Americase to showcase live battery failure testing at Texas symposium

Americase International will host a two-day battery safety symposium Oct. 22-23 in Waxahachie, Texas, pairing expert sessions with nearly three hours of live failure testing. The event comes as lithium-ion deployment, transport risk and recycling fires rise faster than regulations can keep up.

Why it matters: - Battery deployment for data centers, grid storage and mobility is growing faster than the rules governing transport, storage and end-of-life handling. - The symposium is built for professionals who manage battery safety, compliance, operations, engineering, insurance and emergency response. - The event aims to show how live test evidence can shape packaging and compliance decisions before regulations catch up.

What happened: - Americase International will hold Safely Charging Ahead™ 2026: Battery Safety, Innovation, & Regulations Symposium™ on Oct. 22-23 at the Waxahachie Civic Center in Waxahachie, Texas, about 30 miles south of Dallas. - The program pairs keynote talks and panels on battery regulation, transportation, storage, emergency response and recycling with nearly three hours of live battery failure testing. - Live demonstrations are scheduled for Oct. 22 from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m. at Americase’s test facility, with transportation provided. - Registration costs $575 per person. - Seating is limited, and registration closes Oct. 19. - The event page includes the speaker list and frequently asked questions. - Registration is available through the event page.

The details: - The symposium is organized around the five stages of The Battery Safety Lifecycle™. - Speakers include Duane Pfund, former chairman of the UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods, and Ryan Paquet, former director of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Approvals and Permits Division, both of HazMat Safety Consulting. - Additional speakers include Americase International executives, Tim Harris of General Motors, Hernan Sanchez, Ph.D., of Exponent and experts from PHMSA, Pasha Hawaii, the National Waste & Recycling Association, the Energy Security Agency, Energy Safety Response Group and The Battery Network. - Planned live demonstrations include hazard classification testing, single-cell thermal runaway, cell-to-cell propagation, packaging comparisons for a data center uninterruptible power supply/backup battery unit, and comparisons between minimum and robust packaging. - The test program also includes drop-, stack- and oven-tested articles and past results for hands-on Q&A between live sessions. - Program highlights include a keynote on regulation lagging investment, a session on hazard-based classification, a keynote on compliant versus contained, expert panels on transportation, emergency response and quarantine, recalls and recycling, and emerging battery hazards, plus a closing session on The Custody Map™.

Between the lines: - Global lithium-ion battery deployment in 2025 was six times higher than in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency. - FAA data show 97 verified lithium battery-related events involving smoke, fire or extreme heat aboard aircraft in 2025, nearly two a week. - Waste and recycling facilities in the U.S. and Canada reported a record 448 fires in 2025, with lithium-ion batteries the leading cause, according to Fire Rover. - The UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods could adopt a hazard-based classification system for lithium and sodium batteries at its Nov. 23-Dec. 1, 2026 session. - PHMSA’s early-stage HM-224 rulemaking would update requirements for transporting damaged, defective or recalled lithium batteries. - Robby Kinsala, Americase chief executive officer, said the compliance burden falls on operators when regulations lag battery deployment. - Ryan Paquet said attendees will see the kind of evidence that should drive packaging and compliance decisions.

What's next: - The symposium will take place Oct. 22-23 in Waxahachie. - Live failure testing will be held Oct. 22. - The UN battery transport experts meet Nov. 23-Dec. 1, 2026, with possible action on hazard-based classification. - PHMSA’s HM-224 rulemaking remains in early stages.

The bottom line: - Americase is using live testing to make a larger point: battery safety rules are changing, but the risks are already here.