THERMAL SCIENCE

International Scientific Journal

Cemil Ozkalay

,

Hakan Serhad Soyhan

,

Onur Mammacioglu

,

Gokhan Coskun

HYBRID VEHICLE BATTERY FIRES EXPERIMENTAL INSIGHTS AND RISK EVALUTION

ABSTRACT
This study investigates the fire behavior of lithium-ion batteries used in hybrid electric vehicles under gasoline-induced thermal conditions. In the experimental set-up, 2 L of gasoline were ignited to analyze and compare the thermal responses of a 6 cell 18650 cylindrical battery pack and a prismatic battery. Temperature changes were recorded at T1 and T2 points using K-type thermocouples, and the thermal reactions of each battery type were evaluated. Both batteries exhibited safety valve activation, thermal runaway, and jet flame emissions. The prismatic battery initially showed higher resistance, yet eventually underwent a similar failure sequence. Maximum temperatures reached 981.3°C at T2 and 765.4°C at T1, indicating the severity of the thermal runaway process. The findings demonstrate that hydrocarbon fuel significantly intensifies battery reactions and highlight the necessity of improved fire safety strategies in hybrid systems. This study provides a valuable foundation for future research on battery safety and fire risk mitigation in multi-energy vehicle configurations.
KEYWORDS
fire, hybrid electric vehicle, lithium ion battery, fire safety
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2025-04-08
PAPER REVISED: 2025-06-18
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2025-07-10
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2025-09-26
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI2504105O
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2025, VOLUME 29, ISSUE Issue 4, PAGES [3105 - 3111]
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Hybrid vehicle battery fires experimental insights and risk evalution

2025 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence