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Fire Protection Materials for Electric Vehicle Batteries 2023-2033

Fire protection and thermal runaway propagation limiting materials for electric cars, buses, vans, trucks, scooters, and motorcycles. Ceramics, mica, aerogels, foams, encapsulants, coatings, and PCMs. Material benchmarking and market forecasts.


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The occurrence of fires in electric vehicles (EVs) are less common than their combustion engine counterparts, in total number, but also in terms of the rate per miles traveled. However infrequent, it is extremely important to protect the vehicle's occupants and prolong the time for a fire to exit the battery pack for as long as possible. The key method of achieving this is the proper choice and deployment of fire protection materials throughout the battery pack. The rapidly growing EV market across segments beyond just cars such as buses, trucks, vans, scooters, and motorcycles all present great and varied opportunities for material suppliers to enable safer battery packs.
 
IDTechEx's report 'Fire Protection Materials for Electric Vehicle Batteries 2023-2033' analyses trends in battery design, safety regulations, and how these will impact fire protection materials. The report benchmarks materials directly against each other and for applications within battery packs. The materials covered include ceramic blankets/sheets (and other non-wovens), mica, aerogels, coatings (intumescent and other), encapsulants, encapsulating foams, compression pads, phase change materials, and several other materials. Ten-year market forecasts are included by material and vehicle category.
 
Variety in battery design and evolution
The EV market has yet to converge on a single battery design at any level; one only has to consider the cell format where prismatic took around 55% of the car market in 2021 with the rest split fairly evenly between cylindrical and pouch. The thermal management strategy also varies between manufacturers, with cold plates beneath the cells being the most popular option, but sidewall-cooled and air-cooled batteries also present significant adoption. Many manufacturers are also moving towards a cell-to-pack design where module housings (and a host of other materials) are removed, leading to improved energy density but potentially more challenging thermal runaway propagation prevention. These design choices all greatly impact the choice and deployment of fire protection materials and hence are covered in IDTechEx's report to aid in determining material demands.
 
Many materials are applicable for fire protection in EV batteries. Source: IDTechEx report 'Fire Protection Materials for Electric Vehicle Batteries 2023-2033'.
 
Ceramic blankets have been a common choice to provide protection above the cells and below the lid and to delay the propagation of fire outside the pack. In recent years, we have seen many adopt thick mica sheets to provide fire protection and excellent electrical isolation. Aerogels are not a new material, but their application within EV batteries has largely been limited in volume and constrained to China. However, major player Aspen Aerogels has secured a supply agreement with GM for its Ultium battery pack, moving the technology to the US. The use of encapsulating foams has also seen significant adoption for cylindrical cell battery packs with the likes of Tesla, to provide lightweight thermal insulation and structure. For pouch cells, compression pads are commonplace to accommodate cell swelling and many are now combining this functionality with fire protection to provide a multifunctional solution. There are a host of materials in addition to the ones mentioned above that can aid in the safety of battery packs by preventing the propagation of thermal runaway and/or containing fire events. The variety of battery design philosophies presents opportunities for many fire protection materials and their suppliers; in fact, IDTechEx is predicting a 13-fold increase in yearly demand for fire protection materials in EV batteries by 2033 in comparison to 2022.
 
Developments in safety regulations
Many will be aware that China was an early adopter of thermal runaway specific regulations, with, among other requirements, a need to prevent fire or smoke exiting the battery pack for five minutes after the event occurs. This standard was mandated from the start of 2021 and whilst a formal mandate similar to this is yet to be applied in other regions, OEMs have started targeting this, or are implementing more stringent requirements in their designs, to pre-empt future regulations and improve overall safety.
 
