They also spend hours a day riding bikes all over the city, which means more wear and tear and the possibility of damaging the batteries.

Gig work is low-income work, which means deliveristas are more likely to buy cheap e-bikes and batteries that aren’t certified. While the FDNY doesn’t break down stats into what types of devices caused the fires, 80 of the 2023 fires occurred in structures like homes, buildings and offices. This year, there have already been 114 investigations into lithium-ion fires, 74 injuries and 13 deaths, as of July 3, 2023. In 2022, there were 220 fires that resulted in 147 injuries and six deaths, up from 104 fires, 79 injuries and four deaths in 2021 and 44 fires, 23 injuries and zero deaths in 2020. In New York City, lithium-ion fires caused by micromobility vehicles have more than doubled each year from 2020 to 2022, according to Fire Department of New York (FDNY) data. And deliveristas, the gig labor force largely made up of immigrant men from Spanish-speaking countries, are increasingly at risk of falling victim to such fires.Īs if they didn’t have enough to worry about, given bike theft, assaults, reckless NYC drivers, rain, snow, hail, sleet, heat and no access to public toilets. The downside? Fires caused by lithium-ion batteries are tearing through the city. This increased pressure comes as electric bikes, scooters and mopeds become more popular and accessible, making the jobs of delivery workers easier. But New York wouldn’t be the city that never sleeps if its denizens couldn’t get an order of chicken wings and pork fried rice delivered at three in the morning.Īs cost of living skyrockets and demand for food delivery via apps like Grubhub, DoorDash, Uber Eats and Relay increase, delivery workers have to pick up and drop off orders at a much faster clip. Delivery workers are so integral to the landscape that it’s often easy to take them for granted. The sight of bike delivery workers hustling through the streets of New York - oven mitts duct-taped to their handlebars, insulated pizza delivery bags strapped above the back tire - has been a staple long before the introduction of e-bikes and food delivery apps.

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