No, e-bike fires are not a ‘leading cause of death’ in NYC
It’s a new year, and yet we’re facing the same old problem as last year: electric bike fear-mongering from irresponsible journalists painting an overblown risk of e-bike fires.
This time, we’ve got a doozie of a headline from Men’s Journal: “E-bike Batteries: A Leading Cause Of Death In NYC”.
The only problem is it’s wrong. As in, completely wrong. The premise is not even close to aligning with reality.
This isn’t to say that fires from improperly constructed or tampered with electric bike lithium-ion batteries is a non-issue. It is an important matter requiring increased regulation – something NYC has already begun. The issue is acutely essential in NYC, where bike couriers rely on e-bikes to deliver food and goods to city residents, and are often forced to buy the cheapest e-bikes available due to the low wages of these critical service jobs. Such cheap e-bikes regularly scrimp on important safety features, resulting in a higher risk of battery fires – especially when unofficial or inexperienced repairmen try to repair worn-out or malfunctioning batteries.
The issue is a fatal one, even. New York City saw at least 17 deaths last year from fires started by faulty lithium-ion batteries. It’s worth noting that many – if not most – of these fires aren’t actually caused by e-bike batteries but rather electric scooters and e-motorbikes that firefighters don’t understand and thus lump into the e-bike category. But that’s a nuance lost on most people so we’ll ignore it for now and include all micromobility-related fires.
Every one of those 17 deaths last year is a tragedy. And increased regulation to weed out the ultra-cheap, poorly-made e-bikes can help. But to call it a “leading cause” of death in NYC is journalistic malpractice. In fact, in all of my extensive research, I can’t even tell you what rank it is because it is so far down the list of leading causes of death in NYC that the statistics don’t even go that low.
So the simple fact of the matter is this: no, e-bike fires are not a leading cause of death in NYC. They aren’t even close to making the list.
Even if you ignore the true leading causes of death, such as over 17,000 deaths per year due to heart disease in New York City, then lithium-ion battery fire deaths are still not even close to making the charts. That’s a 1,000x higher likelihood of death by heart disease.
Compared to battery fire deaths, New Yorkers are 176x more likely to die from a drug overdose, 23x more likely to be murdered, 5x more likely to die while riding the subway, and over 3x more likely to die from choking. You’d be safer to chew your food a little longer than to worry about an e-bike fire.
Focusing in further just on fire deaths, several times more people are killed in the city from fires sparked by electric space heaters. A single space heater fire in 2022 killed 3x as many people as all e-bike battery fires combined in NYC that year.
Even if you want to hyperfocus on bikes, then let’s talk about the bigger cause of bike-related deaths in NYC: cyclists getting killed by cars. Due to the lack of proper bike lanes in NYC (missing on 97% of NYC streets), there are several times more cyclist deaths than deaths due to battery-related fires. And pedestrians have it even worse – they’re even more likely to die from getting hit by a car in NYC than cyclists. In fact, you’re 7x more likely to die from getting run over in a crosswalk in NYC than from a battery fire.
E-bike fire safety is absolutely an important issue, and this article isn’t meant to minimize it. Instead, it just needs to be put into perspective to avoid demonizing what could be the biggest transportation revolution in a century, saving countless lives through reducing our impact on global climate change. But let’s not convolute an important safety discussion into clickbait fear-mongering, especially when it pales in impact compared to real issues that should actually keep New Yorkers up at night.
More attention and ultimately regulation should be applied to reduce the number of deaths from e-bike fires from 17 to zero, but let’s keep the issue in proportion. Considerably more lives would be saved every year just by NYC being able to pass its ban on mega-sized sugary drinks that was nullified a decade ago. Remember, more than 1,000x more New Yorkers are killed by heart disease than e-bike batteries.
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With the launch of the first-ever Class 8 vocational EV in the North American market, PACCAR Kenworth is raising the battery-electric bar and underscoring just how far the market has come since the Tesla Semi made its debut nearly a decade ago.
When Tesla pulled the wraps off its all electric Semi truck all the way back in November of 2017, the rest of the industry was hardly thinking about BEVs. Nearly a decade later, the world is still waiting for the Semi to begin regular production, and PACCAR is launching its second generation of HDEVs with the debut of this, the all-new Kenworth T880E vocational truck.
“The Kenworth T880E marks a groundbreaking milestone in Kenworth’s history as we bring to market the first Class 8 battery-electric solution built for vocational applications,” explains Kevin Haygood, Kenworth assistant general manager for sales and marketing. “The T880E is engineered to meet the evolving needs of operators and vocational fleets while still providing the durability, reliability and customization our customers expect.”
The new electric K-whopper is motivated by PACCAR’s in-house ePowertrain platform, capable of putting up to 605 hp and 1,850 lb-ft of peak torque to work, while delivering the same levels of drivability and dependability fleets expect from a Kenworth – but power and torque are only part of the T880E’s work-ready résumé.
