I'm in favor of e-bike battery fires and demand an end to this hearing! *slams table*

> The committee is expected to discuss various proposals. Some would require public education campaigns or safety reports. Another would prohibit the sale of some secondhand lithium-ion batteries, or e-bike or scooter batteries without certain seals of approval.

Anything relying on the end consumer to make better choices is doomed to fail. A guy making $22,000 a year running deliveries is not going to pay 20% more for a genuine battery, nor is the illegal shop out of the back of a minivan going to sell him one. You need to stem the flow at manufacture and import.

Require buildings over a certain size to offer safe charging and storage to tenants who use eBikes or other things with lithium ion batteries

Just allow only city approved batteries for sale, make it come with serial marked and a visible approval sticker that must be display all times, bike and battery must be licensed, with x frequent inspections at city center. Would ppl fake the stickers sure. But if caught especially after a fire incident, massive penalties.

First they came for child labor, and I said nothing....

Last week, a fire caused by one of these batteries in a nearby high rise destroyed at least four apartments and the building's only elevator. Clearly some sort of safety regulations are needed here.

At a hefty fee.

>Those pushing for changes and regulations want to make it clear they are not looking to ban e-bikes and e-scooters, they just want guidelines in place.

That's what people who are trying to ban something always say. This is the NYC Council, so I have the fear they'll probably go with the dumbest option possible which is an effective ban on e-bikes altogether.

The local neighborhood smells and sounds so much better now that the vast majority of delivery people have switched over to electric bikes and scooters. Those gas scooters have no environmental controls and put more particulates into the air than a F150 pickup truck. Plus, electrics are cheaper to operate in general.

And this is an issue that's solving itself as Chinese manufacturers are planning to switch over to sodium ion batteries for low margin products like scooters and bikes, which is a more stable chemistry.

https://www.electrive.com/2022/08/08/niu-to-debut-two-wheeler-with-sodium-ion-batteries-in-2023/

My motorcycle needs to pass a safety inspection every year. It has to meet certain standards. Do this for everything with a motor.

I mean it’s a real issue. There’s been people killed in fires these things have caused…..

No thanks. That’s just another requirement that makes it harder to get RFP’s approved and drives up the cost of construction.

So have gas stove mishaps including my mom's apartment building. But because the users of gas stoves aren't predominately working class immigrants, it gets left alone.

Electric bikes and scooters are far superior to the alternative, and the industry is switching over to more stable chemistries anyway. It's a problem that will solve itself without introducing legendary NYC bureaucracy to the equation.

It’s not left alone, the whole city is switching to electrify and get off natural gas. There’s been massive amounts of legislation passed to do it this year.

Yes I agree they are better than the alternative, but doesn’t mean they should be unregulated.

Are you talking about the E. 52nd one? That building has 3 elevators thankfully

Didn't know there are sketchy third party gas stove suppliers.

Gas stoves & appliances are heavily regulated as well. Every 2 yr inspections of gas lines, plus need permits for install. Need childproof covers and other regulations. Can't say the same for ebikes. It has minimal regulations & safety guards vs a gas stove

I think we need inspections tbh, even if people buy good quality batteries if they're riding them around in salty slush and rain they're going to eventually corrode.

>I think we need inspections tbh

Yup just like any vehicle atm. Need it regulated, registered, licensed, inspected and insured. Ebikes should be no exception

They will state it “disproportionately affects people of color” and unless some rich person with a lot of political connections dies from one, nothing will change. At worst they will put it on the buildings to educate riders on safe use.

Damn wait til you hear about how many people get killed by cars which this city insists on catering to far more than ebikes

That’s just textbook whataboutism. I also think it’s silly to have parking requirements in construction

Honestly worse than “whataboutism” is the redditor’s proclivity to say “that’s whataboutism” whenever someone confronts them with their own argument.

Not really. It’s highly relevant. I think the city should cut down on cars as well. Has nothing to do with regulating another hazard.

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Yeah considering they still have parking minimums that take up like 20 times the space I'm sure all the developers will revolt at a bike room

I think both are overly restrictive. We need to make building housing easier, not harder.

> You need to stem the flow at manufacture and import.

We really need cops and consumer authorities raiding fly ebike popup stores and similar shit across the city. Confiscate all the illegal mopeds, arrest sellers, until then as you say, yeah there is really no risk right now to this market

I think bike rooms being default in new buildings is a good idea forward, I've seen new housing lottery luxury buildings with bike rooms completely full or require a wait list. They usually don't need much space either, I've seen some plenty simple ones that looked basically like a storage room with some racks installed in an otherwise unusable space

I don’t mind them in principal, just don’t love it as a requirement as it just provides another potential barrier to getting housing built.

The pigs cant even enforce fake license plates. You think battery stickers would be enforced?

Expired car inspection tickets are enforced pretty well & vigorously by meter maids.

Says who? If thata the caee then why are there so many fake license plates? They just skip those?

There's no rampant cases of expired registration/inspections stickers of cars in this city. Meter maids actually enforce and ticket for these events. Lic plates is another story and enforced by another group

So cars that are never parked illegally dont get tickets. So meter maids are gonna enforce battery stickers effectively? On bikes that are never parked in parking spots?

Negative.

if they on bike racks, parked outside in their patrol paths, no see harm to add that as their additional task

You are delusional. But your intentions are good.