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
Eagles react to facing the San Francisco 49ers in playoffs: ‘It’s going to be good on good’
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the San Francisco 49ers, the Eagles’ first-round opponent in the playoffs?
“Got to stop their run, Christian McCaffrey,” Brandon Graham said.
It is where the game plan and film review starts for good reason. McCaffrey was second in the NFL during the regular season in yards from scrimmage with 2,126 (1,202 rushing yards, 924 receiving yards). The sixth-seeded 49ers next Sunday will bring to Lincoln Financial Field (4:30 p.m., Fox29) a high-powered offense with McCaffrey as the focal point, and a defense that is nothing like the one that helped San Francisco reach four NFC title games — and two Super Bowls — during a five-season stretch from 2019 to 2023.
Reactions from the Eagles inside their locker room after they fell, 24-17, to the Washington Commanders in their regular-season finale were pretty similar.
Graham didn’t know who the Eagles were playing until reporters told him. He had other things to worry about during the course of Sunday’s game since he dressed and played. But Reed Blankenship and Zack Baun, two defensive starters who had the night off, each expressed a similar mindset: “It doesn’t matter who we play,” Blankenship said. “We’re all excited. A lot of us had a week off and we’re ready to play. I feel like that was the best decision that coach made and I feel fresh. We don’t know when we’re going to play them, but whatever day it is, they got to come over here and come back to Philly.”
Said Baun: “It’s a big game. It’s the postseason. It’s the playoffs, and this team definitely turns it on in the playoffs.”
The Eagles and 49ers have some recent history. A mini rivalry of sorts formed after the Eagles blew out the banged-up 49ers in the NFC title game, 31-7, during their run to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2022 season. The 49ers exacted revenge just over 10 months later in a 42-19 victory that kick-started the Eagles’ miserable collapse to finish the 2023 season.
» READ MORE: Eagles’ first playoff loss was to karma. Next up: the 49ers.
During that latter game, McCaffrey rushed 17 times for 93 yards and a touchdown and added three catches for 40 yards.
“Christian McCaffrey is a dog,” Blankenship said. “We played them in ‘23 and then obviously in ‘22, so I played them twice. They have a really good offensive core and obviously it’s going to be a challenge. It’s the playoffs. Everybody is good. It’s going to be good on good. It’s win or go home, but we’re ready. We’re prepared for that. We’ve been through that.”
DeVonta Smith said the playoff opener is “just another game, but it’s the playoffs. We don’t want to go home, so everybody’s going to have a little more oomph.”
The 49ers have been bringing the oomph. They were 6-4 through 10 weeks and then won six consecutive games before falling, 13-3, Saturday night at home to Seattle against one of the best defenses in the NFL. They are 7-2 in games quarterback Brock Purdy has started.
The Eagles will likely be leaning on Saturday’s low-output offensive effort from the 49ers as they prepare for their first postseason matchup. Like top-seeded Seattle, the Eagles have one of the best defenses in the league, and while the Eagles’ offense has been inconsistent, San Francisco’s strength isn’t its defense. The 49ers gave up 38 points to Chicago last week and needed a red-zone stand to keep their hopes alive for the No. 1 seed. The Eagles, who opened as 3½-point favorites, probably feel their ability to take care of the ball and play good defense is the recipe for a win.
“We just got to be us and bring the energy,” Graham said. “Play fast on defense and put the offense in a great position. It’s going to be [about] field position in that game.
“I know the 49ers are going to definitely come here and try to get one on our field and we got to defend it.”
Blankenship and Baun both said they felt rested and ready for the postseason run. It was the obvious topic of conversation after the Eagles lost and missed out on a chance to secure the No. 2 seed in the conference. The Eagles chose rest over the possibility of moving up a spot, and Blankenship said he wasn’t going to look back with any regrets.
Nick Sirianni talked earlier in the week about his decision, and one of the things he pointed to was the Eagles resting their starters in Week 18 last season and entering the postseason healthy and rested.
Last season’s playoff run ended with a Lombardi Trophy and a parade on Broad Street. Why, despite the ups and downs, might this team have another run in them?
“I think we’re really ramping it up,” Baun said. “I feel like we’re in a good position as a team, as a collective. Especially as a defense, we’re playing really good football right now.”
It all starts next weekend.
