New York City Council holds hearing on e-bikes and fire safety
NEW YORK -- The City Council is considering bills to prevent destructive lithium-ion battery fires. They are the same batteries used in electric bikes and scooters.
The move comes after several recent fires in our area linked to the batteries, including some that were deadly.
CBS2's Jennifer Bisram was at the hearing Monday.
City Council members listened to members of the FDNY who have seen the danger first hand, and New Yorkers who have to use their e-bikes every day for work because they have no other choice.
They say they will vote for what's safest for everyone in the city.
"I had a battery explode on me, but I was outside, because I hit a pothole and the battery projected and it blew up," Delores Solomon said.
READ MORE: Some say despite rash of fires, e-bike ban in NYC buildings is not the right approach
Solomon, 65, lives in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn and uses her e-bike to make food deliveries for some extra cash to pay her bills.
"Not gonna be able to get pension for a few months, so have to subside it," Solomon said.
She wasn't hurt when the lithium battery exploded, but she is scared it may happen again, in her apartment.
"I'm disabled, and I live on third flood. Like, if anything should happen, I'd be the last one to get out," she said.
And now, she joins a growing list of food delivery workers and New Yorkers who have to use e-bikes and scooters for work calling on the city to come up with safer charging options.
"We want a battery swap network, want batteries to be certified," said Lenny Feliu, co-founder of the group Safer Charging.
According to the FDNY, e-bikes and scooters that use lithium-ion batteries are dangerous, destructive, and can be deadly.
So far this year, there have been 188 fire investigations with 139 injuries and six deaths related to lithium-ion batteries. That's a 50-percent jump from last year, when there were 104 investigations, 79 injuries and four deaths.
Just last week in the city, more than 40 residents were injured after five bikes caught fire inside a Midtown building.
And back in September, an 8-year girl died in Queens from an electric scooter-sparked fire.
At Monday's hearing, New Yorkers who rely on the bikes asked officials to regulate the batteries -- where and how they're being charged, and who's selling them -- instead of banning them.
"Lithium-ion batteries are being used more often now compared to lets say five to 10 years ago. We are taking action on prohibiting ones that are unsafe," Councilman Oswald Feliz said.
"The mayor and [Sen. Chuck] Schumer [want] announced $1 million to build stations. They are going to use some of the vacant newsstands," Councilwoman Gale Brewer added.
Some things being looked at right now include a battery-swap network, having the FDNY educate the public on how to properly charge and store the bikes and batteries, and regulating what batteries can be used.