CHARLOTTE—Honeywell International Inc. is expanding its strategic alliance with Nexceris, a company that specializes in lithium-ion gas detection. The companies plan to develop sensor-based technology to help prevent conditions leading to thermal runaway in electric vehicle batteries.

"As the world transitions to electric-powered vehicles, automakers are faced with the need to provide lithium-ion batteries that function properly and safely during all stages of their lifecycle,” says Victor Verissimo, general manager of the transportation line of business at Honeywell Sensing and Safety Technologies. “We are supporting this transition with ready-now solutions to help our customers mitigate safety risks as they expand their electric vehicle portfolios.

“By collaborating with Nexceris to develop an enhanced suite of battery monitoring sensors, we will help automotive manufacturers strengthen their battery health monitoring systems with the ability to detect thermal runaway conditions even earlier,” claims Verissimo. 

"Our work with Honeywell will help us empower the global transition to electric vehicles through enhanced battery monitoring," adds Kyle Shen, president and CEO of Nexceris. "Fires from lithium-ion batteries are dangerous and often difficult to contain after they start.

“By combining our shared expertise in battery sensing and gas detection technology with Honeywell's extensive manufacturing capabilities, we will be working toward offering our vehicle manufacturing customers a more advanced safety solution and meeting the growing demand for lithium-ion batteries,” says Shen. 

In 2020, Honeywell and Nexceris formed a strategic alliance to address lithium-ion battery system safety for energy storage applications, combining the former’s very early warning smoke detection and the latter’s Li-ion Tamer gas detection technology.