What causes battery fires or explosions?

swrfernsehen.de, 2024/03/27
Reading time 7:30 minutes / video 44:13 minutes

How to prevent sudden fires of lithium-ion batteries? How do they last as long as possible? And what do I have to keep in mind for the disposal?

(...)

The lithium-ion technology has been a global success: Billions of batteries based on this technology are installed in smartphones, laptops, e-bikes and e-cars.

Lithium-ion batteries are valued for their high energy density - they can store large amounts of energy for a comparatively long time.

Fire risk with lithium-ion batteries

(…)

Caution with cheap batteries

If the battery has not been produced properly, there is an increased risk. Although no-name imports (e.g. in form of retrofit batteries) are often significantly cheaper than original products, they also bear considerably more risks.

Dirk Zedler is an expert witness for bicycle technology and safety; he prepares experts’ reports for the courts. He states that he has only handled losses with cheap batteries or replicas, so far in his career. His advice is to spend a few hundred euros on a good e-bike battery.

(…)

Read the entire German article online.

Authors: Alice Thiel-Sonnen, Alexander Winkler, Karolina Luttig, Sola Hülsewig

Photo: SWR

Watch the German SWR – marktcheck report from minute 18:06 and Dirk Zedler with his team from minute 19:25.

Go back