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BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
How electric scooters are driving China's salt battery push
The country is racing ahead of the rest of the world in bringing sodium-ion batteries to the mass market. This time, through scooters. Dozens of glitzy electric mopeds are lined up outside a shopping mall in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China, drawing passersby to test them. But these Vespa-like scooters, which sell for between £300 and £500 ($400 and $660), are not powered by the mainstream lead-acid or lithium-ion cells, commonly used in electric two-wheelers. Instead, their batteries are made from sodium, an abundant element that can be extracted from sea salt. Next to the scooters stand a few fast-charging pillars, which can replenish the vehicles' power level from 0% to 80% in 15 minutes, according to Yadea, the major Chinese two-wheeler manufacturer holding this promotional event in January 2025 for its newly launched mopeds and charging system. There is also a battery-swapping station, which enables commuters to drop in their spent cells in exchange for fresh ones with a scan of a QR code. (Read more about China's battery swap stations for electric vehicles here.) Yadea is one of many companies in China trying to build a competitive edge in alternative battery technologies, a trend that shows just how fast the country's clean-technology industry is developing. Even as the rest of the world tries to close its gap with China in the race to make cheap, safe and efficient lithium-ion batteries, Chinese companies have already taken a head-start towards mass producing sodium-ion batteries, an alternative that could help the industry reduce its dependence on key raw minerals. Chinese carmakers were the first in the world to launch sodium-powered cars. But the impact of these models – all of them tiny with short ranges – has been low so far. In April 2025, the world's largest battery manufacturer, China's CATL, announced its plan to mass-produce sodium-ion batteries for heavy-duty trucks and cars this year under a new brand Naxtra. China's grid operators have also started to build energy storage stations using sodium-ion batteries to help the grid absorb renewables. This is an area considered by many researchers spoken to by the BBC as the main playground for the emerging technology. Chinese companies' multi-pronged strategy in driving sodium-ion batteries will put it in a leading position of a global race – should there be one, says Cory Combs, who researches critical minerals and supply chains at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China. He says it remains to be seen whether sodium-ion batteries will really take off. But one segment that is betting big on sodium-ion batteries is the two-wheeler, a fast-growing and highly competitive market in China. Yadea has brought three sodium-powered models to the market so far and is planning to launch more. It has also established the Hangzhou Huayu New Energy Research Institute to research emerging battery chemistries, particularly sodium-ion. "We want to bring technology from the lab to customers fast," Zhou Chao, the company's senior vice president, said in January during a talk show on China Central Television in January. Cue the 'little electric donkey' Two-wheelers are an extremely popular mode of transport in many Asian countries, including Vietnam and Indonesia. In China, they are ubiquitous, carrying their owners to shops, offices, metro stations and everywhere in between. Because they are practical and versatile, the Chinese have given them an endearing nickname: "little electric donkeys". "Two-wheeled vehicles typically operate over shorter distances and at lower speeds [than cars], making them less demanding in terms of energy density and power output," says Chen Xi, who researches energy storage materials and devices at Xi'an-Jiaotong Liverpool University in China. A sodium-ion battery carries significantly less energy than a lithium-ion battery of the same size, which means it has a lower energy density. For two-wheelers, sodium-ion batteries' main rivals are lead-acid ones, whose energy density and rechargeable cycles are even lower. Their only advantage is that they are cheaper than both sodium and lithium-ion batteries currently, Xi says. The sheer number of two-wheelers in Asia paves a promising pathway to achieving economies of scale. In China alone, around 55 million electric two-wheelers were sold in 2023 – nearly six times the number of all pure, hybrid and fuel-cell electric cars combined sold in the country that year – according to Shanghai-based consultancy iResearch. Scale production was the goal of Yadea. Zhou said at the talk show that the firm was seeking to bring sodium batteries to tens of millions of ordinary commuters by not only fitting them into two-wheelers, but also building a charging ecosystem to enable people to use these models without stress. To test the waters, in 2024 Yadea began a pilot programme with 150,000 food delivery couriers working in Shenzhen, a mega city of 17.8 million people in southern