The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has recently announced a hardline approach that bans the entrance of electric bicycles by visitors or staff due to safety concerns.
The NREL is a federally-funded R&D center that focuses on sustainable energy solutions, including research into solar energy and energy efficiency, among others.
According to the NREL’s fire marshal Nicholas Bartlett, micromobility devices such as electric scooters and bikes are no longer permitted to be charged or stored in the buildings.
As Bartlett explained:
“The data in the past few years shows an alarming trend of injuries and deaths, as demonstrated by entities such as NYFD and the UL Fire Safety Research Institute. The fires and explosions are attributed to a wide variety of causes such as mismatched chargers, overcharging, uncertified/Listed batteries, poor manufacturing quality, home made devices, etc. We cannot necessarily control what people purchase and use, but in some instances we are able to put restrictions on where and how an activity can be done (and we routinely do for everything from experiments with chemicals to fall protection).”
While still rare, some college campuses and government housing initiatives in the US have announced similar bans under the guise of fire safety.
For its part, the NREL has shown tacit support for electric bikes and micromobility in the past, and isn’t saying that employees should avoid riding e-bikes to work. As an alternative to storing or charging e-bikes indoors, such as in employees’ offices, Bartlett shared that the NREL has “worked to implement outdoor charging locations, at a reasonable distance from building entrances, such as the one shown here,” alongside a photo of a short bike rack with three parking slots next to an outdoor electrical outlet.
The NREL has an annual budget of US $783.5 million and a staff of over 2,600 people.
Electrek’s Take
Frankly, I’m quite disappointed in the NREL for getting caught up in this sensationalism. This is the e-bike equivalent of your ignorant neighbor quipping “I see you bought an electric car… better not park it in the garage unless you have fire insurance”.
The fact of the matter is that e-bike fires, while a legitimate threat, are also a tiny, minuscule threat. They get a disproportional amount of media attention because those headlines get far more clicks (and thus make more money) than “Millions of e-bikes charged uneventfully today, just like yesterday.”
I understand that the NREL’s goal here is to protect their staff. But if that’s truly the case, then they would be much better served with a scientific approach to the problem. This knee-jerk reaction likely “feels right” to the decision makers because they saw several scary headlines and now felt like they are doing something, but the data doesn’t support the move. Even a more soft-touch approach, such as banning charging indoors while still letting employees park their e-bikes in their offices, would have been a major improvement. E-bike fires in buildings are exceedingly rare. Of the small number that do occur, cases where the e-bikes spontaneously combusted while in storage are a small subset of an already small subset. The small number of e-bike fires has almost always occurred during charging (generally due to charging mistakes and/or ultra-low quality batteries).
Instead of banning e-bikes in the building, the NREL could have a much larger impact on their staff’s health and safety by banning arriving at work by private automobile. Essentially every study on the subject has proven that private cars are several times more deadly than public transportation. But hey, why let data ruin good intentions?
That isn’t to say that more effort shouldn’t be put into higher quality e-bike manufacturing principles as well as regulating out the more dangerous dirt-cheap e-bikes. But let’s get real. E-bikes sitting in the corner of someone’s office are saving countless more lives than they are risking.
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LiveWire, the electric motorcycle company spun out of Harley-Davidson, is flexing the versatility of the company’s S2 Arrow powertrain with the unveiling of an electric maxi scooter.
A maxi-scooter is a type of large, powerful scooter designed for comfortable riding. Unlike traditional urban-oriented scooters, maxi-scooters typically have more powerful motors that make them suitable for highway travel. They tend to feature a more robust frame, larger wheels, and extra storage space, along with more premium amenities such as windshields, comfortable seating, and often more advanced tech features. LiveWire is likely to lean into all of those opportunities by leveraging its existing electric motorcycle S2 Arrow powertrain for the new design.
The S2 Arrow powertrain was first unveiled during the launch of the LiveWire S2 Del Mar. The powertrain includes the structural battery, electric motor, and the associated control hardware. LiveWire demonstrated the platform’s flexibility by quickly launching a second model, the S2 Mulholland, on the platform.
Now LiveWire is making a major leap to fully realize the platform’s broad appeal for designing diverse models, using it as the backbone for its upcoming electric maxi-scooter slated for launch in the first half of 2026.
With the success of electric maxi-scooters like the BMW CE-04, LiveWire has surely been looking closely at how the segment could leverage the performance of its versatile e-motorcycle platform.
LiveWire won’t rely only on its own platform to bring the electric maxi-scooter to market, but also on the expertise of KYMCO, a leading Taiwanese scooter company that has long dominated the market with its wide range of scooters, both gasoline and electric-powered.
“LiveWire is an iconic leader in electric solutions for urban mobility, explained KYMCO Chairman Allen Ko. “We are excited to partner with them as LiveWire embarks on the development of a S2-based electric maxi-scooter.”
KYMCO became an early investor in LiveWire and the two companies are now strengthening their relationship with increased collaboration on multiple electric motorbike models.
“The collaboration has been very smooth,” said LiveWire CEO Karim Donnez in an interview with Electrek. “We’ve found the KYMCO team very easy to work with.”
Donnez explained that the two companies have continued to strengthen their work together, with the hemispheric separation between them allowing the unique opportunity for nearly 24-hour progress. Plans are in the works for a geographic exchange of employees to further integrate the teams and allow more seamless collaboration between the two companies.
And the fruits of that cooperation are already showing with the unveiling of the updated KYMCO RevoNEX electric motorcycle, which has been redesigned based on the S2 Arrow platform. Assuming LiveWire’s electric maxi-scooter makes it to market first, the RevoNEX would become the fourth model launched on LiveWire’s S2 Arrow foundation.
