NYC Plans New E-Bike Battery Swapping Network After Nine Hundred Recent Fires

By Y.M. Lowy

New York City is starting work on a new public battery swapping network for e-bikes, a system that could change the way delivery workers charge their rides and make the streets safer for everyone. After hundreds of fires linked to unsafe batteries, officials say this move is long overdue.

The Department of Transportation says the first twenty five charging sites will go into neighborhoods where e-bike traffic is heaviest. These sites will have certified outdoor cabinets where riders can swap out a dead battery for a charged one in under a minute. If riders have access to safe charging outside, fewer people will charge uncertified batteries at home, where fires spread quickly and are hard to put out.

Since 2022, lithium-ion batteries have caused nine hundred fires across the city, leading to thirty deaths and four hundred injuries. 

Each cabinet will come with fire suppression features and real time battery checks. The city will work with FDNY before anything is installed, and only certified batteries from approved vendors will be allowed. Delivery workers will use the system through a membership plan, which officials say will be priced to stay affordable.

The first utility upgrades are planned for 2026. Cabinet installations are expected in 2027.

The project will be managed by the Department of Sustainable Delivery, a team inside DOT focused on improving safety in the fast growing delivery world and keeping app companies accountable.