LITHIUM: Batteries aren’t safe

Spokane sponsored the Lime Scooters program (powered by lithium batteries) to provide quick, short-term travel in the crowded downtown area. But in 2023, more than 275 Lime scooters had been dumped into the Spokane River. Rationale was that many scooters — powered by lithium batteries — caused electrical explosions when being recharged.

Several videos were made available to the public. One viewed a man at 2:34 a.m. rushing into his den to see the battery of his scooter shooting small lightning bolts around the room. He went to the kitchen and grabbed a pan of water and returned to put out the fire. But he slipped, water spilling on the floor, and was then struck with several of the electrical sparks as he ran out of the room. In other videos, several cars, powered by lithium batteries, were viewed exploding and causing fires, and setting adjacent vehicles on fire.

Lithium batteries are not safe.

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department had recently bought a small fleet of e-bikes (lithium batteries?) The Press ran a story on June 19 indicating that the Coeur d’Alene Police Building’s destructive fire had been started by an e-bike powered by a battery! Quote from The Press: “Investigators focus on recently acquired battery-operated e-bicycles, one of which clearly showed evidence of a catastrophic failure of the lithium-ion battery pack that was being charged after being used that evening by the police.”   

As the powers that be are pushing the world to use other means of propulsion rather than gasoline, is this a wise alternative? 

KENNY MOORE 

Hayden