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Honeywell’s newest partnership aims to prevent EV battery fires

The remains of an ill-fated Hyundai Kona EV. (Photo: Mathieu Wagner/Twitter)

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Honeywell announced it has landed a new partnership with Nexceris, the company that developed Li-ion Tamer lithium-ion gas detection solutions, in an attempt to increase electric vehicle safety.

The partnership will culminate new sensor-based solutions as the two companies plan to develop a new system that could prevent conditions leading to thermal runaway in EV batteries, which can cause fires when extremely high temperatures are reached.

The sensors will detect gases produced from excessive temperatures in lithium-ion batteries. The detection systems could allow for early intervention and help avoid costly property damage and safety issues.

Honeywell said the partnership is necessary to develop solutions to prevent fires caused by lithium-ion battery overheating. Global EV sales doubled in 2021 from 2020, and as many of the models introduced over the past few years utilize lithium-ion cells, preventative measures are becoming imperative. Companies across the sector are attempting to develop fire-proof EV cells, with various strategies being utilized to prevent an occurrence.

“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. At Honeywell, we are supporting this transition with ready-now solutions to help our customers mitigate safety risks as they expand their electric vehicle portfolios,”  Victor Verissimo of Honeywell said. “Furthermore, 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.”

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Li-ion Tamer products were developed by Nexceris to make batteries safer. Since the company’s start in 2010, Nexceris has performed regular testing and analysis on battery systems, working side-by-side with designers, regulators, and other experts to improve battery safety. In 2020, the company partnered with Honeywell’s Building Technologies division to “continuously improve the Li-ion Tamer products and provide innovative safety solutions, building a safety platform for all lithium-ion battery users, and enabling the growth of clean energy.”

Nexceris technologies have been utilized in NASA’s development of Solid Oxide Cells for lunar applications.

In 2019, the company’s Li-ion Tamer was featured in PV Magazine, which detailed the product’s effectiveness across the marine and automotive industries. Randy Stacy, COO and Managing Partner at the company, described the importance of catching thermal runaway events early, about eight to twelve minutes before they begin.

The unpredictability of battery malfunctions is an essential precedent for developing preventative measures. With thousands of battery cells put in energy storage and utility-scale projects, it is a safe assumption that one will eventually have an issue.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla adjusts crucial feature as winter weather arrives

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Credit: Tesla Cybertruck Owners Club Forum user CybertruckCovers

Tesla has adjusted the functionality of a crucial climate feature as Winter weather has started to arrive throughout some parts of the United States. The new feature was highly requested by owners.

Tesla has a Cabin Overheat Protection feature that helps keep the temperature regulated if it reaches a certain threshold. Inversely, it can be used in cold weather as well, which will automatically warm the cabin if it sinks to a temperature that is too low for the owner’s comfort.

This is a great way to keep the cabin either warmed up just enough or cooled down just enough so that it never gets too hot or too cold. Extreme temperatures could damage certain parts of the vehicle or damage personal belongings that are kept inside the car.

Overheat protection is a great thing to have in hot climates like Arizona or Texas, especially with the Premium trims of the Model 3 and Model Y, which feature a glass roof.

Many owners appreciate the feature, but they argue that using it at home will utilize too much energy, especially during extreme temperatures. For a while, many Tesla fans have requested an option to disable this feature when the car is parked at home, which the company recently added, according to Not a Tesla App.

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The feature is part of Software Version 2025.44.3, and the release notes state:

“You can now choose Exclude Home when Cabin Overheat Protection or No A/C is enabled.”

Tesla has been great at listening to what owners want with new features, and this is one that will reserve some charge and prevent unnecessary utilization of available power, especially as the car is parked at home. If owners want to condition the cabin or get the car ready for operation with a comfortable interior, they can utilize the Tesla app to adjust the climate.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk sends rivals dire warning about Full Self-Driving

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed today on the social media platform X that legacy automakers, such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, do not want to license the company’s Full Self-Driving suite, at least not without a long list of their own terms.

“I’ve tried to warn them and even offered to license Tesla FSD, but they don’t want it! Crazy,” Musk said on X. “When legacy auto does occasionally reach out, they tepidly discuss implementing FSD for a tiny program in 5 years with unworkable requirements for Tesla, so pointless.”

Musk made the remark in response to a note we wrote about earlier today from Melius Research, in which analyst Rob Wertheimer said, “Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is,” in terms of autonomy and self-driving development.

Wertheimer believes there are hundreds of billions of dollars in value headed toward Tesla’s way because of its prowess with FSD.

A few years ago, Musk first remarked that Tesla was in early talks with one legacy automaker regarding licensing Full Self-Driving for its vehicles. Tesla never confirmed which company it was, but given Musk’s ongoing talks with Ford CEO Jim Farley at the time, it seemed the Detroit-based automaker was the likely suspect.

Tesla’s Elon Musk reiterates FSD licensing offer for other automakers

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Ford has been perhaps the most aggressive legacy automaker in terms of its EV efforts, but it recently scaled back its electric offensive due to profitability issues and weak demand. It simply was not making enough vehicles, nor selling the volume needed to turn a profit.

Musk truly believes that many of the companies that turn their backs on FSD now will suffer in the future, especially considering the increased chance it could be a parallel to what has happened with EV efforts for many of these companies.

Unfortunately, they got started too late and are now playing catch-up with Tesla, XPeng, BYD, and the other dominating forces in EVs across the globe.

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Tesla backtracks on strange Nav feature after numerous complaints

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla is backtracking on a strange adjustment it made to its in-car Navigation feature after numerous complaints from owners convinced the company to make a change.

Tesla’s in-car Navigation is catered to its vehicles, as it routes Supercharging stops and preps your vehicle for charging with preconditioning. It is also very intuitive, and features other things like weather radar and a detailed map outlining points of interest.

However, a recent change to the Navigation by Tesla did not go unnoticed, and owners were really upset about it.

Tesla’s Navigation gets huge improvement with simple update

For trips that required multiple Supercharger stops, Tesla decided to implement a naming change, which did not show the city or state of each charging stop. Instead, it just showed the business where the Supercharger was located, giving many owners an unwelcome surprise.

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However, Tesla’s Director of Supercharging, Max de Zegher, admitted the update was a “big mistake on our end,” and made a change that rolled out within 24 hours:

The lack of a name for the city where a Supercharging stop would be made caused some confusion for owners in the short term. Some drivers argued that it was more difficult to make stops at some familiar locations that were special to them. Others were not too keen on not knowing where they were going to be along their trip.

Tesla was quick to scramble to resolve this issue, and it did a great job of rolling it out in an expedited manner, as de Zegher said that most in-car touch screens would notice the fix within one day of the change being rolled out.

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Additionally, there will be even more improvements in December, as Tesla plans to show the common name/amenity below the site name as well, which will give people a better idea of what to expect when they arrive at a Supercharger.

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