The pandemic hangover and sustainable practice frenzy catalyzed the boom of electric two-wheelers. It lead to delivery workers around the world buying e-bikes and scooters for a few hundred dollars and turning them into their standard commute vehicles.
The bikes, packaged in a sustainable, light, and pocket-friendly manner, give hope to people looking to enter the delivery market. Affordably priced, they also promise value for money to the buyers.
However, all is not hunky-dory with electric bikes and scooters. Majorly used by delivery workers, these two-wheeler e-vehicles are exploding, and quite rapidly. This is posing to be a widespread problem that has devastated New York. In 2022 alone, there have been six deaths in over 200 fires all caused by exploding lithium-ion batteries, around America.
The issue of overheating, overcharging, and overusing lithium-ion batteries is a fundamental one. These batteries are omnipresent in everyone’s lives all the time. Be it in small capacities – mobile phones – or right-out electric vehicles, the working of these cells is the same.
What are E-bikes?
These e-bikes and scooters are lightweight two-wheeler vehicles with sleek designs for easy maneuverability and fast acceleration.
Delivery agents in metropolitan cities are one of the major beneficiaries of these vehicles as they come cheap and help in cutting traffic while also having a healthy range of several miles.
The Problem
Going by the face value, the e-vehicle deal looks so tempting that even people with the wherewithal to spend more pounce upon it. But when you look beyond – as government safety departments in major cities around the world are obligated to do – these e-bikes, e-scooters, and e-mopeds have few fundamental problems.
Overcharging
The batteries – Lithium-ion cells that are tightly fit together to be compact and efficient – are being overworked and overcharged. In chemical terms, lithium-ion cells are susceptible to a chain reaction called ‘thermal runaways’ where high battery temperature and pressure acting upon the cells result in leakage of inflammable gases. This cycle goes on until the temperature rises to a point where the battery catches fire and blows up at once.
Lack of Quality Controls
Another aspect of battery explosion can be found in bad production practices. Lower grade material, inaccurate cell design, and carelessness in assembly. This factor results in untimely degradation of batteries and proves to be even more unheralded. Furthermore, physical damage incurred by batteries, irrespective of their quality can also degrade the cells leading to either explosions or utter degradation.
Usually, high-quality batteries have greater tendencies to stay stable and show higher reluctance towards any discrepancies, resulting in more reliability. However, they cost a lot.
Given that these e-scooters and bikes are being used by blue-collar delivery operators, the premium-ness does not come into the equation. This compels the average buyer to look for an optimal electric bike with basic features, batteries, and design, everything packaged at a pocket-friendly cost.
China’s Boon, America’s Bane
Most of the e-bikes in New York and in fact around the world are manufactured in China. Buyers can directly order a Chinese e-bike, scooter, or moped from various online sources.
The bikes that caught fire and exploded in the USA were imported from China. Priced below $1000, they were exempt from custom duty and implicitly from other thorough safety checks as well.
A bike being sold at throwaway prices would most likely compromise on component quality, durability, as well as safety benchmarks to knock the cost down. This is the problematic aspect that endangers people’s lives, offering a skewed incentive to disregard user safety norms.
“If battery companies cut corners or use cheap materials, there’s more likely to be a defect that can lead the cells to expand and bulge”, said Leo Raudys, president and CEO of Call2Recycle while talking to Techcrunch.
Considering the widespread support for EVs around the world and China’s active participation in becoming the hub of EVs, if the same quality of e-bikes is scattered around rapidly, as the trends suggest, the fires may not only remain America’s problem.
Ney York’s Dilemma
In New York City alone, fires have almost doubled every year since 2020, according to the New York Fire Department data. As of July 2023, there have been 114 investigations into lithium-ion-related fires, 74 injuries, and 13 deaths. Compared to last year when 6 deaths were reported.
The Fire Department of New York considers e-bike fire such a threat that it has issued inserted a section headed “e-bike safety” at the beginning of the annual fire safety notice. These notices are supposed to be distributed by landlords to tenants.
According to the New York Times, the Fire Department warns that unapproved batteries can overcharge, overheat and catch fire. It advises making sure an e-bike or scooter carries a UL, ETL, or CSA symbol, an indication that it meets safety standards.
Thomas Currao, the Fire Department’s acting chief of fire prevention, told a City Council hearing on Nov. 14 that “our challenge is to strike the appropriate balance of ensuring public safety while not unnecessarily disrupting the livelihood and enjoyment of users.”
The city reportedly has 65,000 delivery personnel that require budget vehicles to sustain their profession. E-bikes come in as a natural, but the life threat comes with it as well. Appropriately, the City Council has been issuing notices and bills to curb these issues. One such account looks to ban refurbished lithium-ion batteries that tend to be cheaper. The disparity and irony might strike hard at the deliverers.
Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams and Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, announced a $1 million federal grant to turn three vacant newsstands into places where deliverers could stop to recharge the batteries in their e-bikes, according to NYT.
Human-error
The major reason for deaths and fires in apartments and houses is another bizarre problem. The delivery persons who are out on the streets most time of the day, riding e-bikes, have got just one convenient charging station: their home. The danger this poses is life-threatening as witnessed around the world.
The explosions have had a chilling effect throughout the city as landlords are sending notices to their tenants against charging batteries inside the house.
Unfortunately, for all the awareness campaigns and laws that are being issued, these battery fires are not going anywhere immediately, and will take their time and sadly may take more lives before coming to a halt for good.
