Albuquerque Lithium-Ion Battery Explosion Lawyer

Lithium-ion batteries are commonly used to power a wide range of consumer devices, including small electronics, children’s products, vape pens, household appliances, and power tools. However, lithium-ion batteries carry significant risks, including the potential to catch fire or explode spontaneously. 

If you’ve suffered injuries because of a lithium-ion battery explosion in Albuquerque, New Mexico, call Singleton Schreiber. The product’s manufacturer or the store where you bought the product might be legally and financially responsible for your resulting injuries or your loved one’s wrongful death. Working with our experienced Albuquerque lithium-ion battery explosion lawyers can help you get the kind of case results you deserve.

We’re local Albuquerque personal injury attorneys backed by national resources, which means we can offer the compassionate, dynamic legal representation you’ll need when taking on a powerful manufacturer. As fearless advocates, we’ve successfully won more than $3 billion in damages for injury victims and families nationwide.

Contact our law office in Albuquerque to discuss your lithium-ion battery explosion case today. Members of our team are always available to help you schedule a free consultation.

What Types of Products Are Lithium-Ion Batteries Used In?

Lithium-ion batteries are long-lasting rechargeable power cells that come in a multitude of sizes. They’re also relatively inexpensive given these factors, and since the cost of the battery is typically passed onto the consumer, it makes them even more attractive to product manufacturers across various industries.

As a result, lithium-ion batteries are often seen in all types of consumer products, including:

• Children’s toys and products, such as ride-on vehicles, remote control cars, baby swings, and Legos
• Laptops, tablets, cell phones, digital cameras, smart watches, fitness trackers, and other small personal electronic devices
• Portable power tools
• Lawn equipment
• Pacemakers and other medical devices
• Scooters
• Electric cars
• Household surveillance and alarm systems
• Golf carts

While lithium-ion batteries have been a popular choice in recent years, they’ve also demonstrated a proclivity to catch on fire. Between 2013 and 2017, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission received more than 25,000 complaints of lithium-ion battery-powered consumer products catching on fire, exploding, or overheating. These complaints affected roughly 400 different types of lithium-ion batteries. Since that time, lithium-ion batteries have only become more commonplace in everyday products, and the rate at which battery fires have been reported hasn’t slowed.

What Causes Lithium-Ion Battery Explosions?

There are two major factors that cause lithium-ion battery explosions: thermal runaway and product defects. 

Thermal Runaway

Lithium-ion batteries are susceptible to a dangerous process known as thermal runaway, which involves a rapid and uncontrolled rise in temperature. 

Thermal runaway can occur due to internal and external factors.

Internal Defects and Breakdowns

Lithium-ion batteries generate an electrical current as positively-charged lithium ions bounce back and forth between a negatively-charged anode and a positively-charged cathode. A separator keeps the electrons inside and outside of the circuit from crossing paths, which could cause the cell to become unstable. If the separator breaks down or fails, the battery can short-circuit and cause a thermal runaway. As the battery’s temperature rises without relief, the chances that it will explode or catch fire increase significantly.

External Factors

Thermal runaway can also occur when a lithium-ion battery is damaged, misused, overcharged, overheated, or misused in some way. Damage can cause breakdowns in the battery’s cells and cause the device to short-circuit and catch on fire.

Defective Products

Sometimes lithium-ion batteries explode because of problems with their design, the way they were manufactured, or marketed. 

Commonly reported defects in lithium-ion batteries include:

• Uneven coatings 
• Poor electrode alignment
• Burrs on tabs
• Torn tabs
• Contaminated with foreign metals and/or other matter
• Use of poor-quality materials
• Choosing materials associated with higher rates of flammability
• Warped burrs
• Dust particles or cutting chips 

Research suggests that contamination by foreign metals is the most frequently identified defect in lithium-ion batteries that explode or catch fire.

Defects in the consumer products that use lithium-ion batteries as a power source can also contribute to or cause fires and explosions.

How Can I Get Compensation If I’m Injured Because of a Lithium-Ion Battery Explosion?

If a lithium-ion battery is used as intended or in a reasonably foreseeable way and still explodes, it’s likely an issue that needs to be addressed with the product’s manufacturer. In New Mexico, companies that design, produce, and market lithium-ion batteries and other consumer products can be strictly liable when those products are inherently unsafe. 

As the victim of a lithium-ion explosion in Albuquerque, you can sue the manufacturer or retailer in a product liability lawsuit to hold them accountable for your damages. 

In your product liability lawsuit, you’ll have the burden of proving:

• The lithium-ion battery and/or the consumer product in which it was used were defective
• The defect caused the battery to catch on fire or explode
• The defendant designed, manufactured, and/or sold the lithium-ion battery
• You used the battery as intended, and
• The explosion caused you to suffer damages, such as medical bills, disability, and emotional distress

Taking on a powerful lithium-ion manufacturer or retailer can be daunting. Fortunately, this isn’t a battle you have to engage in on your own. Take the time you need to recover and trust an experienced lithium-ion battery explosion attorney in Albuquerque, NM, to help you demand the top-dollar monetary award you deserve.

Call Singleton Schreiber For Help If You’ve Suffered Severe Burn Injuries Because of a Lithium-Ion Battery Explosion

Battery explosions have been known to cause catastrophic burn injuries, severe soft tissue damage, amputations, internal organ damage, and wrongful death. You shouldn't have to figure out how to deal with the consequences of these types of injuries and the suffering they can inflict, not when this type of traumatic accident could have been avoided.

Singleton Schreiber can offer the powerhouse legal representation you need to hold the manufacturer accountable for its harmful product. Our Albuquerque product liability attorneys are award-winning legal advocates with a billion-dollar track record of success. We take on powerful corporations every day and win top-tier case results for clients just like you.

You’ll have limited time to file a product liability lawsuit once you’ve been injured by a defective lithium-ion battery, so don’t hesitate to reach out to our personal injury law firm in Albuquerque for assistance today. Your initial case evaluation is free.