slightly different model number got shipped just fine). And try and buy a fuel can for California that isn't crippled by a valve and spout designed to completely disable the release of the fluid inside.

I suspect Amazon will have to be threatened somehow. I can't see them complying voluntarily considering the implications of knuckling under to a city council resolution. They'll be inundated with all kinds of demands from all over. Besides... all you have to do is cross a bridge into New Jersey and visit the ebike shop there. Ride the bike back over. I don't see this doing much as a result of that ease of circumvention.

 

[Asher]

Amazon *does* geo-fence some products. No idea if they can do it at the municipality level though. I had some issues with certain red dot sights getting shipped to California (a different, identical model with a slightly different model number got shipped just fine). And try and buy a fuel can for California that isn't crippled by a valve and spout designed to completely disable the release of the fluid inside.

I suspect Amazon will have to be threatened somehow. I can't see them complying voluntarily considering the implications of knuckling under to a city council resolution. They'll be inundated with all kinds of demands from all over. Besides... all you have to do is cross a bridge into New Jersey and visit the ebike shop there. Ride the bike back over. I don't see this doing much as a result of that ease of circumvention.

NYC is larger than many (most?) states in population terms, and major retailers definitely abide by state laws like brass knuckles bans in CA.

As for NJ, this law is just the opening salvo to get momentum for more action elsewhere. Like for CPSC to monitor imports.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Bronx fire: E-bike's battery blamed for blaze that destroyed building - CNN Video

At least seven people have been injured in a fire in New York that local officials believe was caused by a lithium-ion battery. FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh says over 400 fires were caused by these types of batteries in the city in the past four years.

www.cnn.com

 

[Art Deco]

A like that really means angry.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Those interested in discussing any specifics of UL certifications and how it assures safety of an E-bike battery pack, please comment on this thread started by a UL official. He will be able to provide further insights.

Ibrahim Jilani on LinkedIn: #iamul #publicsafety #productsafety #micromobility #ebikes #escooters… | 18 comments

Thank you New York City Council and Oswald Feliz for passing the new New York City law mandating e-bikes, e-scooters, e-mobility devices, and light EV battery… | 18 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

This video may be of value to readers of this thread.

 

[m@Robertson]

Electrek had some comments worth repeating in an article they published on the subject.

Safer e-bikes are always a good thing, and reducing fire risk through properly constructed batteries is imperative to improving the safety of micro-mobility devices.

However, it is important to keep in mind that e-bike fires aren’t just rare, they are exceedingly rare. We’re talking single digits out of millions of e-bikes, e-scooters, and other e-mobility devices.

The headline “Hundreds of thousands of e-bikes quietly finish charging again last night” just isn’t as clickable. And so the teeny tiny percentage of fires get more coverage. It’s just like how 500 combustion engine cars catch on fire everyday in the US, but one Tesla fire is the only thing that will make the news.

Another consideration to keep in mind is that these e-bike fires are almost always the most junky of the models out there. These aren’t the typical e-bikes we often cover – they’re the eBay specials. When you see the aftermath pictures of these e-bike fires, it is nearly always an ultra-cheap product produced in a no-name factory. These are the bargain-basement crap-on-wheels models that have made significant quality compromises to reach those low prices. And even those rolling dumpsters rarely catch on fire, it’s just the minuscule few that do that we end up hearing about.

So yes, I definitely support the idea of improved e-bike safety. But let’s all keep the scope of this problem in perspective. At risk of some type of moral relativism here, I’d say there are some significantly bigger threats to public safety rolling around that we could be committing this type of energy and legislation toward fixing. Around 300 pedestrians are killed by cars in NYC every year. So far this year NYC has reported two deaths from e-bike fires. While each is a tragedy, the difference in scale is obvious.

From

Amid fire concern, NYC banning sale of electric bikes without UL-listed batteries

A new law already passed by the New York City Council will ban the sale of electric bicycles, electric scooters,...

electrek.co

 

[Asher]

Electrek had some comments worth repeating in an article they published on the subject.


From

Amid fire concern, NYC banning sale of electric bikes without UL-listed batteries

A new law already passed by the New York City Council will ban the sale of electric bicycles, electric scooters,...

electrek.co

Note how Electrek scrubbed that text about fires being in the single digits, because it was a total falsehood. Every ebike article at Electrek is either fatally flawed or a glorified infomercial, and always sloppy.

Now the article blames the rising number of vehicles for the rising number of fires, another mistake. "the high number of battery-powered devices in NYC has led to a higher number of such fires." Only in NYC.

 

[Jimmy666]

Bronx fire: E-bike's battery blamed for blaze that destroyed building - CNN Video

At least seven people have been injured in a fire in New York that local officials believe was caused by a lithium-ion battery. FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh says over 400 fires were caused by these types of batteries in the city in the past four years.

www.cnn.com

That looks like a scooter to me.

 

[fauconnier]

NYC trying to find a solution to e-scooter and e-bike battery fires

New York City residents and lawmakers are trying to find a solution to the increasingly-common (and potentially deadly) problem of battery fires.

www.autoblog.com

 

[m@Robertson]

Only in NYC.

Yes. NYC in fact is a unique and uniquely bad situation. I agree with Electrek's take on this. Small problem given big visibility. Yes the marketplace needs to improve. No there is no reason for the panic we are seeing whipped up.

 

[Jimmy666]

Yes. NYC in fact is a unique and uniquely bad situation. I agree with Electrek's take on this. Small problem given big visibility. Yes the marketplace needs to improve. No there is no reason for the panic we are seeing whipped up.

That's all crybaby New Yorkers do is panic lol. I know from experience because I was born there and escaped 25 years ago.

 

[ChezCheese:)]

"Crybaby"?? Crybaby is an expression used by bullies. Must people revert to childhood when they get on the internet?

 

[Art Deco]

This is poping up outside the eBike world if anyone still reads Zero Hedge

Epidemic Of E-Bike Fires Rips Across America | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com