Battery Safety

When we engage in discussions about lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), one of the most common questions asked by our colleagues, friends, and family is “Are lithium-ion batteries safe?” The answer to this important question is, for the individual, “Yes.” Despite the ubiquity of LIBs in our daily lives, the failure rates of these batteries are sufficiently low such that the chances of a failure affecting an individual using a battery for its intended purpose are vanishingly small. However, there is no room for complacency, as over 25 years of field experience has shown that there are inherent safety risks associated with LIB technologies. These are commonly related to in-service abuse by consumers, LIBs manufactured with poor quality and/or poor manufacturing controls, and many other factors.