Right To Repair

"In a letter sent to New York Governor Kathy Hochul in December, People for Bikes asked that e-bikes be excluded from the state’s forthcoming digital right-to-repair law... The letter cited 'an unfortunate increase in fires, injuries and deaths attributable to personal e-mobility devices' including e-bikes. Many of these fires, People for Bikes claimed in the letter, 'appear to be caused by consumers and others attempting to service these devices themselves,' including tinkering with the batteries at home. Before Hochul signed the right-to-repair bill, it was revised to exempt e-bikes.

"Asked for data to back up the claim that e-bike fires were being caused by unauthorized repairs, Lovell said that it was 'anecdotal, from folks that are on the ground in New York.'"