System and method for cooling a battery pack

A system for cooling a battery pack of the type used within a vehicle, said system comprising:

• a source of refrigerant gas;
• a pump for compressing said refrigerant gas;
• a heat exchanger which is fluidly coupled to and receives compressed refrigerant gas from said pump;
• a plurality of expansion valves which are fluidly coupled to and receive compressed refrigerant gas from said heat exchanger, said plurality of expansion valve being effective to selectively decompress said refrigerant gas;
• a plurality of low-pressure conduits which are selectively disposed throughout said battery pack, said plurality of low-pressure conduits being fluidly coupled to said plurality of expansion valves, and being further effective to receive said decompressed refrigerant gas and circulate said refrigerant gas throughout said battery pack, thereby relatively rapidly and evenly cooling said battery pack;
• and
• wherein each of said plurality of expansion valves is coupled to a pair of low pressure conduits.

A method for cooling a battery pack of the type including a plurality of battery modules, said method comprising the steps of:

• compressing refrigerant gas;
• providing at least one high pressure conduit;
• delivering said compressed refrigerant gas to said battery pack by use of at least one high pressure conduit;
• decompressing said refrigerant gas;
• and
• channeling said decompressed refrigerant gas throughout said battery pack, thereby relatively rapidly and evenly cooling said plurality of battery modules.