Mayor Adams finally takes incremental action against lithium-ion batteries, partners with Con Ed for charging stations at public housing buildings

 Queens Chronicle

Two e-bike batteries exploded in the back of a Richmond Hill repair shop on Monday, starting a blaze that sent two firefighters to the hospital.

The batteries were charging in the back of The Kings Electric Scooters store, which is located at 102-44 Jamaica Ave. and leads out onto 87^th Avenue, when they combusted around 2:30 p.m, officials believe.

Bab Chung, who owns an adjacent building, was out cleaning up debris this morning. Employees of the store were charging two batteries and they both exploded at same time, Chung told the Chronicle.

The FDNY received the call for reports of a fire in the e-bike store, which is located in a two-story, mixed occupancy building, and elevated it to a two-alarm fire about 20 minutes later. It was under control by 3:30 p.m., according to the agency.

Twenty-five units responded, including 106 fire and EMS responders. Two firefighters sustained minor injuries and were transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. 

The flames roared through the first floor of the building and destroyed at least one residence. Carmen Charles, who lives above the store, told ABC 7 that she has “nowhere to go” and that everything is gone. 

“Another day, another major fire caused by lithium-ion batteries,” Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) wrote on Twitter. “It is well past the time to enforce common sense legislation regulat[ing] the sale of these batteries.”

Last week, the City Council introduced a bill that would regulate the batteries and enforce the regulations.

Earlier this month, top public safety officials met for a safety briefing and FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh addressed the ongoing dangers posed by the lithium-ion batteries that power the devices. Officials reported then that there were over 22 fires and 35 injuries so far this year.

 AMNY  

While signing five bills designed to combat an ongoing scourge of fires linked to faulty batteries found in e-bikes and e-scooters, used by most delivery workers, Mayor Eric Adams on Monday released his own plan to combat the blazes.

During a news conference at City Hall on Monday morning, the mayor remarked on just how dangerous these battery-associated fires can be, as they spread faster than other fires and are harder to extinguish.

“They’re not just regular fires, they’re basically explosions and they spread so rapidly,” Adams said. “They spread so rapidly, and it [takes] more than just water to put them out. It’s a very complicated fire.”

The battery-linked infernos doubled between 2021 and 2022 — rising from 104 to 216 fires in one year — with injuries also doubling, and six people dying last year. They’ve already caused two deaths and 40 injuries in the first two months of this year, according to the mayor’s office.

The most notable Adam signed, which passed the council earlier this month, would ban the sale, lease or rental of e-bike and e-scooter batteries that fail to meet industry safety standards — chiefly standard 2771 established by Underwriters Laboratories.

The mayor also signed legislation requiring the FDNY and the city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to develop a public information campaign on e-bike and scooter battery safety, directing both agencies to provide materials on the safe storage of the batteries and for FDNY to annually report on fires connected to the power cells.

“We need to make sure that products sold in our city are safe for New Yorkers,” said Council Member Oswald Feliz (D-Bronx), who sponsored the bill banning the sale of unregulated batteries and whose district was home to the massive Twin Parks fire that killed 17 people last year.

“We were proud to work on a very thorough package of fire safety legislation, including legislation that will require that these batteries be certified in order to be sold,” he added. “Requiring these batteries go through fire safety checks, to make sure that they have tools that prevent overheating, overcharging and other things that we’ve seen cause fires.”

 Con Edison

Con Edison and the New York City Housing Authority will place chargers and storage for e-bikes and e-scooters at NYCHA developments to see how much riders like the concept.

The chargers and secure storage areas will be at four developments in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn under the demonstration project that Mayor Eric Adams announced today.

The project will test whether the use of e-bikes and e-scooters would increase if New Yorkers had suitable charging and storage. Increasing the use of these devices would reduce reliance on fossil fuel-powered transportation, meaning cleaner air and safer streets.

The partners also want to determine whether providing safe, secure charging and storage outdoors would reduce indoor charging, which can be dangerous.

It’s also a test of a business model. Con Edison will gather information from the chargers to see how many unique riders use them, how long riders use the chargers and the times of day when riders charge. In addition, the company will determine the amount of carbon that would been emitted if the users had driven passenger cars instead of their micromobility devices. 

“As electric bikes and scooters grow in popularity, we want to explore ways to ensure that New Yorkers have access to safe, convenient charging and secure storage,” said Raghu Sudhakara, vice president, Distributed Resource Integration, for Con Edison. “Making micromobility safer and easier will be a plus for the many hard-working people who earn their living delivering food to our homes and businesses. Our demonstration project with NYCHA will provide us with information on how we can support these forms of transportation, which provide environmental benefits, convenience and enjoyment when used safely.”

“The safety of NYCHA residents is our chief priority and central to the work we do every day,” said NYCHA Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “We are pleased to partner with Con Edison on this pilot program, which will provide NYCHA residents with a safe outdoor charging and storage alternative, while supporting the growth of this sustainable mode of transportation." 

The first chargers and storage areas will be at these NYCHA developments: Queensbridge North and South in Queens, De Hostos in Manhattan, and Van Dyke I in Brooklyn. The parties hope to begin the demonstration project by the end of this year.

Con Edison has posted a request for information, a step toward finding a vendor to provide and operate the chargers once they are installed. Con Edison and the chosen vendor will visit the NYCHA developments and determine how many chargers to place at each site.

The goal is to provide chargers that will accommodate all e-bikes and e-scooters, regardless of the manufacturer.

Along with environmental benefits, micromobility devices contribute to urban quality of life in other ways. They are quiet and reduce traffic congestion.

Electric micromobility devices are an affordable alternative to cars for low-income New Yorkers, many of whom have jobs delivering food or other goods to customers throughout the city. But food delivery app companies usually do not provide workers with transportation devices.

That has resulted in many workers using their own devices to make deliveries to New Yorkers and charging those devices in their apartments.

Con Edison and the chosen vendor will seek charging locations that are away from residences. The locations will be designated in accordance with Fire Department of New York guidelines for safety.

Con Edison urges anyone using a lithium ion battery to make sure the battery has been certified by UL or another safety testing lab, comply with FDNY safety rules, use only charging cables that the manufacturer recommends, and stop using a battery that is damaged. The FDNY offers these and other safety tips. The National Fire Protection Association also offers safety advice for lithium ion batteries.