- Dr. Judy Jeevarajan, Research Director of Underwriters Laboratories conduct the webinar on Lithion Ion Battery Hazards
- More than 860 participants attend the Webinar
- Electric Mobility Forum in its second year is creating awareness about eMobility in India
“What happens when your School Bus catches fine in a fast-charging station on a hot sunny day? You, drive and 29 Children”, this question is not far behind as we see an increase in the number of eMobility in our country. One of the critical components in an EV, battery – a major safety concern for users was the subject for the monthly webinar organized by Electric Mobility Forum (EMF) on the 25th of May 2020, “Lithium-ion battery hazards and design challenges in the electric vehicle sector”.
EMF in its second year is promoted by WRI India, with the support of the Sakthi Sustainable Energy Foundation. India is witnessing significant growth in the e-mobility and renewable energy sectors. Batteries are an integral part of these sectors as they provide the energy and power for these applications as well as a wide variety of accessories linked to these sectors.
The speaker for the webinar was from UL, Dr. Judy Jeevarajan. Dr. Judy Jeevarajan is a Research Director at Underwriters Laboratories Inc. She has worked in the area of batteries for more than 21 years with a primary focus on the lithium-ion chemistry. Before joining UL, she worked at NASA -Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston for 12 years. She was the Group Lead for Battery Safety and Advanced Technology at NASA-JSC. Before becoming a civil servant at NASA in 2003, she worked on-site at NASA-JSC for Lockheed Martin Space Operations for five and a half years.
Recently, we have seen major traction of electric vehicles (EVs) in the world and this sector is gaining traction in India also. A majority of the EVs are powered by lithium-ion batteries. Batteries have the potential to offer many benefits to society such as improved air quality and reduced carbon dioxide emissions
Amit Bhatt
Project Director (EMF), WRI India
However, they can be a major safety hazard if not designed, handled, or maintained properly. The safety of lithium-ion batteries is of utmost importance in EVs and thus the basic understanding of the various battery hazards and design challenges is critical for all key stakeholders like battery manufacturers, OEMs, engineers, government, regulators, etc. With the increasing penetration of e-mobility in the country, understanding the safety of the lithium-ion battery system along with the charging infrastructure, in varied environments is crucial (considering diverse climate, temperature, altitude, etc., in India).
Globally, we continue to hear about EV battery failures which lead to disastrous outcomes like a thermal runaway, smoke, and fire. Though batteries are a great energy storage source and help to reduce environmental pollution, ensuring the safety of the batteries from the design stage is very critical.
There were a total of 1446 clicked registrations, 880 registrations, and 380 participants. We had people from a range of industries related to EV such as OEMs, Research and Academia, Electricity, Battery and Automobile manufacturers, Aggregators, government, Finance institutions etc.
Shravani Sharma
Project Associate (EV), WRI India
Dr. Judy Jeevarajan talked about points which may be beneficial to the above stakeholders now and in the long run when EVs are adopted and become a vital part of public life, which included hazards with lithium-ion batteries for EV, challenges with lithium-ion battery designs for EV, mitigation of hazards, charging infrastructure challenges.
You can access this webinar at https://thecityfixlearn.org/webinar/lithium-ion-battery-hazards-and-design-challenges-electric-vehicle-sector
