Why New York City wants electric bikes stopped at the border
Electric bikes are quickly growing into one of the most popular alternatives to cars for personal transportation, especially in dense cities like New York City. So why does NYC want them stopped at the border?
The issue is that not all e-bikes are created equal.
Higher-quality e-bikes are produced to meet a range of safety regulations, including those that cover the safety of their high-energy lithium-ion battery packs.
But cheaper e-bikes, which are often imported from no-name or white-labeled brands, can cut corners when it comes to safety. That has resulted in poorly made battery packs that can catch fire, sometimes with deadly results.
There have been 13 deaths in New York City alone this year, a city with an estimated 65,000 e-bikes on the streets. In NYC, food delivery by e-bike is popular due to the congestion caused by cars. E-bikes generally navigate the city much more quickly than cars. But the delivery riders, who work long hours for low wages, are often forced to choose the cheapest electric bikes. Those cheap e-bikes are commonly the ones that can pose safety concerns. Their popularity in NYC thus further compounds the problem.
Earlier this year, NYC issued a city-wide ban on selling e-bikes that don’t conform to UL certifications. Without that safety certification, they can’t be sold in the city. According to Fortune, the new rules also outlaw tampering with batteries or selling refurbished batteries made with lithium-ion cells scavenged from used units.
The city also enacted a plan to install safe charging stations for e-bikes, ultimately receiving $25 million to fund the initiative.
The issue of e-bike fires may affect only a small percentage of electric bikes, but with tens of thousands of e-bikes on the road in NYC, the numbers have still begun to stack up.
We recently discussed the issue of fires with battery expert Luke Workman on Electrek‘s Wheel-E podcast, where he explained how cities like NYC can have particularly difficult conditions for e-bikes. The high amount of salt on the roads in winter means that improperly sealed batteries can end up with salt bridging electrical contacts inside the battery cases, potentially shorting cells and leading to fires. The quickly heating cells can cause thermal runaway where neighboring battery cells overheat and catch fire, a dangerous condition that can lead to house fires if not immediately contained.
Workman explained that most chemistries of lithium-based batteries can be prone to this thermal runaway problem if the cells are shorted. The only type of batteries he has yet to see succumb to this issue are “potted” batteries, those that are completely enclosed in resin and thus don’t allow one overheating cell to spread to others.
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The State of California is moving to ban the sale of Tesla cars amid claims that the company and its CEO, Elon Musk, have misled buyers about the self-driving capabilities of their cars. We’ve also got market-leading news out of Vietnam and a pricey, pricey lesson for one VW ID.Buzz buyer on today’s lesson-learning episode of Quick Charge!
We also ask what this might mean for the recent Uber/Lucid autonomous taxi tie-up and go through a full rundown of the fastest depreciating EVs on the market (and yes, there are four Tesla models in the top 10 … because the Cybertruck was too new to qualify).
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If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Sunrun is putting tens of thousands of home batteries to work in Puerto Rico as the island’s electric grid faces a summer of high temperatures and energy shortfalls.
The company says it’s now dispatching energy from over 37,000 residential batteries to help grid operator LUMA keep the lights on. That stored power is being used to prevent rolling blackouts when demand spikes and centralized power plants can’t keep up.
Sunrun’s emergency power contribution has grown more than tenfold since last summer. LUMA expects more than 75 energy shortfall events between now and October, with each dispatch sending electricity to the grid for four consecutive hours. During several recent evenings, Sunrun and other virtual power plant (VPP) operators provided enough energy to offset a 50-megawatt generation gap, LUMA said.
Sunrun CEO Mary Powell said Puerto Rico’s aging infrastructure and intense weather patterns make home battery support increasingly critical:
It’s going to be a very difficult summer, which is why Sunrun has ramped up our dispatch capabilities, using tens of thousands of home batteries to support the grid and people of Puerto Rico.
She added that distributed power plants like Sunrun’s serve the same role as natural gas peaker plants – offering fast, reliable power during high-demand moments – but with clean energy.
Sunrun customers enrolled in the VPP will get paid too. Each participating battery earns about $200 minimum for the season, and customers who allow more of their stored energy to go to the grid earn even more. Sunrun also earns revenue for operating the VPP.
Read more: The US’s largest virtual power plant now runs on 75,000 home batteries
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Volkswagen is advertising ID.4 leases starting at just $99 a month. It’s hard to find any car lease these days for under $100 a month, but for $45,000 electric SUV, it’s almost unheard of.
Volkswagen offers ID.4 leases as low as $99 a month
The Volkswagen ID.4 was the third top-selling EV in the US in January after the 2025 model year went back on sale.
Volkswagen’s electric SUV starts at $45,095 with an EPA-estimated driving range of 291 miles. It’s available in five different trims: Pro, AWD Pro, Pro S, AWD Pro S, and AWD Pro S Plus.
The base 2025 VW ID.4 Pro RWD is equipped with 282 hp from a single rear electric motor. Inside, it features a 12.9″ infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, and Volkswagen’s new ID.Cockpit digital instrument display.
Upgrading to the AWD version will gain a tow hitch and an additional 53 hp, for a combined maximum of 335 hp. The added power comes at the cost of some range, with an EPA-estimated range of 263 miles.
Volkswagen was already offering 2025 ID.4 leases as low as $129 a month, but some dealers are listing it for even less this month.
A California dealership, Volkswagen of Garden Grove, has the 2025 ID.4 Pro RWD listed for lease at just $99 per month. The offer is for 24 months with $2,995 down. According to the dealer, the offer includes a $5,000 cash back bonus, good on a new ID.4 purchase or lease.
We thought the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 was a good deal with leases starting at just $179 per month, but for $99, now that’s a steal.
Looking for deals on the Volkswagen ID.4 near you? You can use our link to find and view offers on the 2025 Volkswagen ID.4 in your area (via a trusted affiliate link)
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