Scientists make breakthrough in battery technology that could prevent EVs from catching fire: ‘Ideal for high-speed and intensive use in real-world applications’

The answer to removing fire risk from batteries might be obvious: Water.

At least that’s what an ingenious innovation from the minds of researchers at Australia’s RMIT University indicates. The team there has developed what it calls an aqueous metal-ion battery that won’t catch fire but still meets performance benchmarks.

The problem is that common lithium-ion batteries, which power our electric vehicles and are often used for large-scale storage, can (albeit rarely) catch fire, or even explode. Worse yet, the metals needed to make them are expensive and hard to gather.

As a result, scientists around the world are working to find alternative materials that provide long life, short charge times, low production costs — and zero fire risk.

RMIT’s innovation seems to check the boxes. It includes water, magnesium, and zinc as part of the chemistry needed to provide a charge/discharge process, according to a report on the research by ScienceBlog.

“We use materials … that are abundant in nature, inexpensive, and less toxic than alternatives used in other kinds of batteries, which helps to lower manufacturing costs and reduces risks to human health and the environment,” lead researcher Professor Tianyi Ma said in the blog, which also noted that the power packs are easily recycled.

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