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

Spencer Platt/Getty Photos

cover caption

toggle caption

Spencer Platt/Getty Photos

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

Spencer Platt/Getty Photos

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 stated was the reason for the hearth: the blackened shell of what was as soon as a sit-on electrical scooter.

Officers stated {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 stated, that it enveloped the constructing in a matter of minutes.

“There may be extraordinary injury. This whole constructing behind me is totally destroyed. The roof is caved in. There may be nothing left. And it’s all due to this one single bike,” stated Laura Kavanaugh, 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 comparable gadgets. Lithium-ion battery explosions at the moment are the third main explanation for fires within the metropolis, the hearth 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 word. Late final yr, the U.S. Client Product Security Fee introduced it had acquired stories of greater than 200 incidents because the begin of 2021 wherein 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 stage. The tragic lack of life from battery fires is heartbreaking and preventable,” stated Commissioner Richard Trumka in December.

Learn on for extra about why these fires are taking place and find out how to hold your self protected:

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

Lithium-ion batteries energy many rechargeable gadgets which might be a part of our fashionable lives: cell telephones, laptops, vapes, cordless energy instruments and electrical autos of all types, from automobiles to scooters to e-bikes to hoverboards.

They’re small, light-weight and highly effective — however they’re additionally liable to overheating and catching fireplace, stated 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 stated.

At problem is the excessive density of the batteries, which is a double-edged sword, stated Pecht, who additionally serves as director of the Middle 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 quite a lot of energy to our cell telephones and to our computer systems for a comparatively lengthy time period in a really small quantity,” he stated. “However as a result of we now have a lot vitality packed in that small quantity, if there’s a drawback, then they’re very flammable.”

Defects or contamination within the manufacturing course of can finally result in quick 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 problem recollects over battery fires in electrical autos. The Federal Aviation Administration reported greater than 60 incidents final yr wherein lithium-ion batteries — largely 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?

In brief, there are extra fires as a result of there are such a lot of extra e-bikes and scooters lately.

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

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

However what info we do have exhibits that their numbers are rising quickly. The Gentle Electrical Automobile Affiliation, an business group, estimates that about 880,000 e-bikes have been imported to the U.S. in 2021. That is about double the quantity imported in 2020, and 3 times the whole from 2019.

Extra gadgets means extra fires, specialists say, particularly because the business is comparatively new and unregulated, and there are quite a lot of completely different firms and merchandise available on the market.

What’s being accomplished about it?

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

Regulation may go in a number of instructions. One can be to require gadgets be licensed below the security requirements really helpful by Underwriter Laboratories, a gaggle 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 below 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 could be fined as much as $1,000 per violation.

On the nationwide stage, the Client 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 chance of accidents and deaths from micromobility system fires,” wrote Robert Kaye, the company’s director of compliance and subject operations. “Shoppers face an unreasonable threat of fireside and threat critical harm or demise if their micromobility gadgets don’t meet the extent of security offered by the related UL requirements.”

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

Suggestions to maintain your self protected

The primary advice 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 simply solely use the charger that got here included together with your system and to observe the producer’s directions for correct charging.

Hearth officers add that it’s best to cost your system away from flammable supplies like furnishings and pillows, and that you simply should not cost or retailer your system in a location that blocks your entry to an exit.

If you’re shopping for an e-bike or different micromobility system, attempt to discover what battery comes stocked with it, Pecht stated. Does the maker of the system state the place the battery is sourced from? Is the battery made by a good producer? Consultants additionally recommend 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 look as if they’re made by respected producers.

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

To eliminate an outdated battery, convey it to a battery recycling middle or different e-waste facility. Do not throw away lithium-ion batteries in standard trash.