New electric impeller | Competitor calls for more inspections after fires

01.01.22 18:29
01.01.22 20:23

Personally, I think it is irresponsible to charge large quantities of batteries in residential areas or offices.

This is what José Rey, president of Bolt Motorcycles Norway, said.

BA asked him what the company thought after several recent scooter-related fires. It burned twice at Ryde headquarters in Nygårdsgaten, and made Bergen fire chief Ignite all plugs.

What does Bolt think of his routine in light of the recent fires?

Translation results

– We have risk and safety procedures in place to avoid these situations. In addition, Bolt follows strict local regulations regarding safety measures and shipping areas, for example, the cargo area in Bergen is protected by a firewall, states Rei.

He adds that damaged batteries are stored in special containers in a suitable area.

Calls for more inspections

Ray believes that the authorities should increase oversight of the inventory because not all players prioritize security.

Personally, I think it is irresponsible to charge large quantities of batteries in residential areas or offices.

Bolt has about 1,000 electric scooters in Bergen. Rei explains that the main reason they change the batteries is because the scooters have ended up in the water.

These batteries never go into the warehouse. Rey asserts that after nearly two years of working in Norway, Bolt did not start a fire in his warehouses.

Ryde and Voi both have buildings in the downtown area. Tier and Bird is located at the same address in Biskopshavn, while Bolt is located near Flesland.

Voi made adjustments

The Voi 1100 has a red electric motorcycle in Bergen, and it caught fire itself. In October, this created thick smoke in their warehouses.

General Manager Christina Mo Gerdi is calling for changes.

– If hired players have confidence, you must prove that you take fire safety seriously. This applies to repositories’ neighbors, but of course also to the authorities and our users, says the BA’s Voi Director.

After the fire, the company made adjustments in cooperation with the fire service, Mo Gherdy said.

– It mainly comes down to how the batteries are placed, so that they can be removed more easily in the event of a fire. The fire service also knows at all times where our batteries are in the warehouse, and we have direct notification to the fire service in the event of an accident.

– welcome list

None of the competitors mentioned Ryde in their statements, but between the lines it does. So criticism was presented to Chief Ryde.

Of course, we fully agree that fire safety and consideration for society in general are critical to our industry. Tobias Balchen, general manager of Ryde, says the fires that have hit players in Bergen and other cities show this is a serious challenge for the industry.

Ryde welcomes inspections at all of its locations, and has conducted several fire service inspections without distractions also in Bergen before.

Balchen says no fires should occur in Nygårdsgaten in connection with shipping.

Industry Challenge

The company has noticed that she’s burning with other players as well, both along the street and indoors.

—This shows that the industry as a whole has challenges with batteries, not just Ryde, he says.

Balchen points out that today’s society uses lithium batteries in a number of areas, and is therefore a safe technology.

Charging functional batteries has been proven to be extremely safe. It is likely that several million scooter battery charging cycles will be completed in Norway in 2021, without incident. Ride alone had about 500,000 people, says Tobias Balchen.

We agree that it is important to stock non-working batteries from downtown, and Ryde does not stock such batteries at any of our locations anymore. We would like clearer regulation of this. As it stands now, without regulation, it will also be difficult for players to figure out the best way, says Balchin.