Food delivery workers will be able to trade in sketchy, uncertified e-bikes and illegal mopeds for safer equipment by the end of the year, city officials are expected to announce Monday.
The $2 million trade-in program will provide workers with a new e-bike and two new batteries certified by Underwriters Laboratories in return for their old ride, city transportation officials told the Daily News.
“E-bikes are critical tools used by tens of thousands of delivery workers to support our economy,” Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement.
“By providing these workers with reliable, safe equipment, we are helping protect this workforce, their neighbors and loved ones, and all New Yorkers who rely on them each day,” he added.
The program will be open to any New Yorker 18 or older who has earned at least $1,500 in the past year delivering food.
Any non-UL certified e-bike will eligible for trade-in, and bikes must be traded in along with their batteries, according to the Department of Transportation.
Similarly, any gas or electric moped that lacks a vehicle identification number — and therefore can’t be registered at the DMV for legal street use — will be eligible for trade-in.
Applications are expected to open by year’s end, after a public hearing set for August. Trade-ins are expected to take place next year.
Transportation officials said the program aims to reduce the fire risk associated with some shoddily-made lithium-ion batteries, like those sold as cheap replacements for various e-bikes.
Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News
New York – JUNE 20, 2023 – Charred remains of e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries are seen near 80 Madison St. in the Chinatown area of Manhattan on June 20, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News)
The batteries sparked more than 268 fires in New York City last year, killing 18 people.
Lithium-ion battery fires are “self-oxidizing,” meaning they can burn even if deprived of oxygen, making it hard to fight the flames.
The Adams administration’s expected announcement comes on the heels of state legislation aimed at getting uncertified lithium-ion batteries off the market altogether.
Gov. Hochul signed a bevy of bills earlier this month outlawing the sale of shoddy batteries — as well as educating consumers on proper battery charging techniques and firefighters on how to extinguish stubborn lithium-ion blazes.
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Monday’s expected announcement also hopes to use the program to get illegal, unregistered mopeds off city streets.
Despite the term being thrown around to describe most any battery-powered two-wheeler, e-bikes, by law, are pedal-powered vehicles with an electric motor assist.
Powered two-wheelers without pedals — mopeds — are akin to motorcycles under the law, and must be registered and have a license plate from the DMV.
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That requires a vehicle identification number, which some mopeds don’t have — making them illegal for street use in the state.
Delivery workers with such mopeds will also be eligible for a new, certified e-bike under the city’s program.