The NYFD found that those (at least the vast majority) of the fires were caused by cheaply manufactured batteries. They were not UL listed - tested and deemed safe. It appears a manufacturer was making cheap knock-offs and that was the end result - short circuits and explosions/fires. Modifications and cheap parts were also part of the problem.
https://electrek.co/2023/03/07/nyc-banning-electric-bikes-without-ul-batteries-fires/
Major success factor sure is the Lithium battery technology, but let us not forget some other relevant breakthrough technologies here: super magnets for motors with higher power density, new transistor technology like IGBT, GaN, SiC for more efficient and compact drives. Non-tech success factor / driver is e.g. the climate crisis.
I have seen a few electric scooters go my my house. I live on a hill leading to the river where a town park is. But what I mostly see are electric bicycles. From my casual observation Iâd say itâs probably 4 bike to 1 scooter. But then again, Iâm not sitting on my porch all day. Sure are a lot quieter than motorcycles & street legal dirt bikes.
A couple of kids from around the corner have electric skateboards. They use them going up our hill instead of walking up it - 4-1/2 blocks uphill.
Something Iâve recently seen are mini-bikes. After almost 55 years are these are making a come-back? Two kids a few blocks over are riding them down to the river park & boat launch. Just wish theyâd stay off the streets with those.
Now thereâs an enclosed electric âscooterâ that seems more like an enclosed golf cart. It was nice to see it has a heater & defroster for cold weather (like where I am). I wonder how it does in a light snow. Hopefully they sell studded tires as well. This would beat walking up to see my granddaughters or going to my daughterâs house to let her dogs out. Or⌠I could just take the car. 
on your e scooter blog, you ignored zappyâs greatest coding horror of all: the human factor. Zappyâs upper managment was only in it for the money. read all about it ⌠somewhere. o read the damning article in 2005, but i will find it.
Lead cars could have been good in the right application, esp when parallel with capacitor banks, and to this day end users struggle to competently manage lithium.
i cant read the artcle. idk why wired would scrub or paywall back issue.
Great nuance and thanks for sharing it â makes sense in context, the batteries were just too primitive to support electric vehicles at that time. We needed Lithium-Ion to get the power up and weight down.
Thatâs also why the next big battery tech upgrade is going to be quite transformative to the world IMO.
Youâre basically rightâthe biggest driver of falling EV prices is battery cost coming down. Over the last decade, battery pack prices have dropped a lot due to better chemistry, higher energy density, and massive scaling of production. There are some savings in manufacturing and design too (fewer parts, simpler drivetrains), but batteries are the main reason prices can fall meaningfully.