How Emerging Technologies Can Transform EV Battery Reliability and Safety

Above it all, battery developers and manufacturers need to be agile across the entire product lifecycle.

March 17, 2025

Virginie Turc

Younger consumers, particularly Gen Z, say battery reliability, safety, and performance are important factors — more so than design and cost when — choosing an EV. (Shutterstock/Smile Studio AP)

As U.S. automakers evolve their lineups with new electric and hybrid vehicles, they face a significant challenge: meeting the increasing demand for affordable, fast-charging, safer, and more reliable battery technology while also effectively scaling production. Notably, younger consumers, particularly Gen Z, now highlight battery reliability, safety, and performance as important factors beyond design and cost when choosing an EV.

To keep pace and ensure they are meeting expectations, battery developers and manufacturers need to be agile across the entire product lifecycle, quickly test and implement new approaches, and address consumer needs beyond just sticker prices.

To do this, manufacturers are turning to tools like AI, digital twins, and advanced battery chemistries. These advancements can help scale production, improve quality and safety, and reduce waste, all while helping reduce costs for the end-user and increasing the accessibility of EVs. By adopting these technologies, manufacturers can address the expectations of drivers while building increased demand for both hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

As the EV market continues to evolve, so does the manufacturing and safety technology needed to meet consumer expectations and real-world challenges. (Shutterstock/Phonlamai Photo)

Advanced battery chemistries can tackle safety and reliability concerns

With safety and reliability as critical priorities, manufacturers are addressing concerns by shifting away from traditional nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion batteries. Instead, lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are gaining traction. While they offer lower energy capacity per volume compared to NMC, LFP batteries are more stable, affordable, and durable, enhancing lifetime performance.

Another promising alternative, solid-state batteries, uses a solid electrolyte instead of the highly flammable liquid found in conventional lithium-ion designs. This approach not only reduces fire risk but also enables greater energy density, enhancing both vehicle range and safety.

Notably, manufacturers are also adopting more sustainable production methods. Approaches like dry battery electrode manufacturing reduce reliance on toxic solvents and drastically cut energy consumption, which reduces environmental impacts and operating costs—a key step toward a more sustainable EV ecosystem.

New battery technology begins with quality control As battery technologies continue to evolve, so do approaches that ensure every battery meets the highest safety and reliability standards. Achieving this requires identifying safety issues during the manufacturing process before they become potential problems in the market.

Early detection and correction of errors – such as contamination, improper anode overhang, or hazardous pores in the housing weld seam – is critical to reducing the risk of failure. In the worst-case scenario, such failures could lead to thermal runaway over a battery’s lifetime.

To meet these rigorous standards, EV leaders are adopting advanced quality control technologies like industrial CT scanning and non-destructive testing (NDT). These methods offer significant advantages over traditional testing approaches. For example, CT scanning provides detailed internal evaluations of each cell without causing damage, revealing issues such as anode misalignment, delamination, and foreign particles early in production. By catching these defects before they escalate, manufacturers can ensure safer, more reliable batteries.

How AI is playing a critical role in EV battery production

AI is proving to be essential in quality control processes and in enhancing the performance of next-generation batteries. Traditional quality checks, which rely on human review, can vary due to individual knowledge and human error. With AI, manufacturers can gain a sharper, more consistent focus on product quality. Through automated, AI-powered visual inspections, quality control becomes faster, more detailed, and capable of catching flaws that might otherwise go unnoticed, strengthening reliability.

Beyond inspection, AI-driven insights support predictive maintenance by analyzing EV battery data and usage patterns. This predictive approach enables manufacturers to monitor performance during initial cell formation, track key metrics like state of health (SOH), detect process variations that could affect cell safety and efficiency, and meet sustainability standards.

AI’s role extends to the design stage as well, where it assists in developing materials optimized for durability, performance, and sustainability. In this way, AI serves as a trigger and accelerator – not just in manufacturing quality control, but in the industry’s broader push toward safer, more affordable, and environmentally sustainable EV solutions.

LFP batteries are gaining traction with lower energy capacity per volume compared to NMC. (Shutterstockration/Juan Roballo)

Bridging the innovation and efficiency gap with digital twins

There is no denying that bringing a new battery to market can be a massively complex task, as R&D processes are lengthy and often require manual trial-and-error in laboratories. While AI elevates quality control and innovation, digital twins can play a similarly transformative role.

With digital twins, engineers can experiment with virtual electrode designs, adjusting parameters like porosity, thickness, and more to fine-tune performance and prevent early failures – all without extensive physical testing. This approach streamlines R&D and reduces costs while optimizing battery design. Digital twins also help streamline material usage and reduce waste, ultimately driving the development of lighter batteries that maintain reliability – further reducing costs for the end consumer.

Digital twins can also enable a virtual replica of the production line, helping workers analyze productivity and accelerate time-to-market. By simulating various shop floor layouts, manufacturers gain valuable insights for configuring production lines efficiently.

Finally, digital twins are essential for synchronizing workflows, machinery, and automated systems across production. In an industry with increased use of automation, aligning these operations helps manufacturers reduce downtime, enhance product quality, and meet rising production goals with agility.

The importance of exceeding expectations

As the EV market continues to evolve, so does the technology needed to meet consumer expectations and address real-world challenges. Battery production is just one piece of the larger EV adoption puzzle, it is clearly vital.

By addressing the needs of safety-conscious consumers through technologies like advanced chemistries, digital twins, AI, and rigorous quality engineering measures, manufacturers can position themselves as leaders in a rapidly evolving market.

Virginie Turc is Battery and Energy Storage System Business Development manager at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence.