Fire Department Wants to Limit Lithium Batteries After Spate of Fires

By Meir Sternhill

The Fire Department of New York wants to ban the use of some batteries used in e-bikes and make riders aware of its potential dangers, amid a series of fires that erupted suddenly and were blamed on the batteries, including this fire reported by BoroPark24 here. 

The department's commissioner, Laura Kavanagh, sent a letter to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission and asked for it to make electric bike manufacturers liable if they fail to warn bikers of the perils of lithium batteries. She also wants the commission to ban outright the sale of universal lithium batteries that can be converted from one use to another.

Kavanagh detailed in her letter the dangers of the battery, saying that there have been 22 lithium battery-related fires so far in 2023, compared to 44 for all of 2020, 104 for 2021 and 216 in 2022. 

In her letter, Kavanagh requested that the commission consider punishment for manufacturers who do not warn consumers of the battery's hazards.