The City of New York is grappling with a problem — fire. Specifically, escooter and ebike lithium-ion batteries catch fire and sometimes explode. And there’s no sign of it ending anytime soon.
Earlier this year, I wrote an introductory article detailing the rate of lithium-ion battery fires. Today I want to look at New York as a cautionary tale in the struggle of dealing with battery fires as ebikes (and, to a lesser extent, escooters) become mainstream.
I’ll follow up with a third article tomorrow, exploring potential technological solutions to prevent battery fires.
What causes battery fires?
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In the case of ebikes and escooter fires, there are numerous causes. Firstly, when we talk about a lithium-ion ebike or escooter battery, we’re talking about a bunch of connected batteries stored in a plastic case. A huge amount of energy resides in this small space.