There’s no real difference between the chargers for an electric bike and a MacBook Pro. But a new San Francisco law treats one as a dire threat to public safety and the other as a harmless feature of everyday life. Some of the city’s e-bike retailers now say that distinction could put them out of business.
San Francisco, CA
SF’s e-bike shops say new battery law could put them out of business
Responding to an increased number of fires spawned by improperly charged e-bike batteries, the Board of Supervisors in February unanimously amended the city’s fire code to regulate which e-bikes can be sold and how their lithium-ion batteries are to be handled. Among other things, the law sets a minimum distance between charging stations in stores and—perhaps most cost-prohibitively—mandates the installation of sprinkler systems.
“That basically means you’re putting any bike store without [sprinklers] out of business,” said Eugene Dickey, the owner of Third Rail EBikes in the Mission District. “We’re an older building. I don’t even have plumbing here, so we’re talking on the order of $50,000 to $60,000 to get sprinklers.”
The pandemic was a boom time for e-bike retailers, as the battery-powered devices became a popular alternative for getting around San Francisco without a car or just getting some exercise. But as gyms reopened and the threat of Covid began to recede, bike manufacturers and retailers had to grapple with another challenge: exploding battery cells, which generate toxic fumes and scary headlines.
The San Francisco Fire Department now responds to an average of 30 exploding battery fires a year—some quite severe, like a November 2020 incident at a residential mid-rise that injured five people and displaced 15.
Brett Thurber, the founder of Bernal Heights e-bike shop The New Wheel, agreed that safety concerns for cheaply made e-bike batteries are real. But in spite of a few headline-grabbing incidents, he said, the increase in fires is nowhere near the exponential growth in e-bike use. Cheap, imported bikes that can be purchased online often don’t meet safety standards. This is where most fires tend to come from, Thurber believes, which is but one reason that The New Wheel doesn’t stock them.
Thurber believes the city is overreacting with its new legislation. In New York, tens of thousands of food-delivery drivers—often immigrants living in substandard housing conditions—have daisy-chained power strips together, sometimes charging dozens of cheap e-bikes at once and sparking serious fires. That has not been the case in San Francisco, he said.
“It’s not that these bikes aren’t tested,” Thurber said of his stock of Benno Boosts and Tern HSDs, which can cost upward of $4,200, far more than the $500 e-bikes found on Amazon or Alibaba. The law allows for a six-month grace period, for retailers like The New Wheel to comply, “but they’re saying a lot of quality e-bikes are no longer allowed to be charged in San Francisco apartments.”
At Scenic Routes Community Bike Shop in the Richmond District, the shop policy is not to leave anything charging overnight or without an employee present. But co-owner Jay Beaman called the law’s safety concerns misplaced in comparison to the hazards on San Francisco streets.
Instead of worrying about the minimal number of fires caused by e-bike batteries, regulators should be “talking about traffic deaths,” Beaman said. “More pedestrians and cyclists are getting killed than ever before.”
Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who wrote the battery-charging legislation, insisted the city is not looking to put bike shops out of business—let alone go house to house in search of illegal bicycles. In drafting the bill, he worked with a group of e-bike retailers as well as Lyft, which operates the electric Bay Wheels bike-share fleet.
“We tried to do every compromise that the fire marshal didn’t think was compromising public safety,” he said. “But there were certain points at which the fire marshal said, ‘Hey, if you do these things, you might as well not bother.’”
One such compromise deals with safety certification. The e-bike industry has evolved quickly, but some quality e-bikes may not yet have what’s known as EN or UL certification, referring to European Standards and Underwriters Laboratories. So Peskin rewrote the bill to allow the San Francisco Fire Department the ability to make its own determination that specific e-bikes are safe.
Kash Haas of Warm Planet Bikes, one of the bike shop owners who worked with Peskin, applauded the supervisor for taking certification standards into account. But, he noted, the legislation doesn’t address another safety issue, one even more keenly felt by electric bike owners: theft.
“If you stand down on Market Street, you will see someone on a stolen e-bike with a battery stolen from another e-bike duct-taped to the frame—and you know this guy is charging it with a charger that is not rated for whatever they are doing,” Haas said.
San Francisco fire marshal Ken Cofflin noted that the legislation doesn’t actually single out e-bikes. It also covers e-scooters and hoverboards—essentially, all electric mobility devices apart from wheelchairs. Further, he believes the change was necessary because of the uncontrolled way that damaged lithium-ion batteries typically burn, a chain reaction known by the somewhat Chernobyl-esque term “thermal runaway.”
“Lithium-ion batteries don’t burn out. Water doesn’t extinguish it,” Cofflin said. “You have to keep cooling it. In a high-rise, you can’t drag it outside.”
In a sense, it’s the very success of lithium-ion batteries that has escalated these concerns. Since their introduction in the early 1990s, they’ve become cheaper and more powerful, key elements in the transition from the internal combustion engines. Powerful batteries can translate to more intense fires—an uncomfortable tradeoff for consumers and lawmakers committed to encouraging climate-safe modes of transportation.
“We understand the city wants more bicycles to lessen the carbon output,” Cofflin said. “We’re not trying to stop that. We’d just like to get down to zero fires.”
