Electric vehicle fires are not a technical issue, quality control and design are the key

This year, there have been more than 50 fires in electric vehicles. Battery safety issues have attracted much attention and become the focus of the industry.

Considering the importance of lithium battery safety, some experts advocate that power batteries should abandon the ternary route and return to lithium iron phosphate batteries. This view is a bit of a one-sided approach and an overreaction. In fact, the safety of lithium iron phosphate batteries is only relative. If the battery protection and design are not done well, all kinds of batteries are at risk.

With the collapse of A123 in the United States, the technical route of lithium iron phosphate. Whether it is lithium iron or ternary, there are cases of fire and combustion. Instead of entangled in the technical route, it is better to find the real culprit of battery safety hazards.

The failure of the battery cell is only part of the potential safety hazard of the battery system. The battery cell structure, working mode, environment and other factors will make the potential safety hazard of the battery cell more apparent. Therefore, the structural design, control system and production control of the power system are more critical parts.

Many of the power battery suppliers and car companies involved in the accidents did not pay attention to safety, unilaterally reduced costs, had lax chip quality control, and insufficient safety design. Design and quality control are the main causes of electric vehicle fires.

Wang Binggang, director of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, said that some of the safety accidents that occurred in my country's electric vehicles were caused by very low-level mistakes, such as no protection during charging, and continued charging after the battery was fully charged, until the battery pack bulged and caught fire. This was either due to lax access control or failure to produce in accordance with requirements.

The main problem with battery safety lies in structural design and quality control, not technical route problems. Under the pressure of policies emphasizing energy density and cost control, it is easy for companies to reduce quality to cater to the market and policies.

Therefore, some scholars suggest that the battery energy density should be improved step by step, and high energy density should not be pursued unilaterally. However, safety issues will eventually return to technical issues. For example, battery fast charging technology requires higher voltage. How to ensure safety under high voltage will be the focus of competition among companies.

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.