London, United Kingdom — A new sensor developed Metis Engineering aims to play doctor for your electric vehicle, with the aim of saving innocent battery lives from a premature trip to the recycling yard.
The new Cell Guard sensor from the British company is designed as a tool for insurers to be able to accurately appraise damage to EV batteries and curb the unfortunate trend of sending them to an early grave as repairability is currently highly limited.
The sensor acts almost as a combination of a thermometer and secondary black box to a vehicle, as its built-in accelerometer allows it to record the duration and severity of collisions, in addition to being able to predict an impending thermal runaway event.
Metis CEO Joe Holdsworth says the company is currently working with about 160 global automakers, as well as major insurers, to equip the matchbox-sized sensor in customer vehicles.
He says the company is currently capable of producing up to 1,000 sensors a day at its Bristol facility.
“The unknown risk of poor EV battery health is one of the biggest and most significant barriers hindering the growth of the used EV market,” Holdsworth told Reuters.
