According to Clean Energy Canada, electric vehicles (EVs) continue to gain market share across North America as fleets and consumers transition away from internal combustion engines. In British Columbia, Canada, nearly 23% of new vehicle registrations in 2024 were zero-emission vehicles, representing one of the highest adoption rates on the continent.
As EV penetration increases, the availability of properly trained technicians and engineers has become a critical requirement for maintaining safety, reliability, and service readiness across the growing vehicle population.
To address this need, the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has expanded its automotive and EV training programs to include lithium battery safety and thermal-runaway mitigation concepts as part of its curriculum. BCIT is incorporating lithium battery fire-suppression and containment materials into hands-on instruction to better prepare technicians for real-world service, diagnostics, and repair of high-voltage EV systems.
These materials are supplied by Packaging And Crating Technologies (PACT), a US-based manufacturer specializing in thermal-runaway mitigation solutions.
PACT’s Thermo Shield material was originally developed for the transport and storage of lithium-battery-containing equipment. The material consists of a thin paper substrate coated with a proprietary formulation that activates under thermal-runaway conditions. When exposed to elevated temperatures, the coating releases a moisture-based vapor that reduces heat, limits oxygen availability, and helps prevent escalation to temperatures where hazardous gas generation occurs. The technology has been evaluated by third-party testing organizations in the US and Canada, and is used in applications involving lithium battery logistics and storage.
Building on this approach, PACT developed TR Sleeve, a cell-level thermal-runaway propagation barrier intended for use within battery packs and energy storage systems. TR Sleeve allows individual lithium cells to be wrapped without significantly impacting energy density or pack configuration. The design enables close cell packing while reducing the likelihood of thermal propagation between adjacent cells, a key consideration for higher-energy and higher-voltage battery architectures.
BCIT plans to use these materials as instructional tools within its Electric Vehicle Technology and Service program, which trains automotive service technicians to diagnose, service, and repair high-voltage EV systems. Incorporating battery-level safety technologies into technical training helps bridge the gap between theoretical system design and the practical challenges technicians encounter in the field.
As EV platforms move toward higher voltages, increased power density, and tighter packaging constraints, training programs across North America are placing greater emphasis on battery safety, thermal management, and system-level risk mitigation. Ensuring technicians and engineers understand how these systems behave under fault conditions is becoming an essential component of EV workforce development.
Filed Under: Technology News