US National Transportation Safety Board: Automakers seriously lack understanding of the hazards of lithium batteries in car accidents

Recently, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) of the United States has made some recommendations to remind firefighters and police to be more fully prepared when dealing with lithium battery electric vehicle fires. As the number of electric vehicles on the market increases at a visible rate, accidents or fires involving electric vehicles will inevitably show an upward trend.

However, the agency pointed out that there are two obvious problems with electric vehicles in terms of safety. According to the NTSB, automakers' emergency guidelines are incomplete, and their understanding and research on lithium-ion batteries in high-speed collision situations is seriously insufficient.

Therefore, the NTSB recommends that the availability of emergency guidance for electric vehicles be included in the U.S. New Car Assessment Program score, allowing regulators to play a role and drawing the attention of automakers to battery safety and its impact on first responders. On the other hand, the NTSB also called for more experiments and research to reduce the problem of energy runaway of lithium-ion batteries after an accident and reduce the dangers for firefighters and police at the scene of a car accident or fire.

Regarding emergency guidelines, the NTSB recommends that every electric vehicle should include information on how to extinguish a battery fire in the vehicle and how to mitigate the risk of high-voltage re-ignition. An investigation into four electric vehicle accidents last year showed that first responders witnessed the re-ignition of fires in three of them. All three batteries that re-ignited were severely impacted, prompting the NTSB to believe that more research is needed on lithium-ion batteries in high-speed collisions.

At the end of its recommendations, the NTSB called for the addition of information to emergency response guidelines on how to mitigate battery-related risks while the accident vehicle is removed, as well as how to store it afterward. After professionals have cleared the scene and removed the accident vehicle, the remaining energy in the battery still poses a risk of catching fire.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.