Enhancing Electric Vehicle Fire Safety – a BATT CAVE and FlameOff Partnership

UNC Charlotte Business Partner FlameOFF Coatings is collaborating with the University’s BATT CAVE (North Carolina Battery Complexity, Autonomous Vehicle and Electrification Research Center) to demonstrate how intumescent technology can effectively slow down or even prevent thermal runaway in battery cells. Thermal runaway is a dangerous, self-sustaining chain reaction of exothermic reactions that leads to a rapid and uncontrollable increase in temperature that can cause fires and explosions.

In initial tests, FlameOFF Coatings, which produces fire-resistant technologies, reduced the maximum surface temperature of the coated battery cell during thermal runaway. This exposed adjacent cells to less conductive and radiant heat transfer from the coated cell, making them less likely to reach thermal runaway.

In Electric Vehicle (EV) applications, stopping the spread of thermal runaway is critical. Otherwise, the thousands of individual cells inside the car could start a chain reaction that develops into an uncontrollable fire.

This research was a contributing factor in UNC Charlotte receiving a $2 million grant in 2022 for the electric train project planned for Mt. Holly, NC. And now that the FlameOFF Coating has shown promising results, The BATT CAVE’s Dr. Anthony Bombik is interested in expanding the project to enhance the protection of garages where electric vehicles are parked. To further this effort, FlameOFF is working to secure a second grant for the BATT CAVE, aiming for $1.5 million to support research focused on designing for emergency response to EV garage fires.

This is a great example of bringing together University researchers with University business partners to advance research and innovation – something the Office of Research Commercialization and Partnerships (ORCP) takes great pride in.