Early responses have been largely positive to LiveWire’s release of concept images of its upcoming electric maxi-scooter on social media.
LiveWire’s branding and marketing has always sought to distinguish itself from the brand’s Harley-Davidson roots, allowing the young motorcycle company to emerge from behind H-D’s shadow and largely do its own thing, focusing on a different type of rider with distinct demands and desires.
The inclusion of a powerful electric maxi-scooter in the lineup is likely to help underscore that independence, with LiveWire continuing to focus on a younger, more urban audience that increasingly sees two-wheelers less as an identity and more as a lifestyle, merging fun riding with utilitarian commuting.
It’s of course far too early to tell how the bikes will ultimately be received. We’ve yet to see LiveWire’s electric maxi-scooter concepts in the flesh, indicating there’s likely still some significant design time left in the development cycle. But one thing is already for certain: LiveWire is increasingly doing its own thing and the company wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Crypto fans are celebrating the results of the Ohio Senate race, where blockchain entrepreneur Bernie Moreno has defeated Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown, a three-term incumbent, in a contest that was key in the battle for control of the U.S. Senate.
Some $40 million of crypto money was directed at defeating Brown, with one PAC paying for five ads designed to boost awareness of Moreno, a businessman who worked as a luxury car dealer and had virtually no name recognition going into the contest.
The race was also a litmus test for whether the more than $245 million raised by the crypto industry this cycle would prove effective at the ballot box. The Ohio contest drew more ad spending than any Senate race in history, and was the biggest single target of crypto money this cycle.
Brown was unpopular with crypto fans, in part because he backed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in holding hearings on whether digital tokens were tied to terrorism. He voted against pro-crypto legislation, called for more regulation of the sector, and regularly posted anti-crypto rhetoric on social media.
Ripple’s billionaire co-founder Chris Larsen told CNBC Tuesday night that Brown’s loss is “more fallout from the disastrous decision by President Joe Biden to outsource financial regulation to Sen. Warren.”
“Tonight I’m sad, but I’m never giving up,” Brown said in brief concession remarks Tuesday evening.
In December, Brown told journalists that he wasn’t concerned about the crypto industry’s rumblings against him.
“Bring ’em on,” Politico quoted Brown as saying to a crowd of reporters last year.
His antagonists are now taking a victory lap.
Tyler Winklevoss, one of the top individual crypto contributors this election cycle, called Brown a “crypto public enemy,” a “co-conspirator” to Sen. Warren, and a “Gary Gensler crony,” referring to the chair of the SEC. In a post on X, Winklevoss wrote, “The crypto army is striking!”
“Tonight the crypto voter has spoken decisively — across party lines and in key races across the country,” Armstrong wrote in a post to X.
Armstrong called it the “most pro-crypto Congress ever” with more than 219 crypto-friendly candidates elected to the House and Senate.
The Stand With Crypto Alliance, launched by Coinbase last year, started a “Live election results” lander for crypto investors to keep track of the results. According to the tracker, 224 pro-crypto candidates have been elected to the House, against 106 anti-crypto House candidates that have won. In the Senate, 14 pro-crypto candidates have been elected, while nine anti-crypto candidates have been victorious.
NBC News hasn’t yet called all of these races.
Coinbase gave more than $75 million to Fairshake and its affiliated PACs, including a fresh pledge of $25 million to support the group in the 2026 midterms. Armstrong personally was among crypto’s top individual donors, giving over $1.3 million to a mix of candidates up and down the ballot.
Coinbase has been battling Gensler in court for more than a year over claims it sells unregistered securities.
The industry hopes that a pro-crypto Congress will pass rules that will apportion more of the regulatory responsibilities to the Commodities Future Trading Commission, which has traditionally been softer on its approach to policing the sector.
“Americans disproportionately care about crypto and want clear rules of the road for digital assets,” Armstrong wrote. “We look forward to working with the new Congress to deliver it. Thank you to everyone who stood with crypto today. We did it!”
The Fairshake affiliated PAC Defend American Jobs, which donated more than $40 million in support of Moreno, released a statement on Tuesday night, saying that Brown was a “top opponent of cryptocurrency.”
“Senator-Elect Moreno’s come-from-behind win shows that Ohio voters want a leader who prioritizes innovation, protects American economic interests, and will ensure our nation’s continued technological leadership,” the group said.
The political victories were reflected in the market.
Copper Mountain Solar in El Dorado Valley, pictured on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in Boulder City, Nevada. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Bizuayehu Tesfaye | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Solar stocks sold off overnight as investors see Donald Trump leading in the U.S. presidential election.
Solar stocks are falling on fears that a possible Trump victory would spell trouble for the Inflation Reduction Act, which has fueled a clean energy boom in the U.S. through tax credits to expand solar energy.
The benchmark Invesco Solar ETF was down 7% in overnight trading on brokerage Robinhood. The solar panel manufacturer First Solar tumbled 8% overnight. Residential solar stocks Sunrun and Sunnova fell 6% and 2.6%, respectively. Inverter manufacturer Enphase tumbled 5% and Nextracker was down nearly 5%.
Trump’s campaign platform calls for the termination of the IRA, which he refers to as the “Socialist Green New Deal.” The IRA is one of President Joe Biden’s signature achievements. The law passed on party-line vote in 2022 without any Republican support.
Trump is leading in the electoral college and is projected to win the key swing state of North Carolina, according to NBC News. The future of the IRA, however, will depend not only on whether Trump wins the White House, but whether Republicans also secure control of Congress.
Kamala Harris’ campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told staff in an email Tuesday that the clearest path to victory for the vice president lies in the so-called Blue Wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.