Battery pack base plate heat exchanger
AssigneeTesla, Inc.
InventorsJoseph Mardall, Paul Yeomans
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A heat exchanger integrated into an electric vehicle's battery pack enclosure is provided, where the heat exchanger conduits are mechanically and thermally coupled to the inside surface of the enclosure base plate and where the battery pack enclosure is mounted such that ambient air flows over the outside surface of the enclosure base plate during vehicle motion. A thermal management system is coupled to, and controls operation of, the integrated battery pack heat exchanger such that in a first operational mode the heat exchanger is thermally coupled to the batteries within the battery pack, and in a second operational mode the heat exchanger is thermally decoupled from the batteries within the battery pack.
Claims17
An integrated battery pack heat exchanger system, comprising:
- a battery pack enclosure mounted under an electric vehicle, wherein said battery pack enclosure comprises an enclosure top panel, an enclosure base plate fabricated from a thermally conductive material having a thermal conductivity greater than 1.05 W/m-K, a plurality of enclosure side members, and at least one coolant conduit, wherein said battery pack enclosure is configured to hold a plurality of batteries, wherein said battery pack enclosure is mounted between a passenger cabin floor panel and a driving surface, wherein an outside surface of said enclosure base plate is exposed to an ambient environment outside of said electric vehicle, and wherein ambient air flows past said outside surface of said enclosure base plate during motion of said electric vehicle;
- a plurality of heat exchanger conduits mechanically and thermally coupled to an inside surface of said enclosure base plate;
- and
- a thermal management system coupled to said integrated battery pack heat exchanger system and controlling operation of said integrated battery pack heat exchanger system, wherein said plurality of heat exchanger conduits are thermally coupled, via said at least one coolant conduit, to said plurality of batteries when said thermal management system configures said integrated battery pack heat exchanger system into a first operational mode, and wherein said plurality of heat exchanger conduits are thermally decoupled from said plurality of batteries when said thermal management system configures said integrated battery pack heat exchanger system into a second operational mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.