70% lithium battery fire accident ascribe soft pack batteries in korea

November 4, 2021

70% lithium battery fire accident ascribe soft pack batteries in korea

 

Statistics provided by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to the Korean National Assembly show that among all 47 lithium battery fire accidents that have occurred in South Korea since 2017, 33 were accidents involving soft-pack battery packs and square-shaped battery packs. 12 cases, 2 cases of cylindrical battery packs.
 
In terms of battery cell manufacturers, there were 32 accidents with LG Energy products, 11 accidents with Samsung SDI products, 1 accident with SK Innovation, and 3 accidents with other brands.
 
In terms of battery usage, there were 32 accidents involving lithium batteries used in ESS systems and 15 accidents involving lithium batteries used in electric vehicles.
 
According to the report, electric cars and hydrogen-powered cars produced in South Korea mainly use soft-pack batteries. Among Korean battery manufacturers, LG Energy and SK Innovation mainly produce soft-pack batteries, and Samsung SDI mainly produces square batteries.
 
At present, soft-pack batteries are showing an upward trend in the global market. In 2020, the shares of square and cylindrical cells are 49.2% and 23%, respectively. The market share of soft-pack batteries has risen from 14.4% in 2018 to 27.8% in 2020, which is nearly doubled.
 
The South Korean National Assembly has begun to pay attention to the possibility of lithium battery packaging and the possibility of fire and other safety accidents, and is promoting government-level safety standards and safety certification measures.
 
At present, lithium battery cells generally have three packaging forms: soft-pack batteries with polymer shells, square and cylindrical batteries with metal shells. The safety risks of liquid leakage, fire and explosion of different packages are different, and the requirements for raw materials and processes, as well as the main performance such as energy density and group efficiency, are very different.