Vandalism aside, Battery Fires Simply Don’t Have to Happen!

Providersin the Micromobility supply-chain, including bike shops and self-service rentalcompanies need to be proactive in making sure lithium ion battery fires simply don’thappen – because they are preventable! 

Vandalismis a possibility at any time and is a criminal act that needs to be deterredand prosecuted, but actual lithium battery fires are a very real possibilitythat only happen if professional policy and procedures aren’t followed. 

Let’sstart by making it very clear that all lithium ion batteries have the potentialto be volatile – like gasoline in an automobile gas tank, or other combustiblessitting in your garage, shop, or warehouse. There is a lot of energy stored in a lithium ion battery pack, which iswhy they are well suited for light electric vehicles.  But when that energy is released in anuncontrolled fashion, bad things can and do happen.

But untilthe battery industry develops fire-proof lithium batteries, there are a numberof steps that we, as importers and distributors of electric bikes, can do tominimize the possibility that a battery fire will occur involving the productsthat we represent.  Those steps involve informedbattery pack specification setting, and careful, well thought out sourcing.

There areusually two separate entities involved in the production of a lithium ionbattery pack intended for use in a LEV: the cell producer and the pack assembler. 

Cellproducers manufacture the cells that store the energy.  Household names like Sony, Samsung, LG andPanasonic are among the most well-known. They have factories dedicated to the process of fabricating the lithiumion cells used in applications like ours.

Batterypacks are usually assembled by a third-party. Pack assemblers purchase the lithium cells from the battery manufacturerper the customer’s specifications.  Theytest and sort cells based on minute differences in cell capacity.  They design and source battery pack housingsbased on customer requirements.  Theyspot-weld the nickel bus bars that interconnect the cells to create the requiredvoltage and capacity attributes of the pack. Very importantly, the pack manufacturers source, install and program thebattery management system (BMS) into the battery pack.

I believethat lithium battery fires occur, in the absence of blatant misuse or abuse,due to deficiencies that are introduced during the cell manufacturingprocess.  Therefore, it is of the utmostimportance that cells specified for your battery pack are sourced from a vendorthat utilizes manufacturing methods and quality control procedures of thehighest caliber. 

Equallyimportant is the utilization of a high-quality BMS.  The BMS is a microprocessor based on-boardelectronic device that ensures that the battery pack is always used andmaintained within the well-established, mandatory service limitations dictatedby the cell manufacturer.  But there’smore to the BMS than quality electronics. The BMS must be programmed with operating and control parameters thatare closely matched to the electrical attributes unique to your particularvehicle.

Bycarefully specifying and sourcing lithium battery packs for LEV usage, we cango a long way to ensuring that these remarkable energy storage devices are safeand reliable, and perfectly suited for use in our nascent industry.

MikeFritz

ChiefTechnology Officer

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