Lithium-ion battery fires are happening more often. Here’s how to prevent them

Lithium-ion batteries, discovered in lots of well-liked client merchandise, are beneath scrutiny once more following a large fireplace this week in New York City considered brought on by the battery that powered an electrical scooter.

At least seven individuals have been injured in a five-alarm fireplace within the Bronx which required the eye of 200 firefighters. Officials consider the incident stemmed from a lithium-ion battery of a scooter discovered on the roof of an condominium constructing. In 2022, the New York City Fire Department responded to greater than 200 e-scooter and e-bike fires, which resulted in six fatalities.

“In all of these fires, these lithium-ion fires, it is not a slow burn; there’s not a small amount of fire, it literally explodes,” FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh informed reporters. “It’s a tremendous volume of fire as soon as it happens, and it’s very difficult to extinguish and so it’s particularly dangerous.”

A residential fireplace earlier this week in Carlsbad, California, was suspected to be brought on by an e-scooter lithium battery. On Tuesday, an alarming video surfaced of a Canadian house owner working downstairs to search out his electrical bike battery exploding into flames. A fireplace at a multi-family house in Massachusetts final month can be beneath investigation for comparable points.

These incidents have gotten extra frequent for a lot of causes. For starters, lithium-ion batteries at the moment are in quite a few client tech merchandise, powering laptops, cameras, smartphones and extra. They enable firms to squeeze hours of battery life into more and more slim units. But a mix of producer points, misuse and growing old batteries can heighten the danger from the batteries, which use flammable supplies.

“Lithium batteries are generally safe and unlikely to fail, but only so long as there are no defects and the batteries are not damaged or mistreated,” stated Steve Kerber, vice chairman and govt director of Underwriters Laboratory’s (UL) Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI). “The more batteries that surround us the more incidents we will see.”

In 2016, Samsung issued a worldwide recall of the Galaxy Note 7 in 2016, citing “battery cell issues” that brought about the machine to catch fireplace and at occasions explode. HP and Sony later recalled lithium laptop batteries for fireplace hazards, and about 500,000 hoverboards have been recalled as a consequence of a threat of “catching fire and/or exploding,” in accordance with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration banned uninstalled lithium-ion metallic batteries from being checked in baggage and stated they need to stay with a passenger of their carry-on baggage, if accepted by the airline and between 101-160 watt hours. “Smoke and fire incidents involving lithium batteries can be mitigated by the cabin crew and passengers inside the aircraft cabin,” the FAA stated.

Despite the considerations, lithium-ion batteries proceed to be prevalent in a lot of at present’s hottest devices. Some tech firms level to their talents to cost quicker, last more and pack extra energy right into a lighter package deal.

But not all lithium batteries are the identical.

THE PROBLEM WITH LITHIUM BATTERIES

Dylan Khoo, an analyst at tech intelligence agency ABI Research, stated electrical bikes and scooters use batteries which may be round 50 occasions bigger than the one in a smartphone. “So when a fire does happen, it’s much more dangerous,” Khoo stated.

All lithium-ion batteries use flammable supplies, and incidents such because the one within the Bronx are possible the results of “thermal runaway,” a sequence response which might result in a hearth or catastrophic explosion, in accordance with Khoo.

“This process can be triggered by a battery overheating, being punctured, or an electrical fault like a short circuit,” Khoo stated. “In cases where fires occur spontaneously while charging, it is likely due to manufacturing defects.”

According to Kerber, the variety of lithium-ion battery-based fires is rising with monumental frequency each within the United States and internationally, significantly on the subject of e-bikes and e-scooters, as a consequence of an uptick in purchases of those merchandise throughout the pandemic.

“After Covid started, scooter use went dramatically up, especially in places like New York City, for deliveries,” Kerber stated. “People started to get overcharged for them and turned to manufacturers which happened to have lower quality control with the battery systems. The quality manufacturers are not having issues.”

“It will continue to happen until there are regulations around the quality of these devices,” Kerber stated.

WHAT CONSUMERS CAN DO

Kerber recommends individuals purchase UL-certified electrical bikes and scooters from respected retailers; on-line marketplaces usually make it onerous for purchasers to inform the place merchandise are literally coming from. If a hearth happens, he suggested individuals to evacuate and name 911 instantly moderately than making an attempt to place it out themselves.

“The fire spreads incredibly fast and a fire extinguisher is not effective,” he stated.

Beyond scooters and e-bikes, specialists warn anybody with a lithium-ion battery ought to observe correct charging and battery utilization tips. According to researchers on the University of Michigan, any machine with this sort of battery needs to be charged and saved in a cool, dry place, and never left charging for too lengthy or when you’re asleep — a advice possible at odds with what number of shoppers deal with their units.

“Elevated temperatures can accelerate degradation of almost every battery component and can lead to significant safety risks, including fire or explosion,” the researchers stated. “If a laptop or cellphone is noticeably hot while it’s charging, unplug it. Minimize exposure to low temperatures, especially when charging.”

Batteries also needs to be routinely inspected to verify there isn’t any cracking, bulging or leaking, and folks ought to at all times use the charger that got here with the machine or use one from a good provider. When charging an electrical scooter or bike, Kerber stated it ought to by no means block a hearth escape or exit route.

Although some battery chemistries are safer than others, we’re nonetheless a couple of years away from adoption of a greater, safer lithium-ion different, in accordance with Sridhar Srinivasan, a senior director at market analysis agency Gartner.

For instance, LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries do not overheat as a lot as different sorts of lithium-ion batteries. Future battery applied sciences in growth, akin to sodium-ion or solid-state batteries, are additionally anticipated to deal with a number of the questions of safety of lithium ion.