Con Edison has entered into a partnership with the New York City Housing Authority that will see the placement of e-bike and e-scooter charging stations at four housing developments.
The charging stations, which will come with secure storage areas, will be at NYCHA developments in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn and should be operational by the end of the year. The aim is to increase e-bike and e-scooter usage, while at the same time reduce indoor battery charging that can be dangerous.
The FDNY said Monday that there have been 33 fires caused by e-bike/e-scooter batteries across New York City this year.
The project is a pilot program where the city will be able test whether the use of e-bikes and e-scooters increases if New Yorkers have suitable charging and storage areas.
Con Edison will gather information from the chargers to see how many unique riders use them and how long riders use the chargers and at what time of the day. In addition, Con Edison will determine the amount of carbon that would have been emitted if the users had driven passenger cars instead of micromobility devices.