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Trade-In Program for Electric Powered Mobility Devices and Lithium-Ion Batteries

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Rule status: Adopted

Agency: DOT

Effective date: November 22, 2024

Proposed Rule Full Text
DOT-Proposed-Rules-Relating-to-Trade-In-Program-for-Electric-Powered-Mobility-Devices-and-Lithium-Ion-Batteries-FINAL-with-Certifications7.22.2.pdf

Adopted Rule Full Text
Notice-of-Adoption-E-Bike-Trade-In-9.25_Law-10.10-Final.pdf

Adopted rule summary:

New York City Department of Transportation’s (DOT) “Traffic Rules” contained in Chapter 4 of Title 34 of the Rules of the City of New York are amended to establish of a trade-in program for powered mobility devices or lithium- ion batteries used in powered mobility devices.

Comments are now closed.

Online comments: 2

  • Katherine O'Sullivan

    If these trade-ins are being financed by my tax dollars then I am opposed to this. What I would like to see in this city is unarmed traffic wardens with the ability to issue tickets to illegal wheeled vehicles on the sidewalk and every wheeled machine that runs red lights. I would like to see the speed of e-vehicles reduced to 15 mph.

    Comment added August 14, 2024 6:40pm

  • Ari Nagel

    My name is Ari Nagel. I am not an expert on e-bikes or lithium ion batteries, but I am a concerned New York parent, with the unique qualification of being the father of children who currently reside in NYC in all 5 boroughs, many of whom live in in apartment buildings in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.

    I have never commented on a rule change before, but the clear and immediate danger to public safety that the DOT is proposing, has motivated me to urgently speak up. Lithium-ion batteries are extremely flammable, whether they are certified or not, so the NYC DOT should be focusing on policies that get batteries out of apartment buildings, not going backwards and actually bringing more batteries into buildings. The DOT bike trade-in program, as proposed, would not just bring one new battery into buildings per trade-in, it would actually give, “ two compatible, UL-certified batteries to eligible applicants”. Delivery workers who take advantage of this trade-in program would constantly be charging one battery unsupervised, endangering every member of the apartment buildings they reside in.

    The better solution would be using any available government funds to expand the,“highly successful”, outdoor battery swapping pilot program that is currently up and running on NYC streets. This program is scalable, far safer because it gets batteries totally out of apartment buildings, while adding continuous accountability and monitoring along the life cycle of the battery.

    I am currently visiting my daughter Moti in Taiwan. Taiwan has the largest outdoor battery swapping network in the world, with over 400,000 daily battery swaps. NYC has an e-bike battery fire in an apartment building almost every, while Taiwan has none. The NYC DOT should learn from Taiwan and adjust the proposed rules to make my NYC based children as safe as my Taiwanese daughter.

    Comment added August 24, 2024 11:19pm