The EV market in India has exhibited a large transition in safety. In 2022, several fires in electric scooters were exhibited and many recalls issued. The governing bodies have now set adjustments (to take place from October 2022) to the current standards to include more of a focus on EV battery safety in micromobility segments. In addition to only using approved cells, battery design features like inter-cell spacing are also stated. The increasingly safety-focused regulations across multiple global regions mean that the focus on safety and materials that aid in that goal will become increasingly utilized across vehicle segments, although the choice and application of these materials will vary between the vehicle category and battery design. Whilst the vehicle segments outside of automotive are important, IDTechEx's research shows that the combination of relatively large batteries and huge unit volumes sees electric cars accounting for over 90% of the fire protection materials market for EVs by the end of the decade.
 
Key aspects
This report provides the following information:
 
Overview and evolution of:
  • Electric vehicle fires and thermal runaway
  • Electric vehicle recalls related to fires
  • Regulations in different global regions
 
Material analysis and trends including thermal conductivity, dielectric strength, density, and more for:
  • Ceramics (and other non-wovens)
  • Mica
  • Aerogels
  • Coatings (intumescent and other)
  • Encapsulants
  • Encapsulating foams
  • Compression pads (with fire protection properties)
  • Phase change materials
  • Other material categories
 
Ten-year market forecasts and analysis:
  • EV battery demand for cars, buses, trucks, vans, scooters, and motorcycles (GWh)
  • Cell-to-cell protection by material (kg)
  • Pack-level protection by material (kg)
  • Total fire protection by material (kg)
  • Total fire protection by material (US$)
  • Total fire protection by vehicle category (kg)
  • Total fire protection by vehicle category (US$)
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Table of Contents
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1.What are fire protection materials?
1.2.Thermal runaway and fires in electric vehicles
1.3.Battery fires and related recalls (automotive)
1.4.Automotive fire incidents: OEMs and causes
1.5.EV fires compared to ICEs
1.6.The impact of solid-state batteries
1.7.Regulations
1.8.Automotive market share of cell types
1.9.Thermal runaway in cell-to-pack
1.10.Fire protection materials: main categories
1.11.Material comparison
1.12.Density vs thermal conductivity - thermally insulating
1.13.Density vs thermal conductivity - cylindrical cell systems
1.14.Material intensity (kg/kWh)
1.15.Pricing comparison in a battery (inter-cell)
1.16.Pricing comparison in a battery (pack-level)
1.17.Material market shares
1.18.Market shares in 2022 and 2032
1.19.Cell-level fire protection materials forecast (mass)
1.20.Pack-level fire protection materials forecast (mass)
1.21.Total fire protection materials forecast (mass)
1.22.Total fire protection materials forecast (value)
1.23.Total fire protection materials by vehicle (value)
1.24.Company profiles
2.INTRODUCTION
2.1.1.Thermal runaway and fires in EVs
2.2.Fires and recalls in EVs
2.2.1.Battery fires and related recalls (automotive)
