What’s driving the battery fires with e-bikes and scooters?
As firefighters battled a five-alarm fire at a supermarket in the Bronx earlier this month, New York City officials gathered beside what they said was the cause of the fire: the blackened shell of what was once a sit-on electric scooter.
Officials said that a faulty lithium-ion battery in the scooter had suddenly burst into flame, as captured on surveillance video. The resulting fire was so intense, they said, that it enveloped the building in a matter of minutes.
“There is extraordinary damage. This entire building behind me is completely destroyed. The roof is caved in. There is nothing left. And it is all because of this one single bike,” said Laura Kavanaugh, the city’s fire commissioner.
Last week’s blaze joined the more than 200 fires in New York City last year caused by batteries from e-bikes, electric scooters and similar devices. Lithium-ion battery explosions are now the third leading cause of fires in the city, the fire department says. …[Continue Reading]
IPOANS is waiting on comments from Halifax Fire Prevention and Safety and the Insurance Bureau of Canada on the safety of lithium-ion batteries used in e-bikes and e-scooters. IPOANS will provide updates as more information is made available.
Click Here to learn more about Lithium-Ion Battery Safety.