NYC’s E-Bike Battery Fires on Pace to Pass Last Year’s Record
There have been 282 battery fires as of late August, compared to 292 through all of last year, with one person killed—down from a peak of 18 fatalities in 2023.
NYC /
| 25 Aug 2026 | 05:32
E-bike battery fires, such as one that occurred last month on W. 23rd Street (above), are on pace to achieve record highs in New York City this year. (
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In an e-bike fire in June, 2023, four people were killed and two others hospitalized after fire erupted in an e-bike shop in Chinatown. The year was the deadliest on record for fatalities caused by lithium ion batteries. Here are the charred remains the day after the fire. (
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Fazil Kahn, a 27 year-old journalist from Delhi, India, was killed in his fourth floor apartment in Harlem when a deadly lithium ion battery erupted on the third floor. Fire fighters had to use three rope roof rescues to save other trapped residents in the building. (
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The NYC DOT also runs an e-bike safe battery swap program, which serves as part of the “Charge Safe, Ride Safe” action plan. (
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The number of lithium ion battery fires appears to be on track to outpace last year’s record total, according to the latest batch of FDNY data.
The alarming trend was first reported by Gothamist, which noted that “thermal runaway” can cause an explosive reaction in faulty rechargeable batteries, such as those found in some e-bikes and e-scooters.
Last month, a parked truck containing an array of said devices burst into flames in front of 246 W. 23rd Street in Chelsea, between Seventh Avenue and Eight Avenue. Firefighters were able to douse the flames, and no injuries were reported.
A total of 282 battery fires have occurred this year as of late August, leading to 55 injuries and the death of one person. In all of 2025, a total of 292 fires were recorded, with 51 injuries and deaths occurring; in essence, to surpass last year’s total battery fire count, only 11 more fires have to occur in the next four months.
However, a silver lining can be found in the fact that less New Yorkers are dying from battery fires, even as the number of overall fire incidents continues to rise on a yearly basis.
In 2023, 268 battery fires occurred, killing eighteen people. A deadly fire in downtown Manhattan in June that year, killed four people and sent two others to the hospital after fire erupted in an e-bike sales and service shop. It was the most deadly lithium ion battery fire in Manhattan.
The figures from 2024 were only less grim but there were still six deaths and 277 fires including the death in Harlem of Fazil Khan, a 27-year-old journalist from Delhi, India. Fire erupted on the floor below, killing Khan. Firefighters had to use a rare rope roof rescue three times to pull other trapped residents down the outside of the building.
Lithium ion batteries are legally required to be UL-certified, which massively reduces the likelihood of such a reaction occurring (they can still catch fire from an external source, too). But many hard pressed consumers buy lower priced lithium ion batteries that are not UL certified, often with deadly outcomes.
A report published by The City Reporter in May 2024 found that many retail outlets around New York City, large and small alike, were still selling vehicles containing the illegal batteries.
Fires caused by malfunctioning batteries can be explosive and can spread remarkably quickly even when the batteries are not being actively charged. Most battery fires in 2023 actually being caused by batteries that weren’t plugged in. Therefore, public officials remind people in possession of e-bikes to not blockade their apartment entrances and exits if they bring them inside, as doing so has led to deadly fire traps.
Under then-Mayor Eric Adams in early 2025, the NYC DOT rolled out a $2 million battery swap program that small businesses could opt into, which has remained in effect after Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office. It serves as part of the “Charge Safe, Ride Safe” program, which was kicked off in 2023 and includes enforcement actions that can be taken by the FDNY and NYPD, namely summonses and seizures.
“The [FDNY] has also established an internal task force...consisting of members from the Bureau of Fire Investigation (BFI) and the Bureau of Fire Prevention (BFP) to address these issues, targeting areas that have seen clusters of fires and conducting inspections,” a report on the program notes.
As for what police enforcement technically looks like, the report states that the “NYPD begins their engagement with a business by doing outreach and providing education on the law. Businesses that continue offering illegal devices for sale have these devices seized and receive summonses.”
Further information on how to properly store an e-bike or e-scooter, whether it has a safe battery or not, can be found at FDNYSmart.org.