Interstate batteries lithium8/24/2023 Maintain your vehicle’s performance with our selection of batteries and accessories. In 2021, more than 880,000 e-bikes came into the country - about double from the year before and triple the number in 2019.With many Canadians driving fewer kilometres, instances of dead automotive batteries are on the rise. Last year, some 1.1 million e-bikes were imported into the U.S., according to the Light Electric Vehicle Association, an industry group. “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.” One feature most of these batteries lack is the ability to automatically shut off to prevent overheating and “thermal runaways” that lead to explosions and fires. The same can happen with e-bike batteries, he said, if they are made to comply with established safety standards. Tighter regulations, safety standards and compliance testing drastically reduced the risk of fires in such devices, according to Robert Slone, the senior vice president and chief scientist for UL Solutions. Ritchie Torres.īecause mandatory standards don’t exist, Schumer said, poorly made batteries have flooded the U.S., increasing the risk of fires. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as U.S. The task is being spearheaded by Democratic members in New York’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Hoehn-Saric called on Congress to strengthen the commission’s authority so it can “move rapidly toward establishing mandatory standards” that could reduce destructive and deadly fires caused by malfunctioning lithium-ion batteries. Nationally, there were more than 200 battery-related fires reported to the commission - an obvious undercount - from 39 states over the past two years, including 19 deaths blamed on micromobility devices. There have been 100 such blazes so far this year, resulting in 13 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year. New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. With some 65,000 e-bikes zipping through its streets - more than any other place in the U.S. “We have reached a point of crisis in New York City, with ion batteries now a top cause of fatal fires in New York.” Other cities across the country have begun seeing these issues as well, and municipalities that are not yet experiencing this phenomenon may be facing similar incidents in the future,” Kavanagh told the commission. “The number of fire incidents has rapidly increased. The batteries don’t smolder they explode. These aren’t typical fires, said New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. “Voluntary standards are not enough,” he said, siding with fire officials and other safety advocates who expressed broad support for mandatory standards for batteries and electrical systems in micromobility devices that include battery-powered scooters, bicycles and hoverboards. The effort comes as New York City implements new laws meant to reduce the number of fires, injuries and deaths in a city where e-bikes have become ubiquitous. Federal officials are looking into cracking down on defective lithium-ion batteries that power hoverboards, scooters and motorized bicycles because of a rash of deadly fires caused by exploding batteries. Hoehn-Saric, said it was an “urgent moment” that requires attention.įILE - A biker stops to look at a pile of e-bikes in the aftermath of a fire in Chinatown, which authorities say started at an e-bike shop and spread to upper-floor apartments, Tuesday June 20, 2023, in New York. Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish mandatory safety standards and confiscate noncompliant imports when they arrive at the border or shipping ports, so that unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries don’t reach streets and endanger homes.ĭuring a forum focused on e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries held Thursday in Bethesda, Maryland, the commission’s chair, Alexander D. Billowing smoke quickly killed four people asleep in apartments above the burning store.Īs the ubiquity of e-bikes has grown, so has the frequency of fires and deaths blamed on the batteries that power them, prompting a campaign to establish regulations on how the batteries are manufactured, sold, reconditioned, charged and stored.Ĭonsumer advocates and fire departments, particularly in New York City, are urging the U.S. NEW YORK (AP) - The explosion early on a June morning ignited a blaze that engulfed a New York City shop filled with motorized bicycles and their volatile lithium-ion batteries.
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