More concern over battery fires NYT

[onemorejoltwarden]

Concern over safety is becoming a greater issue
My building's HOA demands UL approval for indoor storage and charging.
This has been an issue of increasing concern
Not common but is being kept at the fore when legislation is being considered


Fire Sparked by Electric Scooter Battery Kills Woman and Child in Harlem

The fire, which occurred at, the Jackie Robinson Houses, owned and managed by the New York City Housing Authority,
in a Harlem apartment early Wednesday 8/3/2022 sparked by the lithium-ion battery on an electric scooter
killed a 5-year-old girl and a 36-year-old woman, and left the child’s father in critical condition.

E-bikes and scooters have been implicated in numerous fires in recent months, leading the housing authority to propose banning them from its buildings entirely.

Another fire on Monday on Townsend Avenue in the Bronx was also sparked by lithium-ion batteries from an e-bike or scooter

Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/nyregion/new-york-electric-scooter-battery-fire-deaths.html
May be paywalled

 

[onemorejoltwarden]

Well thought out BMS, build and maintenance have made this a much smaller issue in premium vehicles.
Unregulated, the lower end and home builds are going to be extremely vulnerable to inflaming this issue.
(enflaming?)
A low end bike costs $700 to $1500 and these are going to continue to be more popular than ones costing
$4-5000, with better design, build and vetting.
ES probably represents the more intelligent informed and aware portion of the E bike riders,
And you see the problems that we have reported.
When you realize the purchasers of low-end Ebike are most likely much less sophisticated
And exposed to the consequence of much greater risk, you will understand what is behind regulation like:
"It is a violation of lease paragraphs 12(f), (g), and (k) to keep or charge an e-bike or e-bike battery in a
NYCHA apartment or in a common area of a NYCHA building."
https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nycha/downloads/pdf/088202%20English.pdf
Which would also ban a Bosch or Riese & Müller, where risk is better addressed and profoundly lower.

Don't think this isn't an issue in the insurance community, where redlining is growing with awareness.

Of note, well built ICE have stringent fire prevention precautions and regulations governing use and storage