China, reported Shenzhen News. The goal was to enable them to hand in a spent Yadea sodium-ion batteries at its partners' battery-swapping stations in exchange for a fully charged one within 30 seconds, Yadea said. Yadea and other companies, such as battery-swapping firm Dudu Huandian, have grown so rapidly in Shenzhen the city now aims to become a "battery-swapping city". It aims to install 20,000 charging or swapping pods for various types of batteries for electric scooters in 2025, and 50,000 by 2027, according to Shenzhen Electric Bicycle Industry Association, a trade body that is working with the Shenzhen government to promote battery swapping. The city – which already has a "battery-swapping park" – will build a vast network of battery swapping facilities to enable residents to find a station every five minutes, the trade body says. Boom and bust Sodium-ion and lithium-ion batteries have similar structures. The main difference is the ions they use – the particles shuttling back and forth between a battery's positive and negative sides to store and release energy. Sodium is widely dispersed in the sea and the Earth's crust, making it about 400 times more abundant than lithium. Sodium-ion cells are therefore more accessible and potentially cheaper to produce at scale. They could also free the battery industry from choking points in current supply chains. Lithium ore is currently predominantly mined in Australia, China and Chile, but the processing of the mineral is concentrated in China, which has nearly 60% of the world's lithium-refining capacity. Sodium-ion batteries are not a recent invention. Their fate has been intertwined with that of lithium-ion batteries. The research and development of both cells began about half a century ago, with Japan leading the global effort. But after Japanese electronics company Sony launched the world's first lithium-ion battery in 1991, its huge commercial success led the development of sodium-ion technology to be largely paused – until the beginning of this decade. By then, China had become the dominant battery force worldwide through years of an industrial push by the government. More like this:• Where EV batteries go to die – and be reborn• The batteries made from cement• Renewable energy's trouble with 'wind theft' 2021 proved to be a turning point for sodium-ion batteries. The global prices for battery-grade lithium skyrocketed, multiplying over fourfold in a year due to strong demand for electric vehicles (EV) and the Covid-19 pandemic. Battery and EV manufacturers began to look for alternatives. CATL launched its first-ever sodium-ion battery in July that year, and the move "triggered high industry interest", says Phate Zhang, founder of the Shanghai-based EV news outlet CnEVPost. Lithium's prices continued to soar in 2022, driving more cost-conscious Chinese companies towards sodium, he notes. "The relative abundance of sodium and China's interest in a resilient battery supply chain has been a central factor in driving research and development efforts," says Kate Logan, a director at the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington DC who focuses on China's climate and clean energy policies. Around the time of the mineral's price hike, the country imported roughly 80% of the lithium ore it refined, mainly from Australia and Brazil. But the price of lithium started to plunge in late 2022 and is at a fraction of its peak level today. One reason is that major Chinese battery makers such as CATL and Gotion have expanded their lithium-processing capacity, Zhang says. China has also boosted efforts to find and develop domestic lithium reserves. As a result, the "frenzy" around sodium-ion in the last couple of years has "relaxed", Combs notes. "Lithium is pretty squarely back in the leadership role again within China." Seeking safety For many, though, there are other good reasons to take up sodium-ion batteries. One is safety. In 2024, China was shocked by a wave of battery fires, mostly triggered by the self-combustion of lithium-ion batteries in two-wheelers. Globally, fire risks at energy storage stations have become a concern. In a recent example, a blaze broke out at one such facility inside a major battery plant in California in January 2025. Some industry insiders believe that sodium-ion batteries are safer. They are less prone to overheating and burning compared to lithium-ion ones because sodium's chemical traits are more stable, according to some studies. But others warn that it is still too early to be certain about their safety due to a lack of relevant research. Cold weather also makes a difference. The energy a lithium-ion battery can store and the times it can be recharged drop at sub-zero temperatures. Sodium-ion batteries are less affected by harsh conditions. "Compared to lithium ions, sodium ions move more easily through the liquid inside the battery. This gives them better conductivity and means they need less energy to break free from the surrounding liquid," says Tang Wei, a professor of chemical engineering at China's Xi'an Jiaotong University. Tang and his team have developed a new type of battery liquid they say can enable