The British company Metis has launched a battery health sensor to alleviate the forced scrapping of electric vehicles.

CTOnews.com, June 27 (Xinhua)-- British battery sensor company Metis Engineering announced today that it has developed a sensor Cell Guard to measure the health of batteries in electric vehicles, allowing insurance companies to correctly assess losses and avoid unnecessary car scrapping after an accident.

▲ Metis Engineering for many electric vehicles, there was no way to repair or evaluate even slightly damaged battery packs after an accident, which forced many insurance companies to scrap customers' insured low-mileage cars directly, leading to higher customer premiums and weakening the economic attractiveness of buying electric vehicles.

Metis CEO Joe Holdsworth told Reuters that in addition to detecting thermal runaway (CTOnews.com note: rapid and unstoppable temperature rise, causing electric vehicles to catch fire), Metis's Cell Guard sensor includes an accelerometer that can detect the duration and severity of the collision even when the car stops running. The sensor can also check air flow because damaged batteries can leak gas and cause an explosion.

Holdsworth also said Metis is working with about 160 automakers and battery storage companies to test the sensor, which is the size of a matchbox. He added that a large insurance company was using the sensor to conduct crash tests to better understand the impact of car accidents on batteries.

Holdsworth believes that in addition to the benefits of insurance companies, the sensor can also help address market concerns about used electric vehicles: "the unknown risk of poor battery health is one of the most important obstacles to the growth of the used electric vehicle market." At present, the company can produce 1000 Cell Guard sensors per day.