Company works to prevent EV fires
Tennessee firm's solution a possibility for batteries
By: Daniel Dassow
Knoxville News Sentinel
USA Today Network - Tennessee
..... Lithium-ion batteries are an essential technology for electric cars, but are hampered by their risk of exploding in flames during crashes or due to manufacturing defects. One Knoxville tech company has a solution that is attracting millions in investments.
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Safire Technology Group was founded in 2020 after an innovative substance was discovered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the startup received a license to commercialize it.
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The Safe Impact Resistant Electrolyte, or SAFIRE, is the world's only hybrid-state battery safety technology that turns from a liquid to a solid on impact. It is added to a battery cell during the manufacturing process, and doesn't change the fundamental chemistry of the lithium-ion battery.
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The company has contracts with the Department of Defense to develop technologies folklike electric dirt bikes that can land hard without catching fire, body armor that's impact-resistant and 20 pounds lighter, and robot dogs.
..... It's ultimate goal, however, is breaking into the EV industry. By halfway through 2025, the company hopes to conduct testing of its electrolyte with multiple EV manufacturers. The benefit for automakers are clear: with SAFIRE, their cars could be safer in crashers and around 200 pounds lighter, once the metal protecting batteries form impact is removed. The additive is cheaper than steel and aluminum, too.
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The company is exploring ways to make batteries safer even when a crash isn't involved, like when a defect leads to a dangerous overheating reaction called thermal runaway. Though rare than fires in gas cars, EV battery fires burn hotter and are trickier to extinguish.
..... "We think SAFIRE can be ubiquitous in electric vehicles as airbags,' Andrew Hanna, the company's chief product officer, told Knox News. "Our mission is around protecting lives, and that impact, you can't really put a value on it. EV fires are rare, and we want then to be rare, but when they happen, they're catastrophic. And if we can prevent that, and we can protect one life, then it's worth it."
..... Safire closed its latest round of funding in September [2024] with $8 million, led by Canaan Partners. The money will allow the company to expand its team of scientists and engineers in Tennessee, deliver on contracts with the U.S. government and push into the EV market.
..... It has already hired several new leading scientists to its team since the fundraising, and now employs a team of 11 full-time staff, mostly based in Tennessee.
..... Getting into the EV market is a long process, and it will be at least three years before a car hits the road with the technology added. But Safire's team has spoken with manufacturers who are highly interested.