EV battery fires are a global problem that we need to address in Canada

The electrification of transportation has brought increased attention to the robustness of batteries, particularly as millions of cars and hundreds of electric buses hit the roads. The launch of the Zero Emissions Transit Fund in Canada in 2020 has spurred investment in zero-emissions battery and hydrogen electric buses, but has also brought battery safety concerns to the forefront. With diverse manufacturers entering global supply chains, the production, supply, and delivery of energy-storage systems are facing heightened safety risks. To get ahead of the issue now, there is a pressing need for rigorous manufacturing standards for batteries integrated into vehicles—especially large fleet vehicles. The potential catastrophic consequences of battery fires underscore the urgency of pre-emptive action to mitigate safety risks, and prevent what could be significant financial losses in damage in a matter of minutes from a chemical failure. Dr. Josipa Petrunic is president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium. Photograph courtesy of CUTRIC Torontonians are hyper aware. Just last month, Metrolinx announced a crackdown on e-bikes following a lithium ion battery fire on a Toronto subway train. That Dec. 31, 2023, fire damaged a subway car before being suppressed by firefighters, caused a yet-to-be-reported total cost to the taxpayer, and could have caused harm to riders. Just six months prior, four people died in a fire at an e-bike store in New York, caused by lithium ion batteries These fires occur across the mobility spectrum of e-scooters, cars, and all electric transit. Thankfully, they have been few and far between so far. In 2023, a study citing United States government data revealed electric vehicles (EVs) were involved in only 25 fires per 100,000 sold. But like airplane disasters, when catastrophe strikes, it strikes big. Chemical fires are difficult to contain because they set off something called "thermal runaway”—meaning, once it starts, it runs away and doesn’t stop running until it burns itself out. Firefighters have learned new techniques to suppress these fires, but the risk of major damage still exists. An EV owner might be worried about a fire taking down their house. A public transit agency needs to worry about it taking out a whole depot. In April 2023, an electric bus caught fire after a battery failure in a Parisian transit fleet. It took mere seconds for the entire bus to engulf in flames. The growing demand for EVs and battery electric buses has put immense pressure on the global battery supply chain leading to concerns over a potential bottleneck in the supply of lithium batteries by 2025 that could outstrip the available supply. In 2022, a high-profile EV CEO warned that 90 to 95 per cent of the battery supply chain "does not exist," highlighting the need for significant improvements in infrastructure and capacity to sustain the EV market. In all of this melee, new entrant manufacturers and suppliers may not be taking battery fires as seriously as they ought to. As demand grows exponentially, quality may drop and corners may be cut—with serious consequences. It may not only come at the expense of public safety, but also that of the public perception to act on climate change through fuel switching. Stricter manufacturing, supplier, and integration standards for batteries purchased by vehicle manufacturers—across all platforms—are needed. The cost will be passed onto consumers and public transit fleets (i.e., the taxpayer), and that means we should prepare for manufactured and delivered—but safe—batteries to get more expensive, not less, in the future. The good news is that Canada is emerging as an international leader in electric vehicle battery manufacturing, bolstered by its commitment to quality control and stringent regulatory oversight. Battery plants in Canada should be investing heavily in ensuring consistent overall quality throughout the manufacturing process. These measures may lead to higher battery prices due to increased production costs, but they should ultimately result in a superior product that is safer and more reliable. Other measures, like allocating more land and storage for Canada’s electric buses and prioritizing “transit first” in zoning considerations by government, may also help to mitigate the unknown by allowing for more spacing between buses and batteries, rather than squishing them into transit depots. To decarbonize successfully, we can’t avoid the hard discussions around battery fires, battery waste, and increased battery prices with global supply constraints. Opposition to decarbonization does nothing for anyone. Creative solution-building based on Canada’s safe(r) and (more) regulated manufacturing landscape is a great place to start. Taxpayers, riders, and voters won’t care who started the fire. But we will care about who has a safe solution to fossil fuels going forward. Dr. Josipa Petrunic is president and CEO of the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium. The Hill Times

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EV battery fires are a global problem that we need to address in Canada

Ignoring the issue may not only come at the expense of public safety, but also that of the public perception to act on climate change through fuel switching.

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