Lyft Yanks 1000 electric bikes in San Francisco after two battery fires

Lyft has retired more than a thousand electric bikes from the hiring in San Francisco after at least two electric bikes have been the victims of battery fires in recent days, according to the San Francisco Examiner .

The 1,000 or so motorcycles were listed as "not available to runners" on Wednesday afternoon after the fires on Saturday and Wednesday, the newspaper wrote. The reviewer reporter, Joe Fitz Rodriguez, has posted on Twitter photos of the aftermath of the fire. Both bikes appeared to have been in docking stations by the time their batteries caught fire.

The case is not known, but a witness told the examiner that he had seen green liquid drain batteries. According to TechCrunch, fires have already affected electric bikes managed by competitors Skip and Lime.

"Cycling alone can be difficult and dangerous, the last thing you need is a bike on the street," City Supervisor Vallie Brown told the Examiner, adding that "the only thing you need is a bike on the street." she had found the incidents "really disturbing" because she had supported the project. The Lyft electric bike program in the past. Another supervisor, Matt Haney, described the fires as "really serious and frightening", saying the fleet should be removed from the streets of the city until Lyft can fix it.

Lyft recently won a preliminary ruling in a lawsuit against the city and its municipal transportation agency (SFMTA) to retain exclusive control of the bicycle rental market in San Francisco. The Lyft berth rental fleet enjoys a virtual monopoly in the city and, as part of the lawsuit, claimed that its contract with a regional transportation authority prevented the SFMTA from look for other candidates for a planned bike park without a dock.

In addition, Lyft was forced to pull her pedal-powered electric bikes off the street or leave them moored at stations in April in San Francisco, New York and Washington, DC, after reports that riders would have injured defective brakes. E-bikes were due to start coming back this summer and, according to the examiner, his fleet of "hybrid electric bicycles" (so-called because they have both moored capacity and dock-free capacity) was launched there two weeks ago in San Francisco following the conclusion of the legal battle.

"It is unfortunate that this incident has occurred and we are currently monitoring the situation," TechCrunch told SFMTA spokesperson. "We encourage Lyft to prioritize customer safety. Lyft has initiated an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident and how they intend to prevent any future fire, ensure customer safety and ensure the continued operation of the bike sharing system. Bikeshare is an important part of the SF transportation system. The Agency ensures that our residents can always count on the safety and availability of bicycles. "

"Because the safety of our cyclists is our main concern, we are temporarily making the electric bike park inaccessible while we study and update our battery technology," said a Lyft spokesman at the Examiner. . "… Thanks to our runners for their patience and we are looking forward to making electric bikes available again soon."