PHOTOS: New York City is trying to address the deadly threat of e-bike battery fires in various ways. City leaders have passed new laws, increased fines, initiated more aggressive regulation, and supported pilot projects with businesses and nonprofits.
That's because some cheap, retrofitted lithium-ion batteries for e-bikes and e-scooters don’t meet safety standards and are dangerously explosive. When the batteries ignite, they cause fast-moving, toxic fires that officials and experts say are difficult to extinguish.
New York is considered an epicenter of this new public safety problem. Its density leads workers to charge e-bikes inside apartment buildings and the city's large population drives high demand for delivery services, according to public safety experts.
Official data shows the rate of fires from lithium-ion batteries in the city has decreased so far this year.