NYC announces new e-bike charging initiative to prevent lithium-ion battery fires

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Mayor Eric Adams announced a major step for fire safety to protect New Yorkers from e-bikes and scooters that use lithium-ion batteries. The mayor was joined by members of the FDNY on Monday for the launch of a PR campaign that will alert delivery drivers in particular to never store e-bikes in the home. According to the FDNY, e-bikes have caused over 700 fires across the five boroughs since 2019. The city is also launching an incubator to help build more charging racks to make it easy for e-bike users to charge on the go instead of in their homes. "We will make sure there is a place for poele to charge them… this accelerator will make sure we are leveraging the private sector who helped cause this boom to make [charging outside]a possibility for our users,” said FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh. The city is also working to provide replacements for unlicensed bikes, which data shows are at an even greater risk of catching fire. "