In late September, the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection implemented new laws in response to increasing incidents of lithium-ion battery fires in New York City.
Local Law 49 states that businesses selling powered mobility devices are required to post lithium-ion battery safety informational materials and guides. Local Law 50 authorizes an increase in penalties on illegal powered mobility device sales, leases, or rentals.
The past year saw several battery-caused blazes in the city, including a fire in a Chinatown ebike store in June that killed four people. The incidents resulted in a September 2023 law, which prohibits powered mobility devices and their storage batteries from being sold, leased or rented if they fail to meet recognized safety standards.
This year’s laws serve as amendments to the previous one, which appeared to help curb lithium-battery related fatalities over the past year. While there were three deaths linked to fires started by these batteries in 2024 so far, the number is far lower than the 11 deaths in 2023. The new legislation aims to help strengthen policy around public safety through stricter enforcement of penalties – ranging from $150 to $350 – on violations.
Still, experts are calling for federal laws that would tackle the root causes of lithium-ion battery explosions.
“The issue is in the supply chain,” said Michael Pecht, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland. “We are not able to audit all these manufacturers who are making batteries for e-bikes.”
In the absence of a standardized testing body, subpar manufacturing practices have flourished, resulting in poor quality batteries being imported to the United States. China, which accounted for 71 percent of total lithium-ion battery imports in 2023, leads the handful of countries that source batteries to the U.S.
“Even someone without experience would say this does not look like high quality manufacturing. There’s dust in the air, people are smoking, it’s terrible,” said Pecht, who has visited several international manufacturing facilities. “There needs to be a responsible, trustworthy third-party auditing these sites.”
Bulk production of batteries worsens the problem, Pecht explained. While individual batteries may be tested for quality control and sufficiently pass the requirements, use of cheap materials can result in defects when it comes to the mass quantities being produced. Online sales of batteries and the lack of procedure to validate companies’ credentials have also made it harder to verify the batteries’ locations of origin.
Increased incidents of lithium-ion battery fires, coupled with a lack of federal standards, have prompted concern among officials from around the country.
“Right now, there is no true regulatory framework that mandates those things,” said Robert Rezende, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Chief, who also serves as the alternative energy emergency response coordinator for the region. In this role, Rezende is responsible for preparing first responders in San Diego county for emergencies, mitigation, stabilization and proper disposal of batteries.
“We’re finding that the closer you get to low quality batteries, the higher the frequency of having events of fire and failure and thermal runaway,” Rezende said. “Population density also makes a huge difference, just from a statistical perspective.”
Smaller towns that are tourist destinations have reported an uptick in blaze incidents over the summer, as visitors flood the areas with battery-powered boats and scooters. Ski-lift operators are similarly concerned about visitors taking electric mountain bikes up the ski gondolas in the warmer months, citing worries of a fire breaking out.
“I think New York is leading the way, because they have more incidents and fatalities than most other cities, so they have a good push forward,” Rezende said. “But really we need a national standard and a national regulatory framework to help all the jurisdictions in the country to have some legal way of regulating.”
Michael Lanza, press secretary for New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, says the department has conducted more than 650 inspections and issued more than 275 violations to local brick-and-mortar retailers over the past year, both independently and in conjunction with the New York City Fire Department’s E-Safety Task Force. An additional 40 cease-and-desist letters and over 25 violations have been issued to online retailers.
“We pledge to get out to address any complaints related to lithium-ion batteries within 12 hours,” said Chief Fire Marshall Daniel Flynn at a Sept. 18 council meeting for the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management. “We take it very seriously, and we re-inspect every single time when we find violations at those locations.”
There have been 202 battery-caused fires in New York City as of September this year, similar to the number this time last year, but public safety messaging and stricter enforcement have led to improved outcomes. In addition to the decrease in fatalities, injuries from lithium-ion battery fires dropped from 109 to 68 citywide.
“The numbers have flipped, and we’re starting to see more non-structural fires,” said Flynn during the council meeting, referring to the FDNY’s recommendation to store e-bikes and e-scooters outside when possible. Structural fires, which are fires that occur inside buildings, dropped from 134 to 97 over the past year.
Johnny Xu, manager of Fly E-Bike on Columbus Avenue, says most issues result from customers trying to fix the batteries themselves. “Sometimes, there’s a fire in my store,” says Xu, referring to customers who bring in e-bikes with damaged batteries asking for repairs.
For safety purposes, Xu refuses to repair batteries in-store, and recommends customers recycle old batteries and purchase new UL certified batteries instead. UL, which stands for Underwriter Laboratories, is a third-party certification company that tests for quality, safety, and compliance with federal regulations.
“We don’t sell non-UL certified [batteries], and we won’t even work on them,” said Erik Rez, an employee at Toga Bike Shop on the Upper West Side. “Because if they store it here and a fire chief walks in, we’ll get fined – and that’s the best case scenario. Worst case scenario, the shop explodes.”
Several e-bike businesses across the city have been implementing similar store policies. They either outright refuse to repair lithium batteries, or have a designated outdoor space that safeguards their business from potential fires.
“The problem is that it is a nascent industry, and so there is no standard form factor,” said Ravi Kempaiah, CEO of bike and battery manufacturing company Zen Energy based in Nova Scotia, Canada. “The issues with micro mobility batteries is that because they are imported with lack of engineering testing and safety certificates, they come with very poor battery management systems.”
Kempaiah says Underwriter Laboratories has a robust process and that while it may have certain limitations, it is currently the gold standard for safety.
Rezende is hopeful that more attention to the dangers of lithium-ion batteries could spur policy changes at the federal level to standardize safety regulations.
“All the big cities have a vested interest in battery-safety because they are seeing these incidents happen on a regular basis,” Rezende said. “I think it will get there, and I think news articles and discussion and bringing experts to the elected officials to have a conversation is the way we get there.”
About the author(s)
Nikita Apte is an M.S. student at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an interest in business and economic reporting.