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No, batteries don't just burn. There are many different battery formulations, and most of them do not burn when they get too hot. Yes, the most popular battery

• ajross 4y ago
  All lithium batteries burn. The energy densities are just too high to prevent; there isn't enough thermal conductivity to self-cool in the event of an internal short. It's true that the relative risk changes with chemistry. The nickel/cobalt chemistries popular in consumer electronics and most EVs are indeed some of the more volatile (owing in no small part to their higher energy densities!). LiFePO4 looks like it's going to be a better fit in the long term. It's less of a fire risk and has some other advantages (cheaper raw materials and much higher durability being at the top of the list). But don't buy the snake oil: iron phosphate batteries burn too. There's no free lunch here. You want to push two tons of metal around on the street, you need a bunch of stored energy to do that. And stored energy escapes.