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Hochul signs e-bike battery safety legislation

New York City is on track to experience twice as many e-bike-related fires this year compared to last. Above, the remains of a fire in January in a Bronx apartment.
FDNY
New York City is on track to experience twice as many e-bike-related fires this year compared to last. Above, the remains of a fire in January in a Bronx apartment.

There are new laws in New York State aimed at making the use of lithium ion batteries safer.

One of the new laws Governor Kathy Hochul signed on Thursday bans the sale of lithium ion batteries that don't meet the state's standards. Another requires retailers to provide an operating manual for charging and handling the batteries and the e-bikes they are used in.

"we haven't had a check on greedy manufactures that put profit over safety and flood the market with cheap malfunctioning batteries. Here in New York that changes today."

Governor Kathy Hochul says the new laws should make New Yorkers safer following a large number of lithium ion batteries fires. Meanwhile, she signed other legislation aimed at lowering the number of e-bike pedestrian involved crashes.