Patent Application
20210057794
This application claims foreign priority benefits under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) to European patent application No. 19192625.2, filed Aug. 20, 2019, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a battery module for powering propulsion of an electric vehicle. The present disclosure also relates to a battery module system comprising the battery module.
Battery powered electric vehicles are starting to play a significant role in the automotive industry, one of the reasons being a desire to decrease carbon emissions associated with the use of internal combustion engine powered transportation.
Li-ion batteries are a commonly used type of battery in the construction of today's electric vehicles. A drawback of Li-ion batteries is the poor performance characteristics in cold temperatures. As such, when Li-ion batteries are used in an electric vehicle that is driven in climate zones where cold or very cold ambient temperatures appear, as is the case in e.g. the Scandinavian countries, the batteries need to be equipped with a heating system. The heating system works to heat the Li-ion batteries to a desired operational temperature before use at vehicle start-up.
For Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid electrical vehicles, heat from the internal combustion engine is commonly available for heating the batteries in such situations. Battery electric vehicles, i.e. electric vehicles without an internal combustion engine, have to rely on other solutions to generate the heat necessary for heating the batteries to the desired operational temperature at vehicle start-up. However, known solutions are both time and energy consuming. By way of example, heating of the battery can be made by utilizing a heat pump with the cooling system of the battery, thus the heat pump is used to heat the coolant and cooling plate which in turn heats the battery, an approach both time consuming and with low heat efficiency.
Thus, there is a desire to improve heating systems for battery modules and in particular to improve quick heating systems in order for a battery electric vehicle to be operational within a reasonable time from the onset of heating of the batteries.
It is therefore an object of embodiments herein to provide an approach that overcomes or ameliorates at least one of the disadvantages of the prior art, or to provide a useful alternative.
The object above may be achieved by the subject matter disclosed herein. Embodiments are set forth in the appended dependent claims, in the following description and in the drawings.
The disclosed subject matter relates to a battery module for powering propulsion of an electric vehicle. The battery module comprises at least a first battery cell and at least a first battery cell spacer arranged adjacent to the at least first battery cell. An extension area of the at least first battery cell spacer extends over at least a portion of an extension area of the at least first battery cell, wherein the at least first battery cell spacer comprises an electrically insulated heating element.
The disclosed subject matter further relates to a battery module system, which battery module system comprises the battery module described hereinabove. The battery module system further comprises a power source adapted or configured to enable heating of the electrically insulated heating element of the at least first battery cell spacer, and means adapted or configured for connecting the electrically insulated heating element of the at least first battery cell spacer to the power source.
Moreover, the disclosed subject matter relates to an electric vehicle, which electric vehicle comprises one or more battery modules as described herein and/or one or more battery module systems as described herein.
Thereby, there is introduced an approach for enabling heating of a battery module of an electric vehicle in case the battery cells are below a desired operational temperature, in a time and energy efficient manner while keeping packing volume and complexity of the battery module low.
That is, since the at least first battery cell spacer is arranged adjacent to the at least first battery cell and further extends over at least a portion of the extension area of the at least first battery cell, the electrically insulated heating element comprised in the at least first battery cell spacer is brought in close proximity of the extension area of the at least first battery cell. Thereby, an effective heat transfer may be achieved between the electrically insulated heating element and the at least first battery cell, thus keeping thermal losses low. Commonly, a prismatic Li-ion battery module comprises a plurality of rectangular battery cells arranged in parallel to one another and isolated from one another by means of an insulation film, or so called spacers, located intermediate two adjacent battery cells. The film, or spacer, serves to isolate the battery cells from one another as well as providing pressure relief and support to the battery cells within a battery module. With the introduced concept, the battery cells of a battery module may be arranged adjacent to battery cell spacers comprising electrically insulated heating elements which can enable heating of the battery cells whilst a compact configuration of the battery module is maintained.
The various aspects of the non-limiting embodiments, including particular features and advantages, will be readily understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:
Non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the disclosure are shown. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Like reference characters may refer to like elements throughout. Dashed lines of some boxes in the figures indicate that these units or actions are optional and not mandatory.
In the following, according to embodiments herein which relate to a battery module for powering propulsion of an electric vehicle, there will be disclosed an approach for enabling heating of a battery cell of the battery module, e.g. in case the battery cell is below a desired operational temperature upon start-up of the electrical vehicle, by utilizing a battery cell spacer which comprises an electrically insulated heating element.
