According to Clean Energy Canada, a nonprofit organisation that accelerates the country's transition to renewable resources, electric vehicles (EVs) are transforming the automotive industry. In fact, in 2024, nearly 23% of all new vehicle registrations in British Columbia were zero-emission vehicles - the highest rate in North America. With over 153,000 EVs on the Canadian highways, the demand for skilled EV technicians is also skyrocketing. To support this growing fleet, the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) is offering cutting-edge training to drive the future of sustainable transportation and is using a Connecticut manufacture's lithium battery safety solutions in all of its automotive courses. Specifically, BCIT has adopted Packaging And Crating Technologies' (PACT) patented Thermo Shield™ line of fire-suppressant paper wrap into its curriculum to ensure protection for the next generation of skilled EV mechanics.
"The BCIT School of Transportation stands as a prominent leader in training learners and business partners across North America for the demands of the dynamic automotive sector," said Jim Berladyn, Automotive Technologist Instructor at BCIT. "With the rise of electric vehicles on the road, comes new methods of service and repair that require advanced safety measures and specialized training."
Berladyn explains that he first encountered PACT's innovative Thermo Shield products at the 2023 National Battery Show in Novi, Michigan, an annual event that attracts 100,000 engineers, business leaders, and innovative thinkers from the battery and EV tech industries. "I've been to a lot of EV shows throughout my career and was immediately impressed with PACT's hands-on display and powerful videos of how the products both prevent and extinguish lithium battery fires within seconds," he adds.
PACT Thermo Shield was invented in 2019 as a thermal management system for shipping and storing items containing lithium batteries. It consists of thin, lightweight, paper material coated with proprietary ink. When a lithium battery goes into thermal runaway and burns, the special ink releases a moisture barrier that creates a vapor cloud to immediately cool the internal contents of the package, which stops a fire entirely, while limiting oxygen around the package to prevent the battery temperature from escalating to 1,500° Fahrenheit, at which point, lethal gases form.
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