E-bike battery charging cabinets will appear in front of businesses and residential buildings by next year, officials said Monday, as the city seeks to prevent lethal fires from delivery workers’ lithium-ion batteries.
The city plans to allow business owners to install charging cabinets on the sidewalks in front of their properties where delivery workers could either recharge their batteries or swap out depleted ones. Such cabinets already operate as part of a pilot program at a handful of locations in the city, including Cooper Square in Manhattan, where Mayor Eric Adams joined fire and transportation officials for the Monday announcement.
Since 2019, there have been more than 700 fires caused by the lithium-ion batteries in the city, resulting in 29 deaths and nearly 450 injuries, according to Adams. Faulty batteries, sometimes using mismatched chargers, are prone to explosions that are hard to extinguish.
Last year, the City Council banned the sale of uncertified batteries and micro-mobility devices, and the FDNY began cracking down on stores that sell such items which haven’t passed safety tests. The number of deaths caused by such fires was 18 last year; there’s only been one death so far this year, which officials say is due in part to greater public awareness.
“We are confident that we are going to get to a place soon where the deaths are zero,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said.
One benefit of the outdoor charging cabinets, Kavanagh said, is people will be less likely to charge batteries inside, where fires are far deadlier.
“You don’t keep propane and gasoline in your bedroom, and you shouldn’t keep an e-bike in your bedroom either,” Kavanagah said.
Officials also announced a $2 million trade-in program in which delivery workers could swap out their uncertified, dangerous e-bikes and batteries for certified, safe ones. This could remove several hundreds of fire hazards from city streets and apartments once it starts early next year, officials said. It would be the first trade-in program in the country.
The announcements came in conjunction with a new $1 million public awareness campaign about battery fire safety. The ads, in 10 languages, will be online and in traditional media, digital kiosks and public transportation.
Battery charging cabinets are currently prohibited on sidewalks, but the city Department of Transportation plans to change a rule in the city administrative code to allow the cabinets on city streets and sidewalks. By the end of the year, property owners and commercial tenants, like bodegas and ghost kitchens, will be able to apply for permits to install battery-swapping or battery charging cabinets in front of their properties, officials said. They would be paid a fee from the battery charging companies, which in turn would charge the delivery workers.
A virtual hearing on the plan will be held Aug. 26 at 10 a.m. The following day at 10 a.m., the Department of Transportation will hold a hearing on the trade-in program.
Also on Monday, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand held a press conference to push for passage of a federal bill that would ban the sale of uncertified batteries nationwide. A similar ban is in effect in New York City and, as of last week, New York state.