2.2.2.GM's Bolt recall
2.2.3.Hyundai Kona recall
2.2.4.VW PHEV recall
2.2.5.Ford Kuga PHEV recall
2.2.6.Automotive fire incidents: OEMs and causes
2.2.7.Electric scooter fires in India
2.2.8.Electric bus fires
2.2.9.EV fires compared to ICEs
2.2.10.Severity of EV fires
2.2.11.EV fires: when do they happen?
2.3.Causes and stages of thermal runaway
2.3.1.Causes of failure
2.3.2.The nail penetration test
2.3.3.Stages of thermal runaway
2.3.4.Cell chemistry and stability
2.3.5.Thermal runaway propagation
2.3.6.The impact of solid-state batteries
2.4.Regulations
2.4.1.Regulations
2.4.2.China
2.4.3.Europe
2.4.4.US
2.4.5.India
2.4.6.What does it all mean for EV battery design?
3.CELL AND PACK DESIGN
3.1.1.Cell types
3.1.2.Which cell format to choose?
3.1.3.Automotive market share of cell types
3.1.4.Differences between cell, module, and pack
3.1.5.What's in a battery module? (pouch/prismatic)
3.1.6.What's in a battery module? (cylindrical)
3.1.7.What's in an EV battery pack?
3.2.Cell-to-pack, cell-to-chassis, and large cell formats
3.2.1.What is cell-to-pack?
3.2.2.Drivers and challenges for cell-to-pack
3.2.3.What is cell-to-chassis/body?
3.2.4.Gravimetric energy density and cell-to-pack ratio
3.2.5.Outlook for cell-to-pack & cell-to-body designs
3.2.6.Thermal runaway in cell-to-pack
3.2.7.Material intensity changes in cell-to-pack
4.FIRE PROTECTION MATERIALS
4.1.Introduction
4.1.1.What are fire protection materials?
4.1.2.Thermally conductive or thermally insulating?
4.1.3.Fire protection materials: main categories
4.1.4.Composition and application of each material category
4.1.5.Advantages and disadvantages
4.1.6.Market maturity, OEM use-cases, and suppliers
4.1.7.Material comparison
4.1.8.Material market shares
4.1.9.Market shares in 2022 and 2032
4.2.Material benchmarking: thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties
4.2.1.Thermal conductivity comparison
4.2.2.Density comparison
4.2.3.Density vs thermal conductivity - thermally insulating
4.2.4.Density vs thermal conductivity - cylindrical cell systems
4.2.5.Dielectric strength comparison
4.2.6.Fire protection temperature comparison
4.2.7.Material intensity (kg/kWh)
4.3.Material benchmarking: costs
4.3.1.Pricing comparison: volumetric and gravimetric
4.3.2.Pricing comparison in a battery (inter-cell)
4.3.3.Pricing comparison in a battery (pack-level)
4.4.Ceramics and other non-wovens
4.4.1.Ceramic blankets/papers
4.4.2.Alkegen
4.4.3.Morgan Advanced Materials
4.5.Mica
4.5.1.Mica sheets
4.5.2.Elmelin
4.5.3.Von Roll
4.6.Aerogels
4.6.1.Why aerogels?
4.6.2.Aerogels
4.6.3.Historic uptake
4.6.4.Aspen Aerogels
4.6.5.JIOS Aerogel
4.6.6.Notable new entrants
4.6.7.SAIC/GM: Aerogels
4.7.Coatings
4.7.1.Coatings (intumescent and other)
4.7.2.Henkel
4.7.3.Parker Lord
4.7.4.PPG
4.7.5.Sika
4.8.Encapsulants (excluding foams)
4.8.1.Encapsulants/potting
4.8.2.DEMAK - resin potting for batteries
4.8.3.ELANTAS
4.8.4.Epoxies, Etc.
4.8.5.Huntsman
4.8.6.Von Roll
4.9.Encapsulating foams
4.9.1.Foams
4.9.2.Asahi Kasei - Cell Holder Foams
4.9.3.CHT Silicones
4.9.4.Dow Silicones
4.9.5.Elkem
4.9.6.H.B. Fuller
4.9.7.H.B. Fuller
4.9.8.Parker Lord
4.9.9.Zotefoams - Nitrogen Foam
4.10.Compression pads with fire protection
4.10.1.Compression pads
4.10.2.Dow
4.10.3.Rogers Corporation
4.10.4.Rogers Corporation
4.10.5.Saint-Gobain
4.11.Phase change materials
