City Council considering bill to prevent fires resulting from lithium-ion batteries

The bill -- Intro 927 -- would create a task force to study the possibility of building charging stations exclusively for food delivery drivers, who rely on e-bikes and e-scooters to do their job.

News 12 Staff

Apr 24, 2023, 4:55 PM

Updated 555 days ago

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New York City's Committee Transportation and Infrastructure met on Monday to consider a bill to prevent fires occurring due to lithium-ion batteries.
The bill -- Intro 927 -- would create a task force to study the possibility of building charging stations exclusively for food delivery drivers, who rely on e-bikes and e-scooters to do their job.
Lithium-ion batteries are responsible for over 400 fires across the city since e-bikes became legal in 2020, according to the FDNY.
Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez told News 12 the proposed bill would create a yearlong pilot program which would review the cost of building and operating these stations, if food delivery workers could use them for free or at a low cost and if they could mitigate the risk of fires.
"As part of the curriculum, we are conducting extensive market research and stake holder engagement to hopefully identify the best charging battery solutions to deploy," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also addressed that they plan to include the FDNY, food delivery workers and stakeholders in the process of building the stations.