NEW YORK (BRAIN) — Mayor Eric Adams this week finalized the city's e-mobility device and battery trade-in program for food-delivery workers.
The pilot program to get uncertified e-bikes and lithium-ion batteries off the streets, in addition to gas-powered mopeds, is one aspect of the Charge Safe, Ride Safe plan to address battery fires in the city.
Amendments made to the $2 million trade-in program following an August public hearing included:
- Clarifying acceptable forms of proof of eligibility.
- Requiring an applicant to submit photos of a spare or extra battery for an eligible device, if applicable. This allows the Department of Transportation to account for the number of batteries it receives before a trade-in and to ensure proper arrangements are made for disposal.
- Expanding where and when an applicant can complete the required safety training course, allowing the completion before the trade-in.
Selected participants — who must live in the city, be at least 18, own an eligible working device, and have earned at least $1,500 in the past year as a food delivery worker — will receive a UL-certified e-bike and two compatible UL-certified batteries in exchange for their uncertified device and batteries. Delivery workers receive two batteries because many report that a full day requires an extra battery.
While the overall number of fires hasn't changed much year-over-year (222 this year so far compared with 224 last year), injuries have been reduced from 122 to 88 and deaths from 14 to four. Officials credit several recent initiatives for the reduction:
- Establishing public e-bike battery charging and swapping stations for delivery workers.
- A $1 million public education and awareness campaign on the dangers of unsafe lithium-ion batteries.
- Advanced firefighting equipment, including technology that allows firefighters to safely extinguish fires without opening lithium-ion battery packs.
- Establishing the Lithium-Ion Battery Task Force that consists of FDNY fire marshals, Bureau of Fire Prevention inspectors, and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection inspectors. It has conducted hundreds of e-bike and e-bike repair shop inspections in the city. More than 1,000 violations, 46 criminal summonses, and 16 vacate orders were issued last year.
