Dramatic Video Shows Lithium-Ion Battery Catch Fire As Dog Chews On It - Forbes

[Metaphorical]

3. This is becoming a big problem with computers

I have a gaming laptop computer with a LIon battery that I do a lot of 3D work with (so making heavy use of the GPU). Especially if a computer is put away without turning it off, the laptop can get hot enough to cause blistering and potentially catch its backpack carrier on fire.

There are a number of interesting alternatives to Lithium batteries, most notably Sodium batteries (which is part of the same Class I elements that hydrogen and lithium are part of). I recently saw a report of a anode-less sodium that, if it can be scaled, could render LiON batteries obsolete - they have a slightly lower energy density than lithium, but they are much less expensive to produce, and because they don't require a dedicated anode, they also run much cooler. Expect to see them in production in the next 3-4 years.