At the recent meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) dangerous goods panel, it was agreed to introduce a state of charge (SoC) requirement of 30% for more categories of lithium ion batteries being transported by air.
This change will apply to lithium ion batteries packed with equipment – where a device has its battery packed in the same box. Currently the SoC requirement applies only to lithium ion batteries shipped on their own by air.
The change is important, as it comes amid a backdrop of increasing concern around the safety of shipping lithium batteries, particularly as their volume and size continues to grow.
For shippers it will add an additional level of complexity: Making sure batteries are shipped with the correct state of charge will require extra checks and changes to pre-shipping processes.
Read more in an article from The Loadstar.