4.11.1.Phase change materials (PCMs)
4.11.2.Phase change materials - players
4.11.3.PCMs - players in EVs
4.11.4.AllCell (Beam Global)
4.11.5.PCMs - use-case and outlook
4.12.Tapes
4.12.1.Tapes for fire protection
4.12.2.ATP Adhesive Systems
4.12.3.Avery Denison
4.12.4.Rogers
4.13.Other fire protection materials
4.13.1.Alternative thermal barriers
4.13.2.3M - thermal barriers
4.13.3.ADA Technologies
4.13.4.AOK Technology
4.13.5.Armacell
4.13.6.Covestro - flame-retardant plastics
4.13.7.DuPont - Nomex
4.13.8.H.B. Fuller - flame-resistant pack seal
4.13.9.HeetShield - ultra-thin insulations
4.13.10.KULR Technology - NASA's solution
4.13.11.ITW Formex
4.13.12.LG Chem - flame retardant material
4.13.13.svt Group
4.14.Summary
4.14.1.Fire protection materials outlook
5.IMMERSION COOLING FOR EV BATTERIES
5.1.Immersion cooling: introduction
5.2.Immersion cooling fluid requirements
5.3.Players: immersion fluids for EVs (1)
5.4.Players: immersion fluids for EVs (2)
5.5.Immersion fluids: density and thermal conductivity
5.6.Immersion fluids: summary
5.7.SWOT analysis: immersion cooling for EVs
5.8.What does it mean for fire protection materials?
6.FIRE PROTECTION MATERIAL USE-CASES
6.1.Use-cases: automotive
6.1.1.Faraday Future FF91
6.1.2.Ford Mustang Mach-E
6.1.3.Hyundai E-GMP
6.1.4.Jaguar I-PACE
6.1.5.MG ZS
6.1.6.Mercedes EQS
6.1.7.Mercedes GLC300e PHEV
6.1.8.Polestar
6.1.9.Rivian
6.1.10.Tesla 4680 pack
6.1.11.Tesla Model 3/Y
6.1.12.Tesla Model 3/Y prismatic LFP pack
6.1.13.Tesla Model S P85D
6.1.14.Tesla Model S Plaid
6.1.15.VW MEB Platform
6.2.Use-cases: heavy duty and commercial vehicles
6.2.1.Ford Transit
6.2.2.Lion Electric - self extinguishing modules
6.2.3.Nissan e-NV200
6.2.4.Romeo Power
6.2.5.Voltabox
6.2.6.Xerotech
6.2.7.XING Mobility
6.3.Use-cases: other
6.3.1.Cadenza Innovation - stationary energy storage
6.3.2.Hero Maxi (lead-acid)
6.3.3.Ola Hyperdrive battery
7.BATTERY PACK ENCLOSURES
7.1.Impact of enclosure material on fire protection
7.2.Lightweighting battery enclosures
7.3.From steel to aluminum
7.4.Towards composite enclosures?
7.5.Multi-material battery enclosures
7.6.EMI shielding for composite enclosures
7.7.UL standard for battery enclosures
7.8.SABIC: fire retardant battery enclosure
8.FORECASTS
8.1.EV battery demand forecast (GWh)
8.2.Methodology: material intensity
8.3.Methodology: cell formats
8.4.Cell-level fire protection materials forecast (mass)
8.5.Pack-level fire protection materials forecast (mass)
8.6.Total fire protection materials forecast (mass)
8.7.Material pricing
8.8.Total fire protection materials forecast (value)
8.9.Fire protection materials forecast by vehicle type (mass)
8.10.Total fire protection materials by vehicle (value)
9.COMPANY PROFILES
9.1.Von Roll
9.2.FUCHS
9.3.Axalta
9.4.Cadenza Innovation
9.5.Johnson Controls
9.6.XING Mobility
9.7.ADA Technologies
9.8.Xerotech
9.9.e-Mersiv
9.10.KULR Technology
9.11.Engineered Fluids
9.12.Solvay Specialty Polymers
9.13.Armacell
9.14.JIOS Aerogel
9.15.SABIC
9.16.Henkel
9.17.Aspen Aerogels
9.18.Asahi Kasei
9.19.Parker Lord
9.20.Elkem
9.21.Romeo Power
9.22.Beam Global/AllCell
9.23.Rogers Corporation
9.24.Pyrophobic Systems
9.25.H.B. Fuller
 

Report Statistics

Slides 231
Companies 25
Forecasts to 2033
ISBN 9781915514288
 
 
 
 

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