In the meantime, the current wave of fires has cost lives, property and money. A January presentation from the Department of Energy Storage and Electric Transportation at the Idaho National Laboratory notes that automakers and insurance companies could face warranty- and liability-related financial losses, and losses from negative public perception of electric vehicles.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently signed a law that requires micromobility devices sold in the city to meet UL standards. That rule goes into effect in September, although noncompliant micromobility devices can still be bought outside the city and brought in.
Still, the changes are having an effect, said Robert Slone, senior vice president at UL Solutions.
“Brands you would recognize, for sure, are bringing their e-bikes in for testing and certification at a much greater pace than they did before because of the law,” he said. “So I am encouraged that we are going to get to a better place.”
Slone said he has not seen any case where UL-certified batteries have caught fire, but he and others warn that, as in the case of combustion engine vehicles, even quality products will likely have issues. Slightly more than 25 electric vehicles catch fire for every 100,000 sales, compared with nearly 1,530 gasoline cars for every 100,000 sales, according to a study by AutoinsuranceEZ using data from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Batteries degrade naturally over time. Crashes happen. But better standards and public education are key to longevity for this still-new technology.
“All of the information that we’ve learned relative to gasoline and how to manage gasoline and how to store gasoline, we’re at day one with respect to lithium ion batteries,” said Fritz. “I mean, I’ve got two cars in a garage underneath my bedroom and I sleep like a baby every night.”