Referring now to the figures and
The expression “battery module” may refer to a “battery module arrangement”. The expression “for powering propulsion of” an electric vehicle may refer to “adapted for powering propulsion of” an electric vehicle, “for providing electric power to drive” an electric vehicle, “adapted to be comprised in” an electric vehicle”, “adapted to be coupled with, connected to and/or in connection with” an electric vehicle and/or “of” an electric vehicle. The expression “electric vehicle” may refer to “EV”, “battery electric vehicle”, “BEV”, “electrically propelled vehicle” and/or “vehicle adapted to use one or more electric motors for propulsion”. The expressions “adapted to” or “adapted for” may also refer to “configured to” or “configured for”.
The exemplifying battery module system 3 in
The electrically insulated heating element 15 is intended to generate heat when connected to a power source, which heat is to be distributed to the at least first battery cell 7 and thereby enable heating the at least first battery cell 7.
The battery module 5 may further comprise at least a second battery cell 17 arranged in parallel—or essentially in parallel—with the at least first battery cell 7, as disclosed in
The at least first battery cell 7 and the at least second battery cell 17 of the exemplifying battery module 5 are adapted or configured to provide the electric power to drive the electric vehicle. The at least first battery cell 7 and the at least second battery cell 17 may be Li-ion battery cells.
The at least first battery cell spacer 9 may further be adapted or configured to isolate the at least first battery cell 7 from the at least second battery cell 17. The at least first battery cell spacer 9 may comprise an insulation material, such as a polymer film. In this way, the at least first battery cell spacer 9 provides insulation between adjacent battery cells in the battery module 5. The insulation material may also serve as the electric insulation of the heating element 15 comprised in the at least first battery cell spacer 9. Hence, the at least first battery cell spacer 9 of the exemplifying battery module 5 provides a dual function in both providing insulation between the at least first battery cell 7 and the at least second battery cell 17, as well as enable heating of the at least first battery cell 7 and/or the at least second battery cell 17 when the electrically insulated heating element 15 is connected to a power source.
The expression “a battery module comprising at least a first battery cell” and “at least a second battery cell” may refer to “a battery module comprising one, two or more battery cells”, as disclosed by the exemplifying battery module in
Optionally, the battery module 5 may comprise at least five battery cell spacers 9, or at least ten battery cell spacers 9, or at least twenty battery cell spacers 9.
The at least first battery cell 7 and the at least second battery cell 17 in the exemplifying battery module 5 in
The at least first battery cell spacer 9 and the at least second battery cell spacer 10 respectively has a shape corresponding to that of the at least first battery cell 7 and the at least second battery cell 17. Hence, the at least first battery cell spacer 9 and the at least second battery cell spacer 10 in the exemplifying battery module 5 respectively also has a rectangular shape, or substantially rectangular shape. In this way, a stack of parallel or essentially parallel arranged battery cells 7, 17 and intermediate battery cell spacers 9, 10 may be formed having a compact configuration keeping the packing volume of the battery module 5 low. Furthermore, this configuration of battery cells 7, 17 and battery cell spacers 9, 10 enables the extension area of the battery cell spacer to extend over at least a portion of the extension area of the battery cell. Even further, in this way the extension area of the battery cell spacer, and the electrically insulated heating element comprised therein, abuts, or is in close contact to, the extension area of the battery cell. Thereby, the electrically insulated heating element 15 enables heating of the adjacently arranged battery cell in an effective manner.
Further schematically illustrated in
The exemplifying battery module 5 as described herein discloses features of a prismatic cell configuration.
It is envisaged other shapes, e.g. a square or a circular shape of the extensions area, and/or other configurations, of the battery cell and battery cell spacer within the disclosed concept, still rendering the extension area of the at least first battery cell spacer to extend over at least a portion of the extension area of the at least first battery cell thereby enabling heating of the at least first battery cell.
The introduced concept may also be used in a pouch battery cell arrangement. The at least first battery cell and the at least first battery cell spacer may be adapted or configured to be arranged in a pouch cell configuration.
The expression “electrically insulated heating element” may refer to an element functioning as a resistive heater. The electrically insulated heating element may comprise a resistive heating element. Thus, when connected to a power source, current passing through the resistive heating element encounters resistance resulting in heating of the resistive element. The resistive heating element 15 may for example comprise a wire type resistive heater and/or foil type resistive heater and/or a laminated type resistive heater. The electrically insulated heating element 15 may for example comprise a metal material resistive heater and/or a ceramic material resistive heater and/or a polymer material resistive heater and/or a composite material resistive heater, such as a carbon fibre resistive heater. The electrically insulated heating element 15 may comprise any combination of the above-mentioned resistive heater types.
