The way to hold your self secure from e-bike and scooter battery fires : NPR

An electrical bike parked close to a Bronx grocery store that was destroyed in a hearth that officers say was brought on by a defective lithium-ion scooter battery.

Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs

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An electrical bike parked close to a Bronx grocery store that was destroyed in a hearth that officers say was brought on by a defective lithium-ion scooter battery.

Spencer Platt/Getty Photographs

As firefighters battled a five-alarm fireplace at a grocery store within the Bronx earlier this month, New York Metropolis officers gathered beside what they mentioned was the reason for the fireplace: the blackened shell of what was as soon as a sit-on electrical scooter.

Officers mentioned {that a} defective lithium-ion battery within the scooter had instantly burst into flame, as captured on surveillance video. The ensuing fireplace was so intense, they mentioned, that it enveloped the constructing in a matter of minutes.

“There’s extraordinary harm. This whole constructing behind me is totally destroyed. The roof is caved in. There’s nothing left. And it’s all due to this one single bike,” mentioned Laura Kavanaugh, the town’s fireplace commissioner.

Final week’s blaze joined the greater than 200 fires in New York Metropolis final yr brought on by batteries from e-bikes, electrical scooters and related gadgets. Lithium-ion battery explosions are actually the third main explanation for fires within the metropolis, the fireplace division says.

As the recognition of so-called micromobility gadgets has soared throughout the U.S., so too have risen the variety of fires related to the lithium-ion batteries that energy them.

Some lawmakers and federal regulators have taken notice. Late final yr, the U.S. Shopper Product Security Fee introduced it had acquired reviews of greater than 200 incidents because the begin of 2021 through which micromobility gadgets caught fireplace or overheated — incidents that led to the deaths of 19 individuals.

“Harmful and lethal fires from lithium-ion batteries in e-bikes have reached a disaster degree. The tragic lack of life from battery fires is heartbreaking and preventable,” mentioned Commissioner Richard Trumka in December.

Learn on for extra about why these fires are occurring and find out how to hold your self secure:

Why are batteries in e-bikes and scooters susceptible to catching fireplace?

Lithium-ion batteries energy many rechargeable gadgets which are a part of our trendy lives: cell telephones, laptops, vapes, cordless energy instruments and electrical autos of every kind, from vehicles to scooters to e-bikes to hoverboards.

They’re small, light-weight and highly effective — however they’re additionally vulnerable to overheating and catching fireplace, mentioned Michael Pecht, a professor of engineering on the College of Maryland. “Ever since lithium-ion batteries began to be prevalent in merchandise, we have seen fires,” he mentioned.

At subject is the excessive density of the batteries, which is a double-edged sword, mentioned Pecht, who additionally serves as director of the Heart for Superior Life Cycle Engineering, a college analysis middle that consults with firms on reliability and questions of safety, together with batteries.

“They will present plenty of energy to our cell telephones and to our computer systems for a comparatively lengthy time frame in a really small quantity,” he mentioned. “However as a result of we’ve a lot power packed in that small quantity, if there’s a downside, then they’re very flammable.”

Defects or contamination within the manufacturing course of can finally result in brief circuiting or different failures.

In 2006, Dell, Apple and different main laptop computer makers urged tens of millions of consumers to return laptop computer batteries after Sony found a flaw of their battery manufacturing course of. Chevy, Hyundai and Chrysler have all been compelled to subject remembers over battery fires in electrical autos. The Federal Aviation Administration reported greater than 60 incidents final yr through which lithium-ion batteries — principally battery packs, vapes or cell telephones — overheated, started smoking or caught fireplace on airplanes.

Why do there appear to be extra e-bike- and scooter-related fires now?

Briefly, there are extra fires as a result of there are such a lot of extra e-bikes and scooters nowadays.

Their small dimension and low price relative to gas-powered autos have made micromobility gadgets a sexy transportation and recreation possibility for tens of millions of Individuals. That is very true for these dwelling in city areas the place parking and site visitors are challenges for drivers. Electrical bikes and scooters have additionally been embraced by supply drivers.

The burst in reputation is so current that there is not but a lot stable information about what number of e-bikes, scooters and different gadgets are offered annually.

However what data we do have exhibits that their numbers are rising quickly. The Mild Electrical Automobile Affiliation, an trade group, estimates that about 880,000 e-bikes had been imported to the U.S. in 2021. That is about double the quantity imported in 2020, and thrice the full from 2019.

Extra gadgets means extra fires, consultants say, particularly because the trade is comparatively new and unregulated, and there are plenty of completely different firms and merchandise in the marketplace.

What’s being completed about it?

There’s not at the moment a lot regulation of e-bikes and scooters.

Regulation might go in a number of instructions. One could be to require gadgets be licensed beneath the protection requirements advisable by Underwriter Laboratories, a bunch that has produced security certifications for electrical merchandise for over a century.

Earlier this month, the New York Metropolis Council handed a bundle of native payments that might require all e-bikes and different electrical mobility gadgets offered, rented or leased within the metropolis to be licensed beneath the suitable UL security requirements.

The laws additionally bans the sale of uncertified or used batteries. Retailers discovered to be in violation of the legal guidelines may be fined as much as $1,000 per violation.

On the nationwide degree, the Shopper Product Security Fee issued a letter in December calling on greater than 2,000 producers, importers and retailers to voluntarily adhere to UL security requirements for e-bikes and different micromobility gadgets.

Following the rules “considerably reduces the danger of accidents and deaths from micromobility system fires,” wrote Robert Kaye, the company’s director of compliance and subject operations. “Customers face an unreasonable danger of fireplace and danger severe damage or demise if their micromobility gadgets don’t meet the extent of security supplied by the related UL requirements.”

Moreover, the company has vowed to pursue penalties towards firms who fail to tell the CPSC of security hazards.

Suggestions to maintain your self secure

The primary suggestion that comes from each the CPSC and the FDNY is to be current whilst you’re charging your system, and to not cost it whilst you’re sleeping. Unplug the system as soon as it’s totally charged.

The CPSC additionally recommends that you just solely use the charger that got here included along with your system and to comply with the producer’s directions for correct charging.

Fireplace officers add that you must cost your system away from flammable supplies like furnishings and pillows, and that you just should not cost or retailer your system in a location that blocks your entry to an exit.

Once you’re shopping for an e-bike or different micromobility system, attempt to discover what battery comes stocked with it, Pecht mentioned. Does the maker of the system state the place the battery is sourced from? Is the battery made by a good producer? Specialists additionally counsel that customers search for batteries which have a UL certification.

Be warned that some on-line sellers might falsely declare to have UL certification. Others might promote “re-wrapped” batteries, that means counterfeit batteries produced to seem as if they’re made by respected producers.

In case your battery begins to fail, it could be most secure to purchase a brand new one. “Do not restore something your self, and purchase from an organization the place you realize that they are utilizing brand-name batteries,” Pecht mentioned. It could work greatest to purchase a brand new battery from the identical firm that produced your bike or scooter.

To get rid of an outdated battery, carry it to a battery recycling middle or different e-waste facility. Do not throw away lithium-ion batteries in typical trash.