Talking about battery safety is normally a very charged conversation.  So much is at stake.  Companies could have to issue huge recalls.  Or someone could get hurt or die.  Then there is liability for property and personal damage.  Anything you say can be used against you…

Some in the industry talk about “reasonable efforts,” or write blame-barriers into their supply contracts.  Others want to do everything possible and are frustrated by the cost constraints put up by their customers.  Still others have a safety solution of their own and project the guilt of the people being hurt by battery fires onto their potential customers.  Some just don’t want to talk about it and want to say that if their product is perceived to be safe in the eyes of the customer, it is then safe enough.

The truth is none of these conflicting views is wrong—there is truth and reason in all of them.  But often the differing views and the agendas that go along with them will stop the dialogue about what the problems are, what potential solutions are available, and what the merits are of choosing one solution over another.  But its just these dialogues that will accelerate progress.

That’s why last year’s LithiumSAFE conference was so refreshing.  We purposely designed the agenda to have many short company perspectives—presentations on their safety approach—mingled among very strong panel discussions, unscripted discussions among industry experts answering tough questions from the moderator and from the audience.  There were so many good discussions, including:

• Eric Darcy from NASA sharing the results of his detailed experiments on when the nail penetration test succeeded and when it failed when using a polymer current collector.
• John Warner from American Battery Solutions and Chris Turner from Inventus each sharing their company’s strategy for building safety in at the pack level.
• Sean ** from Kulr sharing his company’s innovations, including their ** packaging, ** thermal barrier and their ** cell testing and sorting.
• Mujeeb Hijaz from Our Next Energy sharing the design of their battery pack and how it enhances safety.

On one panel, John, Chris and Mujeeb were discussing the best ways to make packs and the trade-offs that each of them has to negotiate as they make decisions about weight, size, cost and safety features. 

Recordings from all of these presentations are available to Soteria consortium members in an online platform.  If you didn’t attend and want to see the discussions and get the perspectives, please consider joining our consortium to get immediate access.

This year’s LithiumSAFE conference promises to be just as interesting.  The panel discussions will include:

• Battery Safety in Mobility: Hear from the New York City Fire Department, Colorado Springs, and San Diego Fire-Rescue about safety in mobility, from e-bikes to electric vehicles.
• E-bike Battery Project: Soteria and others involved in the project will present a summary of the results of e-bike battery teardowns, polls and interviews with e-bike riders, and data from test kits that were resident on the bikes for over a month.
• Battery Safety Rating System: Several experts will talk about how to rate the safety of a battery, not pass-fail, but A, AA and AAA.  What tests can indicate which battery is more safe?  Which applications would justify a super-safe battery, and which ones could use something with merely an A-rating?
• Use of Sensors in Battery Safety: Experts from Amphenol, Honeywell and others will discuss what sensors can do, how much warning they can give, and what mitigation techniques can be implemented once a warning signal is given.

While the panels and presentations are valuable, and it’s great to see the experts sparring a bit, some of the most valuable discussions happen during the breaks and at the meal tables.  The agenda has large breaks and meals with great food to accommodate informal discussion and collaboration.  I personally can’t wait to sit down for a meal with John Orlando from the NYC Fire Department and Robert Rezende from San Diego Fire and Rescue and find out the details of what its really like, what happens, and then discuss with all my industry friends what the opportunities will be to help prevent, mitigate, or even eliminate battery fires.   

We do have to put out products that our customers want, at a price point they can pay, and with a level of safety that gives us comfort that we’ve done all that we can.  Those priorities do sometimes compete.  But often, if we think and work with our industry colleagues, there are solutions that can improve safety and accommodate the other priorities.  Finding those solutions is the point of this conference, and we invite you to come join in the dialogue.  www.lithiumsafe.net.