Enhancing EV Battery Safety: Progressive Crushing and Energy Absorption Techniques

• The paper presents and provides a crash energy absorption assembly and method for enhancing the safety and structural integrity of battery packs in electric vehicles during collision events adhering to global regulations. • One of our novel analyses is described here, in which the assembly comprises a battery housing designed to mount one or more battery cells, at least one crash member coupled to the side surface of the battery housing, flexural members coupled to the crash member. The flexural members are designed to absorb impact forces, deform, and store potential energy during sudden impacts. This innovative approach ensures that the energy is stored within the flexural elements rather than being transferred to the battery cells, thereby reducing almost cell intrusion for example by 50% under a 100kN which is EC100R requirement. The design effectively delays intrusion, enhances battery safety and minimizes cell-level damage. • Also, the strategic placement of flexural members reduces stiffness and facilitates high energy absorption, resulting in progressive crushing and further decreasing cell intrusion. Impact forces are first absorbed by the flexural members and then transferred to the potting material, causing less intrusion at the cell level. This configuration significantly improves occupant safety, prevents thermal runaway incidents, and maintains the overall performance and reliability of the battery systems in electric vehicles.