Open to work
In addition to a stout, Class 8 electric chassis fitted with heavy-duty Kenworth brakes and axles, the T880E’s central drive eMotor allows for significant wheelbase flexibility so fleet buyers can spec out exactly the machine they need to get the job done. The T880E was also designed to enable lift axle installations from trusted Kenworth upfitters for a vocational-friendly BEV integration.
Additionally, the T880E features a wide selection of factory-installed options that include both high- and low-voltage ePTO (electric Power Take Off) ports, mechanical ePTOs, and the same wide array of body configurations as the ICE version.
Speaking of the ICE version, the electric T880E also can also be had in the same set-back front axle and set-forward front axle configurations with the same multi-piece hood construction. Inside the cab, the latest in driver-focused technology includes the Kenworth SmartWheel and a new 15″ DriverConnect digital touchscreen. Dash and vocational features like RAM Mounts and factory-installed PTO switches are available. The T880E is also offered with Kenworth ADAS packages for customers interested in DigitalVision Mirrors, Bendix Fusion, and Lane Keeping Assist.
It’s so big, you guys
The T880E was on static display at last week’s ACT Expo in Anaheim, California. Check with your local Kenworth dealer for availability.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Kenworth.
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The tire-blistering SU7 Ultra has been the Xiaomi brand’s flagship super sedan since its launch, but a controversial software setting has limited the car to “just” 900 hp in regular driving – resulting in an outcry from owners who ponied up for the big boy numbers. With its latest software update, that missing 648 hp is back on tap!
The SU7 Ultra made waves throughout the performance car world when a bright yellow striped example lined up alongside a white quarter mile king, the 1,000+ hp Tesla Model S Plaid, and promptly smoked it.
That wasn’t all. A preproduction SU7 Ultra prototype lapped the legendary Nürburgring circuit in just 6 minutes and 46.874 seconds, firmly stamping the 1,500+ hp Xiaomi’s alphanumeric into the track’s record books with a time nearly fifteen seconds quicker than a Rimac Nevera or, on the ICE front, either a Corvette ZR1, Viper ACR, or Porsche 918 (take your pick).
It’s hardly any wonder, then, that the customers who signed up – in droves, too – were disappointed to learn that the SU7 they were allowed to buy had been neutered by the safety nannies to the tune of nearly 650 hp. (!)
We’re so back
The outrage from SU7 Ultra owners was immediate. And, facing mounting pressure online and on social media, Xiaomi ultimately decided to withdraw the performance-limiting features while acknowledging the need for more transparent communication about future software updates they messed up, saying in a statement, “we appreciate the passionate feedback from our community and will ensure better transparency moving forward.”
So, rich people can rocket themselves down the road in 9 second hypercars again and all is right with the world. A happy ending – but one that sort of illuminates a fresh set challenges for automakers peddling “software-defined vehicles” to a market that still thinks of their cars as very much hardware defined products.
That’s evidenced by the resistance to pay for features by subscription and complaints by more informed customers that “software locked” range and convenience features just subsidize the cost of more expensive trim levels and pad profits for manufacturers and suppliers.
The new reality is playing out in real time now, and the Jeff Bezos-backed $20,000 electric compact pickup from Slate Auto is going the other way entirely – time will tell whether more, or less tech is the answer.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Xiaomi, via CarNewsChina.
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Tesla (TSLA) has started offering reduced interest rates on the new Model Y in the US — this equates to a direct discount on the brand new vehicle that was supposed to spark Tesla’s demand back.
The automaker has announced “1.99% APR or $0 Due at Signing available for well-qualified buyers” on the new Model Y in the US for the first time:
This amounts to a direct discount worth a few thousand dollars. It is the first widely available discount on the new Model Y coming just weeks after the cheaper non-Launch Edition launched in the US.
It follows a $2,000 direct discount that Tesla offered to early Model Y owners last week.
These discounts and subsidized financing point to soft demand for the updated best-selling vehicle in the US. Tesla just delivered a disastrous first quarter, which it mostly blamed on the Model Y changeover, resulting in lower inventory.
However, industry watchers, including Electrek, noted many signs that the Model Y changeover was not the only issue. Tesla added significantly to its inventory in the first quarter, and the wait times for the new Model Y were extremely short.
Now, the discount weeks after launching the new Model Y confirm the soft demand in the US.
It’s not as bad as Europe and China, where Tesla has already been offering 0% financing on the new Model Y for weeks.
Electrek’s Take
I think it’s clear by now: the new Model Y is not coming to save Tesla.
Let’s be honest: It will still be a significant vehicle program by volume. It just won’t help Tesla return to growth this year.
The RWD Model Y is still coming and has a chance to help in the US. It is already available in China, and it’s not helping Tesla much there, but that’s in a hyper-competitive market, especially at lower prices where the RWD Model Y operates.
Tesla’s performance in Q2 in China will be interesting since it is basically back to its regular lineup for the whole quarter.
The US appears to have been Tesla’s least affected market, but Q3 will be the real test with the full lineup and no backlog of demand for new Model Y.
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