A worrying spate of e-bike batteries reportedly catching fire has forced transport firm Lyft to put the brakes on their e-bike hire service in San Francisco.
Uber launches e-bike hire scheme in Islington
Don’t think I’ll be going on a @lyft @baywheels any time soon. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/MOU9wIjgII
— Zach Rutta (@zrutta44) July 27, 2019
Two of its bikes have reportedly caught fire already since the scheme launched on the 19th July, and it means Lyft have been left with no option but to suspend the service until they can work out what the issue is. Worryingly there had already been over 100,000 rides registered since the launch two weeks ago. In a statement, a Lyft spokesperson said: "Out of an abundance of caution, we are temporarily making the ebike fleet unavailable to riders while we investigate and update our battery technology."
Lyft also offer a car taxi service and scooter share schemes, and recently won a battle to get a bike share contract in San Francisco's Bay Area for the new e-bike fleet. Back in April they pulled their New York e-bike share scheme because riders were reporting brake failure.
Lyft haven't said if/when the San Francisco bikes will be back in service, but as of today locals are reporting that the app won't currently allow any potential users to rent bikes.
