San Francisco to Set New Rules for E-bikes and E-Scooters
Mar 13, 2024
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As the use of e-mobility devices has risen, the number of low-quality products circulating has risen as well. The number of fires has also risen. As a result, the city of San Francisco is preparing to enact new rules regarding how e-mobility devices can be charged and stored.
From 2017 to 2022, the number of fires caused by e-mobility devices in San Francisco rose each year, culminating in a high for the city of 58 fires in 2022. During that time period, the city has seen eight injuries and one fatality caused by those fires.
Beginning in March, new rules will go into effect that will specify how e-mobility devices can be charged in multi-unit housing.
Multi-unit buildings will now be limited to a maximum of four lithium-ion-battery-powered e-mobility devices per household. Additionally, there must be at least three feet between each device when they are charging. Also, each charger must be plugged into its own outlet, not a power strip.
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The new rules don’t end there. Damaged and refurbished batteries aren’t permitted in multi-unit housing either.
The rules pertain exclusively to multi-unit housing. Single-family homes are exempt from these rules.
San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced the legislation.
“They should be buying products that have been certified by underwriters laboratories, UL approved that they should not be using different chargers other than the chargers that were made to go with those. They should not be using extension cords during charging,” said Peskin.
The San Francisco Bike Coalition has countered that not everyone can afford an e-bike or e-mobility device with UL-certified electronics. They are lobbying the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for economic incentives to help people upgrade their devices to UL-certified ones.
Supervisor Peskin’s long-range vision is to see that all e-mobility devices are stored in fire-suppressing cabinets that can be rolled out of a building in the event of a fire.
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UL approval for Lithium battery is totally irrelevant. Lithium battery fires has everything to do with the chemistry of the battery and nothing to do with the electrical circuitry that UL works on as with other electrical appliances. Lithium battery fire is cause by dendrites of treelike crystal that eventually puncture the separator causing a short circuit within the battery cell. Depending on the degrees/size of the puncture, and the quality of the cell casing that has a valve to release the highly combustible vapour. While charging tends to accelerate and enlarge the short circuit and hence causing a fire. The fire can happen while the battery is not charging or even while discharging, or just simply in inactive storage.