Electric vehicles (EVs), most of them dependent on lithium-ion battery cells, are everywhere, from cars and trucks to scooters and bicycles. And as much as they’re popular, one of the design challenges that’s getting public and media attention as well as the eye of regulators is the specific fire risks associated with the technology.
While vehicles that rely on combustible fuel always have fire risks, the intense fires associated with lithium-ion batteries have been alarming to consumers and others. For example, in a recent report, the National Fire Protection Association noted, “High-voltage (HV) battery fires may take much longer to extinguish than conventional fires, and the resulting smoke is toxic.”