Also it’s not even a choice. Busses are not mass produced vehicles they’re regulated individually made commercial vehicles, and when the bus manufacturers say ‘were not building manual transmissions as of X date’, that’s it. It’s not happening anymore. Same with ABS, and now electric, unless you want to start manufacturing busses yourself, it’s not gonna be a choice by then.
It’s insane to ban e-bikes though since most of those come from reputable sources who are internationally recognized bike manufacturers. The people who made my electric bike also make professional bicycles for Olympians. Pretty sure the battery is reliable and isn’t going to explode.
My bike has fallen into a swimming pool while switched on (don’t ask) and nothing happened. Literally it didn’t even register anything had happened it just carried it on.
My coworker bought one for $500 shipped. I highly doubt that battery has been properly inspected, especially since just buying a battery with similar capacity costs more than that.
Aircraft typically have a limit of 100 or 160 watt-hours and require that the battery be separate or the whole device be small (think laptop sized) so that you can dump it in a fireproof bag.
An e-bike has a ~1kWh battery that is probably strapped or zip-tied in place and there’s probably no serious firefighting equipment.
How is it better for those batteries to malfunction in the passenger compartment instead of the storage compartment of the plane? I don’t understand that.
Cabin crew on aircraft have fireproof bags and rather effective fire extinguishers. Dealing with a battery in the cargo hold isn’t possible.
If you want to carry a battery on an aircraft it generally has to be less than 100 (sometimes 160) watt-hours, whereas e-bike and other batteries are often 10x that.
I think it’s worth considering banning that type of battery, but a whole category of vehicles? There could be good reasons to ban the whole category as well but then state that, instead of making up some shit about batteries.
Electric buses have a battery from a probably reputable supplier, with a decent BMS.
Escooters often come from AliExpress.
There is a difference.
Also it’s not even a choice. Busses are not mass produced vehicles they’re regulated individually made commercial vehicles, and when the bus manufacturers say ‘were not building manual transmissions as of X date’, that’s it. It’s not happening anymore. Same with ABS, and now electric, unless you want to start manufacturing busses yourself, it’s not gonna be a choice by then.
It’s insane to ban e-bikes though since most of those come from reputable sources who are internationally recognized bike manufacturers. The people who made my electric bike also make professional bicycles for Olympians. Pretty sure the battery is reliable and isn’t going to explode.
My bike has fallen into a swimming pool while switched on (don’t ask) and nothing happened. Literally it didn’t even register anything had happened it just carried it on.
You’re not the boss of me. What happened?
The bike felt the battery heating up and wanted to cool down
That’s why I never buy sapient vehicles. That and the whole “is this slavery?” issue.
I want my vehicle to be sapient enough to moan when I whip it
Yours may be fine.
Barry Shitpea’s £100 dodgy 2000W temu special may not. And you can’t expect a bus driver to inspect every bike to only let reputable brands on.
My coworker bought one for $500 shipped. I highly doubt that battery has been properly inspected, especially since just buying a battery with similar capacity costs more than that.
The problem is telling the difference between a good bike (noting that even Samsung screwed that up with the Note 7…) and these: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/fire-brigade-calls-for-e-bike-battery-clampdown-after-london-man-suffers-life-changing-burns
Didn’t see them banning powerbank or batteries from powertools, and both also allowed on plane.
Aircraft typically have a limit of 100 or 160 watt-hours and require that the battery be separate or the whole device be small (think laptop sized) so that you can dump it in a fireproof bag.
An e-bike has a ~1kWh battery that is probably strapped or zip-tied in place and there’s probably no serious firefighting equipment.
Allowed in carry on but not checked bags, for the same reason.
How is it better for those batteries to malfunction in the passenger compartment instead of the storage compartment of the plane? I don’t understand that.
Cabin crew on aircraft have fireproof bags and rather effective fire extinguishers. Dealing with a battery in the cargo hold isn’t possible.
If you want to carry a battery on an aircraft it generally has to be less than 100 (sometimes 160) watt-hours, whereas e-bike and other batteries are often 10x that.
I think it’s worth considering banning that type of battery, but a whole category of vehicles? There could be good reasons to ban the whole category as well but then state that, instead of making up some shit about batteries.
No one has the time to check every escooter against a long list of battery supplier every time one wants to board.
Sure, but you can ban imports and make them illegal to own just like any other thing. You can’t prevent all crime but that’s no reason not to try.
the bus company can not ban imports