Handling Lithium-Ion Batteries in Electric Vehicles: Preventing and Recovering from Hazardous Events

The demand for lithium-ion battery powered road vehicles continues toincrease around the world. As more of these become operational across the globe,their involvement in traffic accidents and incidents is likely to rise. This can damagethe lithium-ion battery and subsequently pose a threat to occupants and respondersas well as those involved in vehicle recovery and salvage operations. The project thispaper is based on aimed to alleviate such concerns. To provide a basis for fire safetysystems to be applied to damaged EVs, hazards have been identified and means forpreventing and controlling lithium-ion battery fires, including preventive measuresduring workshop and salvage activities were studied. Tests were also performed withfixed fire suppression systems applying suppressant inside traction batteries whichshowed to improve their safety