sodium-ion batteries to achieve more than 80% of their room-temperature capacity at −40C (-40F). They are working with Chinese battery firms to apply the technology onto vehicles and energy storage stations in the country's cold regions. Sodium-ion batteries are also expected to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing the metals used in lithium-ion cells, particularly cobalt and nickel – heavy metals that can negatively impact humans and nature. A 2024 study concluded that sodium-ion batteries can help the world avoid excessive mining and possible depletion of critical raw materials, but that the production process generates similar volumes of greenhouse gas emissions to lithium-ion cells. As these batteries are still being developed, "their production processes, lifespans and energy density can all be improved", says Zhang Shan, the study's lead author and a researcher at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. "Their impact on the climate may be lower than that of lithium-ion batteries in the future." Fuelling four-wheelers Two of the earliest electric cars powered by sodium batteries rolled off the assembly lines in December 2023. So far, all available models have been "microcars", officially classified as A00 in China. But their sales only made up a tiny number of the tens of millions of EVs sold in 2024 in China, says Xing Lei, an independent analyst of the Chinese auto industry (one report found just 204 were sold in 2024). A big downside of sodium-ion batteries is their low energy density: a 2020 study found it is at least 30% lower than their lithium counterparts. This means cars using them typically cannot travel very far on a single charge, Zhang says. "And range is a big deciding factor for people when they buy an EV." Sodium-ion batteries have yet to achieve mass production and currently "cannot compete with lithium-ion batteries on price or performance" in four-wheelers, making large-scale use in the next two or three years difficult, says Chen Shan, a Shanghai-based analyst on battery markets at Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy. The uptake of sodium scooters across China has been gradual but encouraging. A spokesperson from Yadea – which sold more than 13 million electric bikes and mopeds globally in 2024 – told the BBC that the sales of its sodium two-wheelers reached nearly 1,000 in the first three months of 2025. The company intends to build around 1,000 fast-charging pillars specifically designed for sodium-ion batteries this year in Hangzhou enabling commuters to find a station every 2km (1.2 miles), Zhou said at the talk show. Yadea is not alone in its sodium push. Another Chinese scooter manufacturer, Tailg, has been selling sodium-powered models since 2023. FinDreams, the battery arm of EV major BYD, is building a plant in east China's Xuzhou to make sodium batteries in partnership with Huaihai Group, a manufacturer of two and three-wheelers, according to local media. Although lead-acid batteries will continue to dominate this industry, the market share of sodium-ion batteries has been projected to grow rapidly over the next five years. By 2030, 15% of China's electric scooters will be powered by them, compared to 0.04% in 2023, according to an analysis by the Shenzhen-based Starting Point Research Institute, which assesses China's battery industry. Greening the grid In fact, a bigger market for sodium-ion batteries may be energy storage stations, which absorb power produced at one time so it can be used later. When they are installed in fixed locations, the disadvantages of using sodium-ion batteries in vehicles disappear. "You can just make a slightly bigger energy storage plant. It's not moving anywhere. The weight [of the batteries] doesn't matter," Combs says. Energy storage is expected to be an enormous and a rapidly growing market as countries across the globe aim to reach their climate goals. The world's grid-scale energy storage capacity will need to grow nearly 35-fold between 2022 and 2030 if it is to achieve net-zero by 2050, according to International Energy Agency (IEA). "This is going to be a really important market in the future, especially as renewables become more present on the grid. You'll have more need for storage systems to balance out the variability in electricity generation, " says Ilaria Mazzocco, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington DC-based non-profit. Using sodium-ion batteries in energy storage stations also means that these facilities are not competing with auto companies for batteries, she notes. China, which has seen breakneck growth of wind and solar power plants, leads the world in using energy storage to support renewables. In May 2024, it switched on its first energy storage station powered by sodium-ion batteries. Situated in southern China's Guangxi, the plant can hold 10 megawatt-hours of power in one go, equivalent to the daily electricity needs of 1,500 households, according to Chinese state media. It is the first phase of a sodium-ion energy storage station 10 times its size. The Guangxi project was quickly followed by another sodium-ion energy storage