An Ola electric scooter caught alight in Pune, the seventh most populous city in India last week. Bloomberg Quint reports Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety is probing the circumstances. Wikipedia reports a 500 acre, fully automated factory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu produces 1,000 Ola electric scooters every day. With all that experience why do lithium batteries still catch fire?
Do Inherent Defects Cause Lithium Batteries to Catch Fire?
Lithium batteries made rapid inroads into the market because they pack more density into less space. This means they last longer and provide more energy per volume. They are overwhelmingly likely to perform safely, although occasional overheating may lead to fires.
Lithium batteries do still occasionally catch fire when their technology lets them down. This can be after an external event. At other times something goes wrong inside them. This is more likely in lithium batteries containing multiple cells. Simple math tells us failure is statistically more likely.
Why Lithium Battery Safety Systems Sometimes Fail
Lithium batteries have advanced safety systems to prevent this happening. These focus on internal temperature control. They also have a separator that melts in heat and stops the flow of ions. However, nothing as we know is impossible in an imperfect world.
Money Control suggests lithium batteries catch fire after “improper manufacturing, external damage or inefficient or malfunctioning software”. These could trigger thermal runaway and cause alarming fires like the one in the video.
However, we can mitigate against this happening by inspecting for physical damage before replenishing. Money Control suggests avoiding overcharging, and keeping batteries away from direct heat and sunlight until more flame-resistant technology comes to market.
Swappable batteries need particular attention, and careful inspection because we may have no idea who used them last. External cracks can cause chemical leakage. Never allow a battery to fall below 10% charge. Running out of electricity on a scooter is inconvenient to put it mildly.
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