Over the past decade, lithium-ion batteries have transformed how we live, work and travel, ushering in the era of the Rechargeable Society.

Okay, but: As battery technology expands into the connected home, self-driving systems and grid infrastructure, everyone across the supply chain must build in safety. This will allow innovation to thrive and ultimately earn public trust and allow for society to anticipate failures before they turn into major headlines.

What you need to know: At the center of the push to help safety keep pace with this shift is UL Standards & Engagement (ULSE).

• As a nonprofit safety advocacy organization, ULSE builds standards to work across the full battery lifecycle — from design and manufacturing to use, recycling and repurposing — they educate the public, build battery literacy, advocate for smart policy and advance science-based safety standards.
• ULSE data reveals that while 98% of Americans own at least one rechargeable product and the average person owns nine, 43% don't know that a lithium-ion battery is the power source for their devices.

Closing this gap requires confronting the reality that as batteries move into critical infrastructure, safety hazards scale far beyond individual devices. From aviation to e-mobility and end-of-life recycling, three distinct safety challenges illustrate what is at stake across the Rechargeable Society:

First things first: New technology creates new safety questions when battery-powered products enter complex environments.

• One increasingly common example: Lithium-ion battery fires occur on passenger aircraft far more often than travelers realize, averaging more than two incidents every single week.

When a battery enters thermal runaway — an uncontrollable state where it can overheat, smoke or even catch fire — managing it at 30,000 feet is uniquely dangerous.

• Thermal runaway incidents on passenger aircraft increased 15% over the course of a year, rising from 107 incidents in 2024 to 123 incidents in 2025, according to ULSE data. Airlines are now experiencing an average of 2.36 incidents per week. However, just 9% of Americans have ever heard about an inflight battery fire.

A solution: Passenger awareness is critical: ULSE's campaign educates travelers on keeping rechargeable devices within arm's reach so potential battery issues can be identified quickly, along with containment products and flight crew training.

• Additionally, safety standard UL 5800 covers lithium-ion battery containment products designed to suppress fumes and smoke on aircraft.

Next up: Issues in e-mobility show what happens when safety lags. Over 350 U.S. cities hosted bike- or scooter-share programs in 2024, contributing to over 170 million trips.

• According to a ULSE mobility report, 49% of e-bike riders who charge at home admit to blocking their home's fire exits, 53% leave them plugged in after reaching full charge and 41% charge overnight. In New York City, e-mobility fire deaths peaked at 18 in 2023.

After the city required products to meet ULSE safety standards and enforced education and inspections, deaths fell to one in 2025.

Here's what else: Safety must follow batteries through their entire lifecycle.

• EV batteries retain 70–80% of their charging capacity after automotive use, giving them second-life potential in microgrids, backup power or energy storage systems.

However, people have concerns about the environmental, health and fire risks of EV and PHEV battery disposal. Only 38% of U.S. adults believe batteries are recycled to recover valuable materials, while just 15% believe they're repurposed for home or grid energy storage.

• In reality, EV batteries can be taken apart to reuse components like cell modules, cooling systems and onboard computers. Critical materials, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper can be recovered through hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical or direct recycling methods to supply battery-grade materials back into cell manufacturing.
• Safety measures can help support batteries throughout their lifecycle — from designing them for reuse to ensuring facilities are equipped to safely repurpose, remanufacture and handle them.

The takeaway:

Innovation and safety go hand in hand. Prioritizing safety at the forefront gives manufacturers the clarity to scale and the public the trust and confidence to adopt emerging technologies.

By building safety into the forefront of innovation, we can anticipate failures before they turn into crises. This ensures that as the Rechargeable Society grows, safety and innovation flourish together.

Explore how ULSE builds safety standards for a safer Rechargeable Society.