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Comment by sokoloff | Hacker News Reader

> Starting last September the city outlawed the sale of these batteries, requiring that all batteries be certified as safe by a consumer safety group such as UL Listed.

(Thinking as a hacker/tinkerer,) Googling for the law, it seems like it applies to mobility devices or their batteries that are sold, leased, or rented in New York City. Meaning it would presumably not apply to DIY/home-built batteries used personally (which I think is a good thing on-balance).

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Right, if you're ordering individual cells/packs and DIYing something you are taking some responsibility for that. If a consumer walks into a shop off the street and buys a scooter or bike, they aren't expected to try to figure out whether the battery is from a reputable manufacturer or has a proper BMS or charging protection.

I still would think twice about doing DIY battery work in a multi-family unit. I wanted to get into FPV drones but reading about the concerns with battery charging and issues with minor damage, I decided I had nowhere to safely charge and passed on it.

I haven't looked into it too much, but I'm also curious if your insurance would have a major issue, and if you open yourself to possible criminal/civil legal troubles if you start a fire due to a botched unattended DIY battery setup.

We had a shorted phone battery go off into our workshop. It wasn't fun and we had to evacuate and vent the place for an hour. The smoke is awful. It's best to have a metal bucket of water and a metal shovel to throw the thing inside the bucket and take it outdoors. Easy outdoor access is needed. Using other non igniting chemistries like LiFePo shall mitigate the dangers. LiIon/Poly is too dangerous, to the point that it will get banned as soon as there is a safer replacement.

in the meantime the market for lemons that is sketchy batteries has caused many residential buildings in NYC to ban e-bikes entirely which is unfortunate

Exactly. For an arms-length sale to an off-the-street consumer, I think laws requiring certification or otherwise demonstrated compliance with established standards are reasonable. I just hate it when those laws inadvertently (or intentionally) preclude DIY/hobbyist/experimentation.

People shouldn't be tinkering with Lithium batteries inside homes, especially multi-tenant homes.

They should be treated with the same caution you would a combustion engine or meth lab.

I think people should be able to tinker with internal combustion engines as well.

Tinkering with internal combustion engines in a personal garage? Sure.

In an apartment of a multi-family dwelling? Less sure.

Exactly, guy in Queens literally killed his family doing commercial lithium battery work on his kitchen table..

yes but thats where a garage, driveway or some space other than "inside homes, especially multi-tenant homes" comes into play

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