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A new report by charity Electrical Safety First has said e-bike and e-scooter batteries should be regulated like fireworks and heavy machinery, which require third-party approval before going on sale. A man has described the moment a fire ripped through his home after the battery for his son's e-bike "exploded like a grenade" in the middle of the night. Andrew Beaton, 59, said his family were "lucky" to escape after the bike, bought online for his son last Christmas, burst into flames while charging under the stairs. The blaze ripped through his Lancaster home at astonishing speed, momentarily trapping his...

NEW YORK (AP) — After a series of fires involving faulty e-bike batteries including a recent blaze that claimed four lives, New York City officials announced Sunday that they are receiving a $25 million emergency grant from the federal government to fund scores of charging stations citywide. Mayor Eric Adams hopes the stations will provide a safer way for delivery workers, who rely on e-bikes to efficiently do their jobs, to recharge lithium batteries used to power their bicycles. New York City has seen over 100 fires and 13 deaths this year linked to e-bikes, more than double the total...

Electric vehicles (EVs) are all the rage. They are touted as a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles. The United States government has passed numerous legislative actions to phase out gas-powered vehicles and make sure that, within the near term, all vehicles are electric. The common belief is that electric vehicles are more environmentally friendly and, in general, a safer form of energy. The dark secret: neither are true. Currently the gold standard for all major electronic products, EV’s included, are batteries which are made of lithium-ion. The inventor of lithium-ion himself, after receiving the Nobel Prize, warned...

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford Motor Co. has suspended production and halted shipments of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup after a battery caught fire during a pre-delivery quality check. Production at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, has been stopped until at least the end of next week. The fire happened at an outdoor lot nearby in Dearborn where vehicles are held for quality checks. The truck with the battery problem and two nearby vehicles were damaged by the fire, Bergg said. No injuries were reported. The company believes it has identified the root cause of the battery...

Ukrainian forces have reportedly blown up a bridge near the eastern city of Bakhmut, in a sign they may be planning to retreat from the area, which would give Russia a significant, symbolic boost ahead of the first anniversary of the war. Troops blew up the bridge on Monday, according to a local Donetsk region news site. Ukraine denies it intends to leave Bakhmut, despite six months of heavy fighting and reportedly dwindling stockpiles. It appears the Kremlin is concentrating maximum force on capturing Bakhmut before the one-year anniversary of the invasion on 24 February. Ukraine and its western allies...

NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities on Sunday were investigating a New York City high-rise fire that injured over three dozen people and was traced to a faulty lithium-ion battery, the latest in a fast-growing series of battery blazes that have fire officials concerned. Authorities have pinpointed the cause of the blaze as a lithium-ion battery related to a “micromobility” device, a term for e-bikes, electric scooters and other items that help people get around. Chief Fire Marshal Daniel Flynn said there were at least five bikes in the apartment where the fire started. Investigators believe an occupant did bike repairs,...

Jaguar I-Pace Car Catches on Fire While Charging Full story with photos here… https://electrek.co/2022/08/01/jaguar-i-pace-catches-fire-another-bolt-ev-battery-fire-situation/

Paris (AFP) – Dozens of electric buses will be taken off the streets of Paris temporarily "as a precaution" after two of the vehicles caught fire, public transport operator RATP said Friday. Following a second blaze on Friday morning, in which no one was hurt, "RATP has taken the decision to suspend use of 149 electric buses" of manufacturer Bollore's Bluebus 5SE model, the state-owned company said. The number 71 bus that caught fire in southeast Paris early Friday released thick clouds of black smoke and a strong smell of burning plastic, according to an AFP journalist on the scene....

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation into electric and hybrid vehicle batteries after five automakers issued recalls due to possible defects that could cause fires or stalling. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the probe covers more than 138,000 vehicles with batteries made by LG Energy Solution of South Korea. General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Stellantis and Volkswagen have issued recalls since February of 2020, most due to internal battery failures that can increase the risk of fires. The investigation is another bug in a growing global rollout of electric vehicles by all automakers to replace...

Update: The Felicity Ace, which caught fire near the coast of the Azores, will be towed to another European country or the Bahamas, the captain of the nearest port told Reuters on Friday. Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board have caught fire, and the blaze requires specialized equipment to extinguish, captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas said. The source of the fire is still unknown. "The ship is burning from one end to the other ... everything is on fire about five meters above the water line," Cabeças said. Tow boats were en route from...

