In 2016, when Samsung recalled their Galaxy Note 7 due to spontaneous battery fires, I had a conversation with Mark Lefebvre. He liked the Dreamweaver Silver separator, and their tests indicated that it would be helpful. However, Dreamweaver Gold looked better. Could we get it to Samsung in time, in the quantity that they needed, and in production at about half the thickness we had produced on the pilot line? The unfortunate, yet short answer was no.

In 2018, when General Motors recalled the Chevrolet Bolt, I knew that the Soteria aluminum film current collector would solve the problem. But again, could we get it implemented into an automotive battery in time to replace the ones that were causing the problems and have GM’s customers be assured that the batteries would survive the harsh automotive use conditions? Not a chance, even if we could deliver the quantities.

The old joke is, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” But in fact, when the markets impose a deadline, you simply can’t eat the elephant. Instead, it is better to hunt game that you can eat, and leave the elephants to those hunters who can also eat them.

A bigger team for a smaller, but still important, problem

Current perspective: I’m flying back from New York City as I type this article, having seen a few dozen e-bikes on the roads during my stay. They weren’t everywhere, but they were certainly present. And when I mentioned the problem to a room full of family office investors, there were nods all around the room.

In 2022, 219 e-bike fires in New York City claimed the lives of 6 individuals and sent over 147 more to the hospital.  Others were rescued from the sides of buildings as they left to escape the smoke and fire that erupted from the exploding batteries. So far in 2023, 33 fires, 42 injuries and 3 deaths have been attributed to these fires.

Fast forward to today: Soteria and its Consortium members are more capable, forward-thinking, and ready to tackle the bigger challenges. With over 125 members, we have companies at all stages of the supply chain. Many of whom have scaled the production of Soteria components, or those whom have built thousands of full-scale batteries of the kind that are presently used in e-bikes, or even those who are building gigafactories here in the US which could supply these batteries.

So, as a result, Soteria, with the help of our consortium members, are launching a project to solve the e-bike battery fire problem for New York City and all other cities—big and small—around the world. Not just to find a quick fix or restrictive regulations, but actually to identify and categorize those best practices that will make e-bike batteries safe, and then to propagate those practices by both leading the way, and teaching others how to follow. We could not do it without our partners, both those who are currently involved, and others who are looking to join.

Soteria’s E-bike Battery Safety Project

The project has several components and a few critical partners, with room for others to join in and help.  Here are the components:

Disassemble New Batteries and Identify Best Practices

Soteria will hire at least two Clemson University Automotive Engineering Masters Degree students to purchase and disassemble a few dozen off-the-shelf e-bike batteries. They will produce complete lists of parts and materials, and also identify best and worst practices in the assembly of these batteries. The cells will also be tested for both functionality and safety, as well as authenticity. And finally, these students will report out at monthly meetings to an industry advisory board (you are invited to join this board), who will speak into both the assessment of best and worst practices, as well as make suggestions for further experiments. 

Disassemble Used and Discarded Batteries and Identify Potentially Dangerous Wear and Abuse

Similarly, the students will procure from the recycling stream used and discarded batteries, disassemble them, and look for both design parameters and worn or aged parts that could contribute to the safety.  These findings will also be reported out at the monthly meetings.

Understand the Use Conditions of E-bikes in Various Applications

As part of the project, TestedHQ will survey about a thousand e-bike owners and profile their use patterns, from city deliveristas to weekend mountain explorers to commuters. Once the profiles are complete, they will interview several dozen bikers to gain an in-depth understanding of storage, charge, use and other patterns of the conditions both e-bikes and their batteries go through. Lastly, tech kits will be attached to several users’ bikes to record GPS, shock and vibe, temperature, voltage, moisture and other conditions, all while delivering real-time data.  From there, they will assess both averages and outliers to help identify the possible causes of damage that might contribute to the likelihood of a safety event, or fires for example, more likely.

Produce a Comprehensive Report with Best Practices Recommendations

And from here, and working with our partners, we will produce a comprehensive report with summaries of all of the disassembled batteries, categories of good and bad design features, user profiles, and a recommendation of the collective best practices.

Partners, and How You Can Join

Soteria could never undertake this project on our own. Rather, we are taking the role of guiding and assisting the industry to produce a comprehensive and practical solution that can be implemented at a macro level.  In my next newsletter, I’ll share how Soteria will plan to lead the way—without dictating—the commercial implementation of what we learn in this project.

It is important to take a short break here to share the philosophy of this project. We at Soteria are leading it, and funding it, for the good of the industry and the good of our nation, the world, and all who want to enjoy e-mobility. For our small company, it is a large undertaking, and we will direct about half of our efforts for this year toward it. And in terms of sharing and implementation, we are going to hold nothing back. Everything we learn we will teach the industry how to implement. We believe that this approach will benefit the whole industry, but also position Soteria as a partner of choice for battery safety problems in the future.

There are several partners who have already agreed to help us, and it’s worth noting them below.

• Clemson University will provide us with at least two interns to execute the project, as well as several professors with battery expertise whom will be serving as advisors for the project.
• NASA’s Eric Darcy has agreed to serve as an advisor, and, knowing Eric, will also find a way to help in the experiments, too.
• TestedHQ will conduct the market and user profiling, surveying, and field testing.
• Iontra will serve on the advisory board to give BMS advice.
• Amphenol’s Brian Engle will serve on the advisory board to help understand the role of sensors in battery pack design.
• Polaris’s Joe LaGrasso will serve on the advisory board to give the perspective of on-road 2 wheel light mobility and power sports battery pack designs.

Others will join, and all are welcome. We have three ways that we invite you and your company to participate. For sake of transparency, each participation will come with some cost sharing.

• Observer: If you want the monthly reports from the project, as well as a copy of the final report, this participation will allow you to receive that information and give written feedback monthly. Cost share: $2,500.
• Participant: For those who want to attend the monthly meetings and participate on the advisory board, in addition to giving real-time input to guide the experiments and mindshare, all while building towards the best practices. Cost Share: $5,000.
• Sponsor: For those who not only want to participate, but also have editorial input into the final report, this is the right level for you. Editorial input will allow a company to insert links to their own products or practices, all while maintaining the integrity of the report and not affecting the outcome of the collective best practices to come from the advisory board. Cost Share: $7,500.

Soteria is committed to contribute about $250,000 for the expenses of the project, as well as our facilities and personnel. We’ll report out to the industry and hold nothing back, and, as you’ll see in the next newsletter, also guide the commercial implementation of the best practices into the marketplace. 

Click here for the website to not only learn more about the project, but sign-up as an Observer, Participant, or Sponsor, too.