Lyft e-Bikes Are Starting on Fire

Published: Aug. 7, 2019, 2 p.m.

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I know everyone thinks that the worst thing about those electric scooter share programs is that, once they\\u2019ve served the rider\\u2019s purpose, they\\u2019re just discarded like trash until someone from the company arrives to pick them up. It\\u2019s this issue that\\u2019s resulted in several cities to actually ban certain scooter companies from operating there altogether.

But in the past year, we\\u2019ve learned that they can also start on fire \\u2013 the evidence of which was apparent when Skip and Lime pulled scooters temporarily after reports of batteries either smoldering or producing flames.

You know what? Just to be on the safe side, grab an electric bike instead\\u2026 no, not that either?

TechCrunch is reporting that ride-hailing giant Lyft, who also dabbles in bike sharing, is pulling more than a thousand electric bikes from locations in the Bay Area of California, after two of them caught fire over the past few days.

According to a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, though these were two separate incidents, both bikes appeared to be at docking stations when their batteries caught fire. No one was reportedly hurt, but witnesses told the Examiner that the batteries were leaking some kind of green fluid.

Lyft told TechCrunch that it was \\u201cout of an abundance of caution\\u201d that they were pulling the bikes, but the San Francisco Metro Transit Authority seems to have some concerns, stressing how important bikehsaring is to the transportation system in general. A spokesperson also said that they have an inquiry into Lyft \\u201cas to the circumstances surrounding this incident as well as to how they intend to prevent any future fires.\\u201d

So I guess, in the meantime, the best and safest \\u201cmicrotransportation\\u201d might be your feet. But it\\u2019s hot out there, so wear shoes.

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