Argonne Contributes Expertise Towards Safer Handling of High Voltage EV Batteries After an Accident

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has awarded researchers at Argonne $1.5 million in funding to develop a procedure for dealing with the stranded energy left in high voltage EV battery packs after an accident.  Crash impact can result in internal battery pack damage or the breaking of contactors in the system rendering access to battery condition information difficult.  These situations can present a danger to responders tasked with towing away the wreckage and the storage and eventual scrapping of the wrecked vehicle.  This is because the stored energy, if not addressed immediately, can pose a serious danger to workers or lead to a battery fire even weeks after the accident if not addresses.  Argonne’s task is to develop a universal tool to enable a quick analysis of the internal condition and charged state of the damaged battery, as well as a procedure for the safe discharge of the stranded energy.

September 2012