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Automotive vocabulary · Electric Vehicles and Batteries

Thermal runaway

Meaning in automotive, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In automotive, thermal runaway means: A dangerous chain reaction in a lithium-ion cell in which rising temperature causes reactions that release even more heat, which can lead to fire, toxic gases and spread to neighboring cells.

In Turkish: termal kaçak, ısıl kaçak

How it is used

Used in battery safety engineering and EV damage handling. Causes include internal short circuits, crash damage, overcharging and overheating. Engineers design packs to detect and delay propagation from one cell to the next.

Example sentences

  1. The test showed that thermal runaway in one cell did not spread to the rest of the module.

  2. After a serious crash, the battery is monitored for 48 hours because of the risk of thermal runaway.

Common collocations

  • thermal runaway propagation
  • risk of thermal runaway
  • cell venting
  • battery fire
  • battery cellThe smallest electrochemical unit of a battery. Many cells are connected into modules and packs; the main formats are cylindrical, prismatic and pouch cells.
  • battery packThe large high-voltage battery that stores energy for an electric or hybrid vehicle. It is made of many cells grouped into modules, with cooling and control electronics in one housing.
  • BMSShort for battery management system: the electronics that monitor the voltage, current and temperature of the cells, keep them balanced and protect the battery from overcharging, deep discharge and overheating.
  • electric vehicleA vehicle driven only by one or more electric motors that take energy from a rechargeable battery. It has no fuel tank and produces no exhaust emissions while driving.

More terms: Electric Vehicles and Batteries

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