E-Bike Battery Fires Are Soaring, Especially in New York

[mahatmakanejeeves]

E-Bike battery fires are soaring, especially in New York City where the number of fires more than doubled last year

wsj.com
E-Bike Battery Fires Are Soaring, Especially in New York
Many of the fires start when people charge bikes overnight, allowing them to overheat.

Link to tweet

[Ocelot II]

1. Detailed article here (no paywall) about the problems involving cheap batteries

and the lack of regulation, especially of cheap bikes imported from China and sold online through Amazon or others. https://www.consumerreports.org/health/electric-bikes/electric-bike-fires-and-lithium-ion-batteries-a4632489902/

I want an e-bike, and was tempted to get a less expensive one through Amazon because the better ones are pretty expensive, but after talking to people at bike shops and learning that the cheap ones have bad electronics that often fail and can't be easily repaired, and now finding out that lower-quality batteries are causing a lot of fires, maybe I'll bite the bullet, spend the money, and get one with a Panasonic or other name-brand battery where there is some quality control. The Consumer Reports article also discusses how the only agency that has any authority at all over e-bike quality is the CPSC, which is shamefully underfunded (due to the GOP, of course) and is basically toothless.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Thanks for that. NT

[mitch96]

3. seems like an operator problem. I guess they are not like cellphone batteries you charge overnite.nt

[progree]

5. "operator problem?" - meaning the operator's fault? - When are the batteries to be charged?

Last edited Sat Feb 15, 2025, 06:58 AM - Edit history (1)

just while someone is awake and watching the whole time?

That is a totally unrealistic expectation. If it's that dangerous, that's a very serious deficiency of the product, not the operator.

Come to think of it, all rechargeable devices have some risk of catching fire.