Die Batterien können jetzt schon im Notfall ausgeworfen werden. Wann wird die Abfangtechnik implementiert?

“(This thing) makes up for the regret of not having torpedoes on land...” “(So) other vehicles are going to be equipped with battery interception technology!”

Last weekend, an organization called the “China Automobile Collision Technology Center” publicly displayed a video of an experimental disposal plan for the emergency response to thermal runaway of on-board power batteries, which it called the “battery ejection technology.” The Chinese Internet community was instantly ignited.

Image | It's really hard not to laugh no matter how you look at it.

Due to the shocking nature of the technology shown in the video and the numerous talking points that come to mind after a simple association, it quickly went viral beyond the automotive field and became a hot topic for the whole nation to discuss and complain about. The two sentences above are classic comments directly excerpted from the comment section of the relevant video news on the community, as well as the reply to that comment.

To be fair, it's not that people are deliberately trying to “discredit” the organization that came up with this invention. It's just that the scene in the video is so absurd that any man, whether he's a military enthusiast or not, can immediately think of the launch of a torpedo or a missile...

Image | Can you picture it?

Moreover, since it's touted as a safety measure, isn't it just “letting others take the fall while saving yourself”?

A person who claims to be a staff member of the China Automobile Collision Technology Center and a witness to the test in the video specifically released a video this Tuesday to respond to the online hype. Through their introduction, we also obtained some information, which allowed us to have a more comprehensive understanding of it.

According to the introduction in the relevant explanatory video, this so - called battery ejection technology, which has become a laughingstock, originated from a side - plug battery charging solution previously developed by the organization. Simply put, it's a replaceable power battery pack. However, different from the currently common solution of replacing the entire bottom power battery pack, it uses a special mechanical slide rail device to quickly insert and remove the battery components from one side of the vehicle.

And “battery ejection” is a by - product of the above battery replacement solution. During the R & D process, technicians found that with this structure, the battery also has the possibility of quickly detaching from the vehicle body. “So we thought about a question. In extreme situations, such as when the battery experiences thermal runaway, can we avoid greater damage to the entire vehicle by ejecting the battery? Thus, this functional test of battery ejection was carried out.”

Image | Roughly speaking, it's the reverse operation of such a process.

By now, I'm sure you've understood that this incident is actually a technical attempt (or verification) by a group of technicians based on a brainstorm. In fact, it's not difficult to achieve this function. All it takes is a set of controllable unlocking devices and a controllable compressed gas container. The corresponding software judgment and sensor systems are still a long way off. It's just a test of the ejection function.

It generally conforms to the common Chinese logic of “since you're here/you might as well do it,” which doesn't mean it will be actually installed in vehicles, let alone the implementation of a certain standard.

Of course, precisely because the content is so explosive and thought - provoking after a little association, this wave of popularity has emerged. Imagine such a magical scenario -

When you're driving your vehicle obediently on the road, suddenly you hear a loud “bang” from the side. Before you have time to turn your head to check, you catch a glimpse from the corner of your eye that the car in the adjacent lane has shot two smoking battery packs at you.

Image | Good, full of energy!

If such a moment really comes, I'm sure anyone would hope that their vehicle is equipped with an “Active Protection System,” just like the latest infantry fighting vehicles or main battle tanks...

Of course, that staff member is not unaware of the problem. In the response video, they self - mocked, “We're supposed to be doing technology, but now we've become a joke. This might be the most - followed project I've ever been involved in.”

If the situation is as explained by the relevant staff, then this wave of popularity can be regarded as a pure “misunderstanding.” The R & D personnel of the enterprise/organization just did it on a whim with the attitude of “since we've started, we might as well finish it,” and then released the video. But it just happened to hit a hot - button topic.

So far, there really isn't a very good solution to the problem of power battery combustion. For the currently mainstream lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium batteries in various packaging modes, once the packaging is broken and the electrolyte comes into contact with the air, it will immediately start to oxidize violently and release heat.

Even though many brands currently claim that their batteries “won't catch fire after a puncture test,” that's only based on the premise that the area of the broken packaging is small. Once the entire battery cell is torn, or even multiple cells in a component are broken at the same time, the final result is without any suspense.

Image | There are various reasons for the combustion of power batteries, and a simple puncture test can't fully reflect them.

About ten years ago, during the era of QQ groups, I once had a “key - politics - style” chat with a group of friends about how to solve the safety problem of lithium batteries. At that time, there were roughly two “conclusions” -

The radical approach is similar to the ejection or abandonment method shown in the video that caused this incident, aiming at “letting others take the fall while saving yourself”; the conservative measure is to directly install a heat - resistant steel protective plate above the battery compartment and set up a rear - facing flame guide groove to try to buy as much escape time as possible for the people in the vehicle.

Of course, I put quotation marks around “conclusions” because I really thought at that time that these two “solutions” were typical “armchair - talk.” The ejection or abandonment method goes without saying, and the heavy - protection method doesn't seem very reliable either. After all, everyone knows that new energy vehicles carrying power battery packs, which are like “dead weights,” already have a significantly increased mass compared to fuel vehicles. And the envisioned battery compartment protection in the form of an armored box would require an additional weight of at least 200 kg, and the high - strength steel used is not cheap either. It's unlikely to be popularized except for luxury cars.

Image | There are indeed examples of protecting battery packs in the “heavy - armor” mode, such as the Audi Q6L e - tron series. But after all, the cost is there, and it's only for luxury cars with a starting price of 330,000 yuan.

Then, we're looking forward to a third possibility - solid - state batteries.

Toyota plans to achieve large - scale installation of all - solid - state batteries in vehicles from 2027 to 2030. Domestic giants with high vehicle - installation rates, such as CATL, BYD, Guoxuan High - Tech, and Ganfeng Lithium, as well as companies like Weilan New Energy, Qingtao Energy, and Tailan New Energy, have already launched their semi - solid or all - solid - state battery samples or have put new - generation solid - state products into mass production.

Image | To fundamentally solve the problem, we can only wait for solid - state batteries to be mass - produced and installed in vehicles in large quantities.

Technical problems can only be solved by technology, and the jokes made by technology need to be turned over by real new technologies.

This article is from the WeChat public account “Automobile Community” (ID: iAUTO2010). Author: Lindon Wan, Editor: He Zengrong. It is published by 36Kr with permission.