The FDNY has asked the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission to take more action in the fight against faulty e-bike batteries that have already been responsible for 22 fires — and one death — this year, the agency said Tuesday.
In a Feb. 10 letter to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh encouraged the agency to exercise its powers to seize “imported devices at the ports that fail minimum industry standards.”
The feds could also rid the city of faulty e-bike batteries by “levying penalties against manufacturers who fail to inform CPSC of hazards posed by products and seeking additional recalls of unsafe products,” Kavanagh said.
“The CPSC may also want to consider additional regulations, such as banning the sale of ‘universal’ battery chargers, insisting that manufacturers ensure that e-micromobility devices only function when used with approved and appropriate batteries, or other measures that make it more difficult for gray- and black-markets to thrive,” she wrote, thanking the agency for issuing “multiple recalls of e-bikes due to fire hazards.”
“As unskilled tampering and refurbishment seem to be a source of safety problems, it could be helpful to add mechanisms to prevent this behavior,” she wrote.
So far this year, the FDNY has responded to about three lithium-ion battery fires a week, fire officials said. As of Monday, 22 fires, 36 injuries and one death have been attributed to faulty e-bike batteries that explode while being charged, causing a fast moving fire that’s difficult to stop.
Last year, e-bike and scooter batteries caused 216 fires, which ended in 147 injuries and six deaths. It was more than double the number of blazes caused by e-bike batteries, which sparked 104 fires, 79 injuries and four deaths.
On Jan. 25, nearly 20 children were injured when a lithium-ion battery exploded in the basement of a two-story home on 72nd Drive near 147th St. in Kew Gardens Hills, according to the FDNY.
Four days earlier in the same borough, a man was killed and 10 others were hospitalized when a charging e-bike battery sparked a raging fire that tore through a home near LaGuardia airport, fire officials said.
Factory-installed scooter batteries seem safe and adhere to industry standards, safety experts say. The batteries that tend to combust are aftermarket items e-bike users buy online or in scooter stores as supplements or replacements for the battery that came with the device, said FDNY officials.
The Fire Department recommends that scooter owners never charge batteries unattended, and that it should be done outdoors.
Nationwide, charging lithium-ion batteries for devices like scooters and E-bikes sparked 330 fires from 2015 to 2018, causing more than $9 million in property damage, says a Consumer Product Safety Commission study released in 2020.
“The FDNY is on the front lines of this fight against deadly fires involving batteries in e-micromobility devices, and we are grateful for every tool available to help,” Kavanagh wrote.
An email to the CPSC for comment on Kavanagh’s letter was not immediately returned.