site in central China's Hubei province. In fact, roughly one-fifth of the capacity of all energy storage projects planned by China's state-run companies last year used sodium technology, according to Chinese outlet Beijixing, which tracks the power industry. But for sodium-ion batteries to succeed in mass production the main question is whether companies can make them cheaper than lithium-ion cells, according to Zheng Jiayue, a consultant with research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie who specialises in the energy storage supply chain. Currently, the unit price of sodium-ion batteries for energy storage is about 60% higher than that of lithium-ion ones, but the gap is projected to narrow, China Central Television reported, citing analysis by the China Energy Storage Alliance, a Beijing-based non-profit. China to lead the charge Some entrepreneurs and researchers believe that sodium is a shortcut for other countries to reduce their battery dependence on China. But it is Chinese companies that are poised to lead global production if the technology breaks into the mass market. Major Chinese battery makers have included it in their strategies to stay competitive in the long run, says Combs, meaning sodium-ion batteries are no longer a way to bypass their stronghold. The "biggest difference" between companies in China and other countries is that the former can bring a technology from the lab to mass production much faster, Zheng says. And because of the similarities between the two types of cells, says Logan, existing manufacturing infrastructure for lithium-ion batteries can be adapted to produce sodium-ion batteries, reducing the time and cost for commercialisation in China. "The same synergies don't necessarily hold true for other battery chemistries," however, she adds. One example is the all-solid-state batteries, which do not use liquid electrolyte to transport ions, the principle driving the current generation of batteries, says Mo Ke, founder and chief analyst of Beijing-based battery-research firm, RealLi Research. Therefore, it will have less reliance on the current industrial chain, Mo says. A fleet of large factories devoted to making sodium-ion cells are now being built in China, some already in operation. In 2024, Chinese manufacturers announced plans to build 27 sodium-ion battery plants with a combined capacity of 180 GWh, according to Chinese thinktank Gaogong Industrial Research, including BYD's upcoming 30GWh plant in Xuzhou. The planned global sodium-ion battery capacity will exceed 500 GWh by 2033, and China is projected to account for more than 90% of that, Zheng says, citing Wood Mackenzie analysis. Outside China, Natron Energy in the US and Faradion in the UK are forerunners. But it typically takes foreign companies much longer to build production lines and it will be hard for their capacities to compete with China's, Zheng says. In 2023 alone, Chinese firms collectively spent more than 55 billion yuan (£5.7bn, $7.6bn) on the research and development of sodium-ion batteries, according to Alicia García Herrero, an economist and senior fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel. This beats the $4.5bn (£3.4bn, $4.5bn) raised by all US battery start-ups cumulatively by 2023 on non-lithium battery solutions, she says. Chinese companies' incentive is simple, according to Combs: "Don't lose market share, and future markets are included." Yadea is already expanding operations in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa, where electric scooters are also popular, Zhou said in the talk show. Yadea's goal is clear: to mass-produce sodium-ion batteries and improve scooter charging infrastructure, according to Zhou, "so as to enable hundreds of millions of people to enjoy green transport". -- For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
The Drive
3 days ago
- Automotive
- The Drive
Vespa's 1950s Microcar Was Just As Cute as Its Scooters
Get The Drive's daily newsletter The latest car news, reviews, and features. Email address Sign Up Thank you! Terms of Service & Privacy Policy. Let's face it: cute is gonna cute. I mean, a mini Mini is a thing, so, of course, a cuter Vespa would exist. And this time, no chop shops are involved. In fact, this adorbs Vespa has four wheels and is French. According to Below the Radar, the manufacturer now known for scooters also built a teeny transporter from 1957 to 1961. With a 393cc two-stroke two-cylinder engine mounted in the rear, the Vespa 400 was smaller than its counterparts from Fiat and Mini. Measuring just 113 inches in length, the Vespa 400 was five inches shorter than the Fiat 500, which debuted the same year, and took up eight fewer inches than the incoming Mini Cooper that would launch in 1959. Other specs include 14 horsepower and a top speed of about 50 mph. Equipped with a three-speed manual, zero to 40 mph took a leisurely 23 seconds. Utilizing less than 9.5 feet of street space, understandably, there was only room for two occupants. Despite the rear engine, the Vespa 400 had no frunk. That space was actually where your feet would go. Vespa left no space to waste in its already