The heating element 15 being electrically insulated refer in this context to that it is electrically insulated to prevent short-circuiting due to contact with adjacent battery cells and further when connected to a power source. By way of example, the electrical insulation of the heating element may be achieved by enclosing the heating element in an insulation material forming a part of the battery cell spacer.
A positive effect of utilizing a resistive heater type as described above is that the thickness of the at least first batter cell spacer 9 can be kept small. A common inherent feature of the resistive heater types mentioned above is that they can be used to produce or manufacture a heating element 15 with a significantly small thickness compared to its extension area, such as a thickness of less than for example 1 mm. Accordingly, the at least first battery cell spacer 9 may further have a thickness 16 significantly smaller than a thickness 14 of the at least first battery cell 7. Optionally, a thickness 16 of the at least first battery cell spacer 9, in a direction perpendicular to the extension area 13 of the at least first battery cell spacer 9, may be less than 1.5 mm, or less than 1.2 mm, or less than 1.1 mm, or less than 1 mm. Thereby, an advantageously compact configuration of the at least first battery cell 7 and the at least first battery cell spacer 9 is achieved. The thickness 16 may potentially vary along and/or across the extension area.
The electrically insulated heating element 15 has an extension along the plane of the extension area 11 of the at least first battery cell spacer 9. It is envisaged that the portion of the extension area 13 of the at least first battery cell spacer 9 over which the electrically insulated heating element 15 is extended may vary, depending on for example factors such as what kind(s) of resistive heater type(s) is used and the amount of heat to be generated and how fast. To this end, the extent to which the electrically insulated heating element 15 extends over the extension area 11 of the at least first battery cell 7 may also vary. Optionally, the electrically insulated heating element 15 may extend over at least 50%, or over at least 60%, or over at least 75% of the extension area 11 of the at least first battery cell 7.
As an alternative or complement, the electrically insulated heating element 15 may at least extend over at least the portion of the extension area 11 of the at least first battery cell 7 over which the extension area 13 of the battery cell spacer 9 extends.
Optionally, the electrically insulated heating element 15 may extend over the complete, or substantially complete, extension area 11 of the at least first battery cell 7 and/or over the complete, or substantially complete, extension area 13 of the at least first battery cell spacer 9.
The at least first battery cell spacer 9 of the exemplifying battery module 5 may further comprise means 19 adapted or configured for connecting the electrically insulated heating element 15 to a power source 21, see
Now reverting to the battery module system 3. An exemplifying battery module system 3 comprising a battery module 5 as described hereinabove is depicted in
Optionally, the power source 21 comprises a 12V or 48V battery system, or an essentially 12V or essentially 48V battery system. Thereby, the battery module system 3 may support heating of the battery module 5 in a time and energy efficient manner. A further positive effect is that the battery module system 3 may utilize an already existing battery system or battery pack in the electric vehicle, normally used for other functions in the electric vehicle.
The disclosure also relates to a battery pack comprising one or more battery modules 5 as described herein.
The disclosure also relates to a battery pack 25 comprising one or more battery module systems 3 as described herein. Optionally, the one or more battery module systems share a common power source, as shown in
Optionally a battery pack as described herein may comprise at least five battery cells, or at least 20 twenty battery cells, or at least one hundred battery cells.
Thus, the introduced battery module system 3 as described herein is adapted or configured to enabling heating of the battery cells 7, 17 of the battery module 5 in a time and energy efficient manner, e.g. in case the battery cells are not at a desired operational temperature. A desired operational temperature of the battery cells, in this context, may be a pre-determined temperature set by the battery cell characteristics at which the battery cells has desired performance characteristics. A battery module system as described herein may further be adapted or configured to receive input indicating that heating of the battery module is requested. The battery module system may even further be adapted or configured to control heating of the battery cells to the desired operational temperature upon receiving input indicating that heating is requested.
The person skilled in the art realizes that the present disclosure by no means is limited to the embodiments described above. On the contrary, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims. It should furthermore be noted that the drawings not necessarily are to scale and the dimensions of certain features may have been exaggerated for the sake of clarity. Emphasis is instead placed upon illustrating the principle of the embodiments herein. Additionally, in the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality.
Various examples have been described. These and other examples are within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19192625.2 | Aug 2019 | EP | regional |
