Stacked separator plates with coolant flow distribution channels for liquid immersion cooling in battery assemblies

A motor vehicle, comprising:

• a vehicle body with a passenger compartment;
• a plurality of road wheels attached to the vehicle body;
• a traction motor attached to the vehicle body and operable to drive one or more of the road wheels to thereby propel the motor vehicle;
• and
• a traction battery pack attached to the vehicle body and electrically connected to the traction motor, the traction battery pack including:
• a plurality of battery cells arranged in mutually parallel first and second cell rows;
• a battery housing storing therein the battery cells, the battery housing including multiple side walls substantially parallel to the battery cells, a base plate adjoining the sidewalls and subjacent the battery cells, and inlet and outlet fluid ports configured to respectively receive and evacuate therethrough coolant fluid;
• and
• first and second separator plates located between the first and second cell rows and substantially orthogonal to the base plate, each of the separator plates defining therein multiple coolant channels arranged in mutually parallel channel bands, the first and second separator plates being in face-to-face contact with each other such that each of the channel bands of the first separator plate is aligned with one or more of the channel bands of the second separator plate to cooperatively distribute the coolant fluid onto and vertically upward between the battery cells.

A method of constructing a battery assembly, the method comprising:

• arranging a plurality of battery cells in a first cell row and a second cell row;
• storing the battery cells in a battery housing, the battery housing including inlet and outlet fluid ports configured to respectively receive and evacuate therethrough coolant fluid;
• locating first and second separator plates between the first and second cell rows, the first and second separator plates each defining therein multiple coolant channels arranged in adjacent channel bands;
• and
• placing the first and second separator plates in face-to-face contact with each other such that each of the channel bands of the first separator plate is aligned with one or more of the channel bands of the second separator plate to cooperatively distribute the coolant fluid onto and vertically upward between the battery cells.