Lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and stationary power storage can catch fire aggressively, and this project aims to stop that from happening. As drivers demand longer range and faster charging, batteries are pushed harder, raising the risk of "thermal runaway"—a chain reaction where a single overheating cell ignites its neighbours. Current safety measures are reactive, not predictive. The LIBRIS team, including Jaguar Land Rover, the University of Warwick, and the Health and Safety Executive, will systematically identify the triggers of thermal runaway in individual cells, then scale up to understand how fires spread across entire battery packs. They will build computational models, test new flame-retardant materials, and develop better fire-sensing equipment. If successful, the project will produce safer battery pack designs and control software, standardised tests for assessing future fire prevention mechanisms, and stronger UK influence over international safety regulations. This matters because public confidence in electric vehicles and grid-scale storage depends on preventing fires before they start—not just containing them after. Safer batteries also remove a potential excuse for trade barriers disguised as safety concerns.
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"The Government's Faraday programme is supporting an important new research project to improve the safety of batteries for use in electric vehicles and as stationary power sources. Businesses Jaguar Land Rover, Denchi Power, 3M, Potenza, Lifeline and Tri-Wall are pooling resources with academics and experts at the University of Warwick and the Health and Safety Executive to ensure public safety in the age of electric motoring. Electrically-powered vehicles and battery storage installations thankfully have a good safety record in the UK, but engineers and academics involved in battery design are taking no chances. Lithium-Ion battery cells have the potential to catch fire aggressively, and with consumers demanding that batteries give them further range and faster charging, there is an urgent need to develop an understanding of how such ""thermal runaway"" (TR) events may be triggered, suppressed and contained. The use of improved prevention materials, methods and mechanisms and a focus on identifying and detecting all early signs of risks, will ensure that fires can be prevented, or if necessary isolated and suppressed before they spread. Project LIBRIS seeks to improve understanding of the range of potential causes of TR in individual battery cells and through scaling up tests and scientific understanding, develop better computational models for assessing the spread of TR within battery packs. The team will use real vehicle and stationary Lithium-Ion battery designs and applications to model theoretical work and will take forward the most effective innovations into newly designed packs which will be tested to make sure that the inventions actually work. The group will then use this experience to develop standard tests for assessing the effectiveness of any future battery fire prevention mechanisms, thus assisting the next generation of work on this vital issue. The project will lead to better battery pack design and control software, better fire sensing equipment, more use of innovative flame-retardant materials and better packaging for batteries in transport and during storage. It will create business opportunities and investment in the UK, whilst also contributing to public safety. It will also build UK public sector capability to influence future international safety standards and regulations, so that safety remains paramount, but is science-based and not used as an artificial excuse for trade barriers."
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