tight-quartered 400. Ingress and egress were made easy via rear-hinged doors. Have luggage? There was a small area behind the two seats for that purpose. Have a kid? A small cushion could be fitted in between the seats to create a temporary bench. Have more than one kid? Hmm, how do I put this? You purchased the wrong vehicle. As the story goes, the Vespa 400 was manufactured out of a factory in Fourchambault, France, to take advantage of the market's growing affinity for microcars. Or perhaps because Fiat was going to have a fit and launch a competing cutesy scooter. Italian tit for tats aside, the Vespa 400 sold well during its first run out the gate with more than 12,000 sold, but sales slid in the following years. Mostly left-hand drive, the Vespa microcar was sold throughout Europe, with about 1,700 actually finding their way stateside. When the Vespa 400 was finally imported to the UK, a vehicle review at the time offered positive remarks. 'Helped by the well-sprung seats, ride comfort is unusually good for such a small car…There is little to distinguish the Vespa from a normal family car, apart from its size,' wrote The Motor, as shared by Below the Radar. That 1959 Vespa 400 cost 351,725 French francs or 255 British pounds. Bring a Trailer Unfortunately, not many have survived, but shiny side up examples can be found, like this one listed on Bring a Trailer which put the car back on our radar today. This little red number with a matching red and tan patterned interior has been an Arizona resident since the late 1960s and underwent a refurbishment in 2015. The speedometer has been replaced, so its true mileage is unknown, but it's a fact that the Vespa 400 is super cute with those 10-inch polished steelies. Offered at no reserve. The vehicle was purchased less than a year ago, selling for $21,023. However, with only a day to go, the current high bid is just $9,000. Are there any other tiny cars from scooter brands we should know about? Drop us a line at tips@
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Yahoo
Unruly Edinburgh youths in balaclavas speed through city, swerving past cars
A group of unruly balaclava-clad Edinburgh youths were seen riding on the back of motorbikes and scooters without helmets. Footage circulating on social media shows the gang cruising through the city, with a seeming disregard for safety. In the TikTok clip, uploaded by an unnamed account, a youth on a moped can be seen filming the group while they ride through Gilmerton. READ MORE: Dad's deathbed confession 'destroyed everything daughter knew about her life' READ MORE: Edinburgh braced for week of wind and rain as scorching heatwave comes to an end The group travel along Newtoft Street, by the community centre, before turning left onto Drum Street where they overtake a bus and motorist. The TikTok involved one youth riding a moped with two youths on a motorbike and two on a scooter. All of the young males can be seen wearing balaclavas without helmets as they travel at speed down Drum Street. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. At one stage, the moped rider points the camera at the other four members of the crew behind him while also steering the vehicle. The video was uploaded on Sunday May 25 and has been watched over 100 times. Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
New York Times
24-05-2025
- New York Times
New York's Crackdown on E-bikes Is Unfair Enforcement, Critics Say
On Wednesday morning, Ivan Boston's day began at the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Downtown Brooklyn. Last month, police officers had stopped him for running a red light on his electric bicycle, and Mr. Boston, a construction worker, assumed that the D.M.V. was where traffic tickets were paid. But the pink slip of paper in his hand was no traffic ticket. It was a criminal summons. In bold, black letters it read, 'To avoid a warrant for your arrest, you must go to court.' When Mr. Boston noticed, a task he had considered a minor annoyance instead turned into a half-day ordeal. He hurried to court at the David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building, across from City Hall. 'This is ridiculous,' said Mr. Boston, 56, whose unplanned day off cost him $200. 'But I don't want to get a warrant.' Lawyers who spend much of their careers fighting summonses in criminal court find the situation just as baffling. 'These are just not charges that lawyers and judges inside the summons part of the court are used to seeing,' said Gideon Oliver, a lawyer who regularly practices in summons court. New York City has begun a crackdown on e-bikes and scooters riders. It follows actions by city officials from Paris to Honolulu to Hoboken, N.J., who are responding to residents angry about zippy vehicles with silent electric motors zooming down sidewalks and streets, often startling people, and occasionally hitting pedestrians. For years, some New Yorkers have complained about such behavior, which 'gives people the impression of chaos and disorder,' Jessica Tisch, the city's police commissioner, said at an April news conference at which she announced the enforcement action. 