South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solutions (LGES) is debuting a new line of business: battery safety diagnostics software, leveraging over 20 years of experience.

With interest in the safety of EVs at an all-time high, the company decided to explore new business opportunities and provide “the best customer value not only in battery manufacturing but also in BMS (battery management system) solutions, promoting the safe use of batteries.”

It developed a safety diagnostic software based on data obtained by disassembling and analysing over 130,000 battery cells and 1,000 battery modules. LGES, owner of over 8,000 BMS-related patents, claims its software has a detection accuracy rate of more than 90%.

The technology pre-emptively detects abnormal signs that could lead to potential future issues such as thermal incidents. It can detect battery defects such as voltage drop during charging, battery tab failure, micro internal short circuit, abnormal degradation, abnormal discharge, deviation in specific cell capacity, and excessive lithium precipitation.

The software diagnoses battery conditions by continuously upgrading its algorithms via AI computing technology with cell information from various EVs. LGES says its degradation prediction has a 1% range error rate, precisely analysing lithium precipitation and cathode and anode degradation.

“Although automakers are starting to shift their attention to safety diagnosis technology, it takes time and resources to develop and apply reliable software,” highlights Hyuksung Chung, vice president of the business development group at LGES. The official adds the diagnostics software already has capabilities that “overwhelm the competition.”

The announcement comes amid heightened EV safety concerns, South Korea is urging carmakers in the country to disclose the manufacturers of batteries used in their vehicles following a recent fire. An unplugged electric Mercedes-Benz BEV caught fire in an underground garage and extensively damaged an apartment block and 140 vehicles. The blaze took eight hours to be put out. This follows previous incidents, including a KIA fire, earlier this month.

According to SNE Research, LGES is the third largest EV battery supplier in the world, following behind only CATL and BYD. The South Korean firm deployed 46.9 gigawatt-hours of EV batteries worldwide in H1 2024, Kallanish understands.