Analysis of Battery Safety and Hazards' Risk Mitigation

For some time, there has been a clear intention in the automotive industry to replace NiMH batteries in hybrid electric vehicles with lighter, more durable, more powerful and potentially less expensive Li-Ion batteries. These effort have been hampered mostly by concerns over the safety of Li-Ion batteries. Such concerns have been overblown by merely focusing on abusive testing without paying equal attention to assessing the risk posed by such batteries in the event of a mishap. History shows that the automotive industry has been very successful in managing the risk posed by gasoline, a highly combustible fluid with an energy density 100-fold that of the most energy-dense of advanced batteries. A methodology developed for the risk assessment of advanced batteries is described. Although the focus here is on the batteries used in hybrid, electric, or plug-in vehicles, the methodology itself, called hazard modes & risk mitigation analysis (HMRMA), is quite general and can be used in other applications for batteries as well as for other components or parts that maybe considered hazardous. In addition, the methodology quantifies the risk associated with each hazard and becomes a valuable design tool to develop the most effective way of reducing the risk.