'It erodes our sense of public safety, and New Yorkers have had enough.' That day, officers began staking out intersections across the city around the clock, watching for riders who ignored red lights and stop signs, rode against traffic or on sidewalks, rode under the influence of drugs and alcohol, or were reckless in other ways. There is an irony embedded in the enforcement push. Cyclists who blow through red lights without endangering anyone else can now be forced to appear in court. Drivers who commit the same violation cannot. Instead, drivers face the same traffic ticket they always have, a moving violation with a fine payable by mail. 'It's a really bad escalation, targeting some of the less dangerous vehicles on the city's streets,' said Eric McClure, executive director of StreetsPAC, which lobbies to expand street infrastructure for vehicles other than cars. This week, a month after the crackdown began, the first cyclists to be swept up in it appeared in court. 'You must abide by traffic rules, OK?' Judge Michelle Weber of Manhattan Criminal Court said on Monday to a food delivery worker who had admitted running a red light. The enforcement campaign comes as the vehicles Americans choose to use increasingly reflect a new kind of culture war. For years, advocacy groups, including Transportation Alternatives, notched a series of policy wins that gradually empowered cyclists in New York, including a ban on cars in Central Park and the construction of hundreds of miles of bike lanes. In recent years, political conservatives, suburban residents and drivers have fought back. Sean Duffy, the new U.S. transportation secretary, has described a new bike lane on the Queensboro Bridge as 'war on the working class.' 'I do think it's a problem when we're making massive investment in bike lanes at the expense of vehicles,' Mr. Duffy said at the 2025 World Economy Summit, as the website Streetsblog reported. Each side preaches safety. The risks of scooters and e-bikes gained prominence in 2021, when Lisa Banes, an actor, was struck and killed on the Upper West Side by a scooter rider who fled the scene. More crashes ensued. Sanja Pohl and her husband, Scott, were walking on 34th Street near Macy's last June when a man on a scooter lost control of the vehicle and crashed into them. Ms. Pohl's nose was broken, and she said she now gets debilitating migraines. Her husband was unconscious for five days and had no memory when he came to, she said. He was unable to return to his job at the United Nations for six months, and nearly a year later, he is only able to work part time. Ms. Pohl, 44, dreads leaving her apartment because of all the electric vehicles on the streets. 'I've never experienced fear like this,' she said. The relatively recent arrival of scooters and e-bikes has captured most of the attention, but cars are still responsible for most mayhem on the city's streets. Of the 121 pedestrians killed in traffic last year, 120 were struck by a car while one person died after being hit by an electric bike, according to city transportation department data compiled by Transportation Alternatives. 'Overwhelmingly, the people killed on the street are mowed down by drivers,' said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, which advocates for better mass transit. 'If that's not our priority, then we have our priorities wrong.' People who want fewer cars on city's streets worry that the crackdown on cyclists may convince some New Yorkers who are considering riding more often to continue driving cars instead. 'It creates a real dampening effect on the uptake of biking, which we know really can improve safety,' Ben Furnas, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, said. Many e-bike riders and their advocates said they were caught by surprise by the increase in enforcement. The confusion continued on New York's streets and in its courtrooms this week, as officers, e-bike riders and lawyers all tried to understand just what the new rules require. 'It's still a traffic violation, which is not conduct the Legislature has defined as a crime,' said Steve Vaccaro, a New York lawyer who has primarily represented cyclists since 2006. 'But it's going to criminal court. So we don't know exactly what happens.' Anger Everywhere On Saturday, April 10, David Rodriguez went to see a boxing match in Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay section. Afterward, Mr. Rodriguez rode his pedal bike home. Ignoring a red light at one point, he soon heard a police car's siren. Weeks later, he was still angry about it. 'They were real aggressive, as if I had committed an actual crime,' Mr. Rodriguez, a 34-year-old construction worker said. 'I didn't know they could pull you over for riding a bike. I wasn't even in a car.' Janet Schroeder, a founder of the NYC E-Vehicle Safety Alliance, is one of the city's loudest voices calling for stronger safety rules for electric bikes and scooters. But the new policy of imposing harsher penalties on e-bikes than on cars goes against her organization's mission of treating all vehicles equally, she said. 