“It’s a big game,” Baun said. “It’s the postseason. It’s the playoffs, and this team definitely turns it on in the playoffs.”
San Francisco, CA
Philadelphia Eagles to play San Francisco 49ers in NFL playoffs. Here’s what you need to know.
The Philadelphia Eagles will begin the playoffs against the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round next weekend at Lincoln Financial Field.
The Birds (No. 3 seed) had a chance to earn the No. 2 seed with a win, but lost to the Washington Commanders in the regular season finale.
Here’s what you need to know about the matchup vs. the 49ers and more.
Which day will the Eagles and 49ers play?
The date and time of the wild-card round matchup between the Eagles and 49ers have yet to be announced, but playoff games are scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Two games will take place Saturday, three will happen Sunday and the final first-round matchup will be on Monday night.
Eagles and 49ers postseason history
The Eagles and 49ers have only met twice in postseason history, most recently in the NFC championship game in the 2022 season.
The Eagles won that game, 31-7, before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. In that game, the 49ers were decimated at quarterback as Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson suffered injuries.
After Johnson exited, Purdy returned to the game in the third quarter, but he was unable to throw the football beyond a few yards. The injuries to San Francisco’s quarterbacks led to the NFL approving a rule change that allows teams to play an emergency quarterback if the starter and backup are injured.
The Eagles are 1-1 vs. San Francisco all-time in the playoffs. Philadelphia’s loss to the 49ers in the playoffs happened in the wild-card round in 1996.
The title game in the 2022 season between the Eagles and 49ers started a rivalry that boiled over into 2023.
In 2023, the 49ers traveled to Lincoln Financial Field in Week 13 and dominated the Eagles, 42-19. The loss started the infamous collapse for the Eagles to end the season as the Birds lost six of the final seven games, including the playoff exit vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The loss to the Niners in the 2023 season also featured Eagles security chief Dom DiSandro and then-49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw being ejected from the game after a scuffle on the sideline.
The Eagles and 49ers haven’t played each other since the 2023 season.
How the Eagles and 49ers got here
The Eagles went 11-6 in the 2025 season and won the NFC East for the second consecutive year, which ended a 20-year stretch of the division not having a repeat winner.
The Niners had a chance to earn the No. 1 seed, but fell to the Seattle Seahawks Saturday night. The 49ers finished the year with a 12-5 record to earn the No. 6 seed.
With a loss against the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers officially lost the one seed and a chance at a bye week. They will be playing next week, but it’s not quite determined who they will play and when. A few games on Sunday will determine this.
Who the San Francisco 49ers will play in the Wild Card Round
The 49ers will either be the five or six seed. They will be the five if the Los Angeles Rams lose to the Arizona Cardinals. However, if the Rams beat the Cardinals, the 49ers will be the sixth seed in the NFC.
A few notable starters, such as Davante Adams and Kevin Dotso,n will be out, but Matthew Stafford is going to play, and he is competing for the MVP. Arizona has not won a game in a few months their front office would like to lose for draft pick purposes and they are heavy underdogs in this game.
The most likely outcome is that the Rams will be the fifth seed and they will get to face the NFC South winner. Meanwhile, the Bears will take on one of the Philadelphia Eagles or Chicago Bears. While the 49ers beat the Bears and lost to the Bucs, most fans would rather see the Bucs, so the 49ers will be rooting for the Cardinals, even if that is unlikely.
Chicago plays the Detroit Lions, and if they win, they will get the two-seed. That would mean that the Philadelphia Eagles will host the 49ers in the Wild Card Round. If the Bears lose and the Eagles win, the 49ers would head to Chicago to take on the Bears.
Then, if the Bears and Eagles lose, the 49ers would head to Philadelphia. Philadelphia is taking on the Washington Commanders, and they have not won in about as long as the Cardinals. They are also looking at starting Josh Johnson again this week, which should ensure one more loss.
So, with the Rams and Eagles being near locks to win, it will come down to the Bears. The Lions are not bottom dwellers like the other two, and we know Dan Campbell will play to beat the Bears.
Detroit is not quite a playoff team, but they can compete with any playoff team, so they could end up giving Chicago a run for their money. 49ers fans are going to want Detroit to show up and play well. While it is not easy to beat a team twice, with the second being in their home, they would like to avoid the Eagles, who have a defense that can compare to Seattle. We saw what happened against that type of defense.
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