Following a series of deadly fires caused by faulty e-bike batteries, a City Councilman plans to introduce a new bill prohibiting the sale of non-certified batteries. Democrat Oswald Feliz’s district is among several that have seen fires break out as a result of faulty e-bike batteries 1.
The ubiquity of 25 mph e-bikes, plus pandemic lockdowns, enabled the delivery-app industry — UberEats, GrubHub, and the like — to spread like wildfire, from a few thousand workers at individual restaurants a decade ago to 60,000, mostly immigrant men toiling as “independent contractors” today. Delivery apps companies force “contractors” to purchase and maintain e-bikes in order to have any chance of making a living wage. Low-quality lithium batteries are at the root of the recent spate of e-bike fires that have killed nearly two dozen New Yorkers over the past three years 2.
Tuesday morning, an e-bike battery exploded in a Chinatown repair shop. The ensuing fire killed four people who lived above the store, and injured two others — elderly people who had nothing to do with the facility. The latest victims bring the death toll from e-mobility “device” fires this year to 13 — and to 23 since 2021 3.
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