'If it's not the same as what they do for cars, it's ridiculous,' she said. There have long been different standards under the law for different types of vehicles, which sometimes calls for varying approaches to enforcement, a police spokesperson said. Cars must have license plates, and drivers must carry drivers' licenses and insurance. Most scooters and e-bikes do not have similar requirements. 'Since e-bikes do not require a license, drivers of e-bikes can simply ignore their traffic summons with no repercussions whatsoever, making any enforcement futile,' the police spokesperson said. However, the new requirement that cyclists appear in court, or face an arrest warrant if they fail to, creates 'a strong incentive to show up in court.' Some advocates for delivery workers say that the increased scrutiny of cyclists weighs especially heavily on an already vulnerable group. Many people who ride electric bikes in New York are undocumented migrants working for restaurants and food delivery apps, said Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of Los Deliveristas Unidos, which represents delivery workers. The crackdown on electric bikes and scooters comes in the midst of the Trump administration's aggressive enforcement of immigration law. 'This is a direct attack on immigrant workers,' Ms. Guallpa said. 'The intent is to criminalize workers and to create a situation where our communities could be targets for deportation.' The police deny this. People who receive summonses will not be fingerprinted, so their identities will not be logged into a national criminal database, and federal immigration agents are barred from arresting people on state courthouse property. The police spokesperson said the department did not ask about a person's immigration status or cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on civil immigration matters. Speedy Trials Sal Cohen is among the immigrants who received a pink court summons connected to the increased enforcement effort. Originally from Turkey, and in the United States on a conditional green card, Mr. Cohen had not heard about the push when he rolled through a red light at the intersection of Grand Street and Union Avenue in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood on his way home from the gym this month. A squad car pulled up alongside him and he was issued a summons. A week and a half later, Mr. Cohen, 28, stood in line outside Courtroom No. 3, on the 16th floor of the municipal building, worried that ICE agents might appear. 'I'm here legally, but you never know,' he said. 'I'm nervous.' A court officer called his case. Mr. Cohen walked to the rail, and spoke into a skinny microphone. Judge Paul Grosvenor asked if he would accept an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, which would wipe the offense off his record if had no interactions with the police for a set period of time, in his case, the next 30 days. 'Yes, your honor,' Mr. Cohen said. 'The application is granted,' Judge Grosvenor said. 'Dismissed.' Mr. Boston's case was called next. The judge, facing him, held up the summons and squinted. The officer responsible for the stop had provided scant details about the interaction, and had simply noted the offenses he claimed Mr. Boston had committed: reckless driving and disobeying a red light. The judge frowned. 'I'm going to dismiss as legally insufficient,' he said. After two subway rides and three and a half hours of waiting, Mr. Boston's court appearance had lasted 46 seconds. As he left, a few minutes after noon, he felt just as confused as he had when he arrived. 'It's a moving violation, which should go to the D.M.V.,' he said. 'Why am I even in this court?'
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Revenue seizes thousands of e-bikes and e-scooters worth estimated €4.5m
Thousands of e-bikes and a small number of e-scooters have been seized in Wexford with an estimated value of €4.5 million. As part of an operation targeting the illegal importation of e-bikes, Revenue officers executed search warrants at two warehouses in the county in recent days. During these searches, 4,000 e-bikes and a small number of e-scooters were discovered, alongside ancillary items and spare parts. It is believed the bikes and scooters are part of an international smuggling operation being conducted across the EU . READ MORE The vehicles, which are believed to have been destined for sale on both the national and wider EU market, are estimated to have a retail value of €4.5 million, according to Revenue. A Revenue spokesperson said a number of individuals are assisting with inquiries. [ Michael Gaine homicide case: The full story so far Opens in new window ] [ What does Trump's 50% EU tariff threat mean for Ireland? Opens in new window ] The operation was conducted with the EU's anti-fraud agency 'to protect the EU's financial interests against what is believed to be part of an international smuggling operation being conducted across the EU'. The spokesperson added: 'These seizures are part of Revenue's ongoing campaign targeting the illegal importation of products into the State and the wider European Union. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on 1800 295 295.'
