Coordination of European Research on Industrial Safety towards Smart and Sustainable Growth
SafeLiBatt
Safety and risk assessment of 1st and 2nd life lithium-ion batteries
A rapid increase of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) from electric vehicles is expected to create a large secondary market for second-life applications. While second-life LIBs can provide economic and environmental benefits, they also introduce complex safety and risk management challenges across storage, transport, repurposing and use. Current standards and safety practices are largely designed for first-life batteries and do not adequately reflect the heterogeneous history, state-of-health and failure behaviour of repurposed cells and packs. Thermal runaway and failure propagation remain key concerns, including heat release and toxic gas emissions in accident scenarios. In addition, risk perception, acceptance, insurance and governance aspects can influence deployment decisions, yet these are rarely integrated with technical safety evidence. SafeLiBatt addresses these gaps by establishing an interdisciplinary evidence base for safe and sustainable second-life LIB deployment, linking failure testing, risk assessment, socio-organisational aspects, life cycle analysis and standardisation needs.
The project investigates how safety risks of second-life LIBs differ from first-life applications and how these differences can be captured in risk assessment criteria spanning the full life cycle. It examines thermal runaway initiation, failure propagation, heat release and gaseous reaction products including toxicity, and how these hazards evolve with battery ageing and prior use history. It explores how experimental testing and scenario analysis can inform mitigation measures for storage, transport and repurposing workflows. Another research question concerns how secondary markets, technology acceptance and stakeholder perspectives (including crisis management and insurers) shape risk–benefit perceptions and governance needs, and how participatory methods can support risk communication and stakeholder engagement. Finally, the project investigates how resulting safety criteria can be translated into recommendations for policy, regulation and standardisation, including the development of inputs in a context where dedicated second-life standards are currently lacking.
SafeLiBatt will deliver experimentally supported safety criteria and risk assessment elements for second-life LIBs, including evidence on thermal runaway behaviour, propagation and toxic gas emissions under representative abuse scenarios. Outputs include recommendations for risk reduction measures across key life-cycle stages and a structured assessment of socio-organisational and acceptance issues affecting deployment. The project will provide life cycle analysis elements comparing second-life and first-life options to support sustainability decision-making. It will deliver governance- and policy-oriented recommendations on risk communication and stakeholder engagement and contribute technical inputs to relevant standardisation processes.
The project workplan consists of five coordinated work packages. - WP1 – Project management and coordination: ensures governance, reporting and dissemination. - WP2 – Materials and hazard characterisation: analyses materials and identifies safety-relevant properties of lithium-ion batteries. - WP3 – Fire and thermal runaway testing: investigates fire behaviour and propagation under abuse conditions. - WP4 – Risk assessment and mitigation strategies: develops risk reduction measures for battery life-cycle stages. - WP5 – Dissemination and exploitation: promotes uptake of safety recommendations.
Arnaud Bordes
INERIS
France
Anita Schmidt
BAM
Germany
Chalid el Dsoki
BAM
Germany
Aleksander Jandric
Institute of Waste Management and Circularity, BOKU Vienna
Austria
Stefan Salhofer
Institute of Waste Management and Circularity, BOKU Vienna
Austria
Titus-Ionut Udrea
Institute for Technology Assessment, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Austria
Anna Spindlegger
Institute of Waste Management and Circularity, BOKU Vienna
Austria
Gloria Rose
Institute for Technology Assessment, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Austria
Stefanie Prenner
Brimatech Services
Austria
Sabine Jung-Waclik
Brimatech Services
Austria
André Gazsó
Institute for Technology Assessment, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Austria
Florian Part
Institute of Waste Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
Austria
BMK
Austria
INERIS
France