I was going to say: isn’t there something that they can do?
Allow and deny lists for brands or models of bikes?
Rules based on battery Ampere-hours?
Fire-proof bags or storage area (automatic lithium-fire extinguisher) for small ebikes?
Free certification/condemnation by a bike shop or other licensed technician?
Battery+charger swap* programs (free or very cheap) for safer batteries of similar voltage/amps? Though I don’t know if the production is there yet. (And it may be way too expensive.) *=the lithium batteries (or even cells) being reused and managed in more controlled settings
Could they give free public charging that monitors battery temperature (with temperature alerts), particularly if safe slow charging is ideal for the battery tech anyway. (Also perhaps expensive, but maybe less expensive than some water fountains)
Or just city-owned battery swap stations, though I expect battery compatibility would not be great.
Free certification/condemnation by a bike shop or other licensed technician?
The way similar things are handled is disallow importation of anything in the category without a certification. We have UL/CSA certifications for lithium batteries. In fact I heard that North American ebike shops began selling only certified batteries recently because insurers required it. Of course that doesn’t affect LETTERSOUPs. The gov can use those certifications to stop items rolling of the boats. So allow lists based on certification.
But if you’re talking about local governments - municipal - they can’t do much with this because they can’t enforce it. They will need people to go and check ebikes and issue fines. They already can’t enforce bikes on trains at rush hour as the article states. Once the bikes are in people’s hands, it’s too late. They’ll keep using them because they are a means for transportation for many and because even if they’re cheap LETTERSOUPs, $1-1.5K is no small amount of money. They ain’t just gonna swallow that and not use it. Municipalities could theoretically forbid ebikes with uncertified batteries on public premises with a prohibitive fine if caught and do some enforcement blitzes to send the message. Of course this would be pretty terrible for the people caught, especially if the law wasn’t there when they bought their ebike.
I was going to say: isn’t there something that they can do?
Allow and deny lists for brands or models of bikes?
Rules based on battery Ampere-hours?
Fire-proof bags or storage area (automatic lithium-fire extinguisher) for small ebikes?
Free certification/condemnation by a bike shop or other licensed technician?
Battery+charger swap* programs (free or very cheap) for safer batteries of similar voltage/amps? Though I don’t know if the production is there yet. (And it may be way too expensive.) *=the lithium batteries (or even cells) being reused and managed in more controlled settings
Could they give free public charging that monitors battery temperature (with temperature alerts), particularly if safe slow charging is ideal for the battery tech anyway. (Also perhaps expensive, but maybe less expensive than some water fountains)
Or just city-owned battery swap stations, though I expect battery compatibility would not be great.
A better de-icing solution?
The way similar things are handled is disallow importation of anything in the category without a certification. We have UL/CSA certifications for lithium batteries. In fact I heard that North American ebike shops began selling only certified batteries recently because insurers required it. Of course that doesn’t affect LETTERSOUPs. The gov can use those certifications to stop items rolling of the boats. So allow lists based on certification.
But if you’re talking about local governments - municipal - they can’t do much with this because they can’t enforce it. They will need people to go and check ebikes and issue fines. They already can’t enforce bikes on trains at rush hour as the article states. Once the bikes are in people’s hands, it’s too late. They’ll keep using them because they are a means for transportation for many and because even if they’re cheap LETTERSOUPs, $1-1.5K is no small amount of money. They ain’t just gonna swallow that and not use it. Municipalities could theoretically forbid ebikes with uncertified batteries on public premises with a prohibitive fine if caught and do some enforcement blitzes to send the message. Of course this would be pretty terrible for the people caught, especially if the law wasn’t there when they bought their ebike.