San Francisco, CA
Bay Area mom says 90% of her income is from TikTok as app's future still uncertain
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — TikTok restored its service on Sunday after a temporary shutdown Saturday night that left 170 million American users unable to access the app. The outage also disrupted many influencers who rely on the platform for their livelihoods.
San Francisco content creator Anna Brown, known to her 2.4 million TikTok followers as “AnnaTwinsies,” says the ban was worrisome. Her content often shows her daily life with her two sets of twins.
Brown tells ABC7 News she earns between $5,000 and $20,000 per branded post and 90% of her income comes from TikTok.
“The last couple of weeks, everyone has been talking about it,” Brown said. “But I was literally thinking they will figure something out to prevent it. Some say maybe a VPN will work, or you could have someone abroad manage the account, but no one for sure knows what’s going to happen.”
TikTok thanks Trump after it begins restoring service to US users
Brown noted that she has a backup plan if TikTok becomes unavailable.
“Luckily for me, my Instagram account started taking off this year,” she said. A check of her Instagram shows over one million followers. “I would probably be able to make it without TikTok.”
TikTok released a statement thanking former President Donald Trump, who is expected to issue an executive order delaying any potential ban for 90 days. However, the details of such an order remain unclear. The law allows for a president to do that as long as Tiktok’s Chinese owners are in the process of selling. But parent company ByteDance has said it will not sell.
Trump previously issued an executive order in 2020 aiming to remove TikTok from U.S. app stores, citing national security concerns.
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San Francisco, CA
Thousands march against Trump in S.F. But it’s a far cry from 2016 protests
On the eve of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, thousands gathered at Civic Center Plaza in front of San Francisco City Hall on Sunday, vowing to resist.
But unlike the mass demonstrations that accompanied Trump’s first term in office — the largest in U.S. history, which brought out millions of ordinary Americans less accustomed to taking streets — Sunday’s march was led by socialist groups and featured a hodgepodge of leftist issues.
Speakers led “Free Palestine” chants, railed against deportations, and even called for a unified Korea without U.S military bases. Trump was a through line, but not always the focus of the march.
The many in the Bay Area who voted against Trump, for the most part, stayed home. Although it did draw more people than Saturday’s march focused on immigrant and reproductive rights as well as climate change.
“We come together, as we always do, when there’s a heightened threat of more war, poverty, sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and environmental destruction” said Ramsey Robinson, who spoke on behalf of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “We fight back,” he added.
The rally was organized by a coalition of leftist organizations, including Mission Advocates, the Colectiva de Mujeres, and unions including the United Educators of San Francisco and Unite Here Local 2, the hospitality workers’ union.
Speakers voiced their concerns for issues beyond concerns about Trump: namely, climate change, the Israeli occupation in Palestine and immigrants’ and workers’ rights.
“We know that the cease fire is the bare minimum, and we know that the fight ahead is long,” said a speaker for the Palestinian Youth Movement.“It is only just beginning, and we need to continue to show up for Palestine.”
Most participants who spoke to Mission Local were involved in activism and organizing in some capacity; few were attending a protest for the first time. While at least hundreds attended, the size crowd was a far cry from the protests that took over the city in 2016 when Trump was first elected.
“I wish there were more [people]” said Jason Capili. “I feel like more people are resigned. It’s worrisome because this time we need to get up twice as hard.”
Others shared the same sentiment.
“Some people are fired up,” said Donna Wallach, a participant who traveled from San Jose to attend the rally. “Others feel hopeless and powerless,” she added.
Greg Shore, another participant, echoed the same concern that some people are more complacent now. 77 million people voted for Trump, he said, “It’s beyond comprehension.”
Bao, another participant who happened to stumble upon the event while heading to the library, was concerned about how voters are informing themselves. Trump is a convicted felon, they said. “Did people know? If they did, then all hope is lost right?” they added.
Bao decided to pick up a sign advocating for reproductive and trans rights. “Let’s keep protesting,” they said.
The rally eventually mobilized and marched down Market Street, chanting. “When people’s rights are under attack, what do we do?” speakers shouted over the microphone. “Fight back” the crowd cheered.
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco wins 81-70 over Oregon State
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Malik Thomas had 24 points in San Francisco’s 81-70 win against Oregon State on Saturday night
Thomas shot 8 for 11 (4 for 6 from 3-point range) and 4 of 5 from the free-throw line for the Dons (16-5, 6-2 West Coast Conference). Marcus Williams added 21 points while shooting 8 for 12, including 4 for 5 from beyond the arc while he also had five assists. Tyrone Riley IV shot 4 of 5 from the field, including 3 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 6 from the line to finish with 15 points.
The Beavers (14-6, 4-3) were led by Michael Rataj, who posted 18 points, six rebounds and two steals. Damarco Minor added 12 points and six rebounds for Oregon State. Parsa Fallah had nine points.
San Francisco took the lead with 8:05 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. Thomas scored 14 points in the first half to help put the Dons ahead 43-34 at the break. San Francisco turned a 10-point second-half lead into a 19-point advantage with a 9-0 run to make it a 61-42 lead with 12:11 left in the half. Riley scored 11 second-half points in the win.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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