Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere as shown by the last iteration of Lithium-ion battery fires. But what makes them so dangerous and what causes them to start fires? Most lithium-ion batteries are safe and will never start a fire with safe and sensible usage, but sometimes they are used with not enough care for what a danger they could be. When the batteries are consistently left overcharging, the risk starts to rise.
Overcharging
One of the causes of lithium-ion battery fires is when people are overcharging the batteries. This is when the battery is constantly being charged all the time for extensive periods of time. The biggest culprit for this is people such as phone users who leave their phone charging overnight, every night so eventually overtime the battery is worn and worn until just one time it could explode and burst into flames. This is also a growing problem with e-bikes and e-scooters as they are another common item that is left to charge for extended periods of time.
How to stay safe
Lithium-ion batteries’ optimal window of charge is 30-70% and maybe 20-80% for some other products. If a battery is kept in this window at all times, the wear on the battery will stay minimal for a long time, therefore leading to longer lives of batteries and less chance of starting a fire.
Check out our last iteration of Lithium-ion battery firesย here.