Helpful Aids · Energy & Systems
The Media Incorrectly Used the Word “Lithium.”
But It Was Never About Lithium. It Was About Cobalt.
The Lithium-Battery Fire Record, In Context
Approximate global 10-year view
Zero reported battery-caused fire across 14 years and more than 400,000 Battle Born LiFePO₄ batteries in service. Zero. Perfection is hard to improve. Thus, the risk that made headlines regarding cobalt chemistries is not the chemistry in this estate.
Figures are directional global aggregates over the past decade; denominators are units sold within the same window. The Battle Born figure reflects the manufacturer’s reported service fleet.
Documented stationary-storage fires have been overwhelmingly large-format NMC / NCA grid installations—not home LiFePO₄ systems.
Return to Renewable Energy →Media reports mistakenly group all rechargeable battery technologies under one word: “lithium.” But lithium is the charge carrier—not the material that determines whether an explosive chain reaction, nearly impossible to extinguish, occurs. What determines that is the material of the cathode.
NCA, NMC and LCO batteries used in electric vehicles, e-bikes, hoverboards and consumer electronics use cobalt-bearing cathodes. When overheated, those cathodes release oxygen. Oxygen supports combustion in every fire, from wood burning to an overheated battery cell. For this reason, NCA, NMC and LCO battery technologies carry a fire risk, albeit a statistically rare one.
Battle Born’s LiFePO₄ technology is entirely different. Chemically, it cannot perpetuate the same cobalt-driven chain reaction because it contains no cobalt.
Thus, lithium was never the problem. Cobalt was.
LiFePO₄ establishes the safer chemical foundation, but manufacturing and installation still matter. In a high-current battery system, undersized conductors or improperly torqued terminals create resistance and concentrated heat. At Benewah Estate, Battle Born’s pack engineering and layered protections are matched by meticulous installation: correctly sized conductors, secure connections and a dedicated photovoltaic structure.