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors says it will start making Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles again in early April after an eight-month pause due to a series of battery fire recalls. The automaker says Tuesday that battery supplier LG Energy Solution is now making enough to supply replacement modules for the recalls as well as to resume production. The company will start making hatchback and SUV versions of the Bolt on April 4 at a factory north of Detroit. Those should start reaching dealers a few weeks later. Vehicles on dealer lots at the time of the recalls can be sold...

Hertz, the car rental agency, said Monday that it had placed an order for 100,000 Teslas, a sign of growing momentum in the shift to electric vehicles. By the end of next year, when the Tesla order is completed, electric vehicles will make up more than 20% of Hertz’s global vehicle fleet, the company said. Hertz said it was teaming with NFL quarterback Tom Brady to promote its EV offerings in a marketing campaign. “Electric vehicles are now mainstream, and we’ve only just begun to see rising global demand and interest,” Mark Fields, Hertz’s interim chief executive, said in a...

With a tip of the boonie hat to Brock for the link, so says the ADL: "Rage Grows in America: Anti‑Government Conspiracies. The Three Percenters." Long-time readers may recall we have encountered the ADL's "militia expert" Mark Pitcavage before. Back in the 90s, Mark Pitcavage trolled the internet snitching for the FBI, assisted, he said, by "Sparky, the anti-militia dog." Now he works for ADL, and Sparky hasn't been heard from in years. There are conflicting rumors as to his sad fate. One said that Pitcavage sat on him, smothering the poor beast. Other reports say that Pitcavage ate him...

A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked the execution of a Muslim inmate in Alabama after the state refused to allow his imam to be at his death instead of a Christian prison chaplain. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted an emergency stay of execution for 42-year-old Domineque Ray one day before he was scheduled to be put to death for the rape and murder of 15-year-old Tiffany Harville more than two decades ago in Selma, Alabama. Ray has been held at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, since he was convicted and sentenced...

A Detroit utility worker responding to a reported power outage early Friday at a city lighting substation found a door to the building had been pried open. Then he found something much worse – the bodies of two men electrocuted by 24,000 volts after touching a transformer, reported WDIV. The bodies had been fused together.

In February 2012, then-President Barack Obama promised he’d buy a Chevrolet Volt in five years when he’s out of office and that time is now. Inquiries to Obama’s representatives so far have gone unanswered whether arrangements to acquire the now-second generation extended-range EV are being made. And, the statement he made to 1,600 United Auto Workers in Detroit seemed sincere enough. “Five years from now when I’m not president anymore, I’ll buy one and drive it myself,” said Obama after saying the secret service allowed him to sit in it, but not take it anywhere for obvious reasons. “Yes, that’s...

Chevy's 102 Volt sales may have led the Canadian plug-in electric vehicle market in February, and bring its national total to 5,611 units. Up slightly from January's 94 sales, this was also the plug-in hybrid Volt's best-ever February in Canada, easily surpassing the 38 sold a year ago. With the refreshed Volt and a deeper field of battery-electric vehicle competitors, there's a risk the company could face its first year-over-year sales decline this year - though with only two months gone, it may be far too early to predict doom and gloom for the world's most popular electric car.

Production of the 2017 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid began earlier this year, and the first vehicles will be arriving at Chevy dealerships nationwide shortly, with as much as a $1,000 incentive to help juice sales, reports Cars Direct. Pricing for the 2017 Chevy Volt starts at $34,095, including destination, but does not account for the $7,500 federal tax rebate or any state or local incentives. The $1,000 incentive from GM is available to buyers in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The all-new 2016 Chevy Volt debuted last year with...

If bison had 9 lives, Sparky has used up eight of them. This lucky bison is a resident at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa and managed to survive being struck by lightning in 2013. According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Interior, Sparky's prognosis wasn't good and they weren't sure he would survive. "But he proved us wrong!"

General Motors will stop making the Chevrolet Volt for four weeks in June and July due to slow sales and to deal with the change to an all-new version of the gas-electric hybrid car. The company says the Detroit-Hamtramck plant that makes the Volt and four other cars will probably stay open through the summer despite plans for the Volt. The factory also is undergoing construction so it can build a new full-size Cadillac CT6 and the 2016 Volt starting late in the summer. Sales of electric and hybrid cars have slowed this year, largely due to low gasoline prices....