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US 8,350,526 B2Granted
Station for rapidly charging an electric vehicle battery
AssigneeLightening Energy
InventorsChristopher K. Dyer, Michael L. Epstein, Duncan Culver
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle charging station is provided. The vehicle charging station includes a charging source providing an electrical charge, a coolant source providing coolant and a connector having both an electrical supply section delivering the electrical charge and a coolant supply section delivering the coolant. The connector is capable of connecting to a vehicle. A connector for a vehicle charging station and an electric vehicle are also provided.
Claims19
A vehicle charging system comprising:
- a charging source providing an electrical charge;
- a coolant source providing coolant;
- a connector having both an electrical supply section delivering the electrical charge and a coolant supply section delivering the coolant;
- an electric vehicle including an electric battery, the electric battery including a plurality of planar cells and an enclosure surrounding the cells so as to arrange the cells in a stack, the enclosure having an input and an output, the electric vehicle further including a receptacle for receiving the connector, a coolant conduit configured to direct the coolant from a coolant inflow section of the receptacle to the input of the enclosure and an electrical power connection between the electrical battery and the receptacle, the connector capable of connecting to the receptacle of the vehicle to charge the electric battery in the vehicle and to supply coolant from the coolant source through the coolant conduit into the input of the enclosure to cool the cells of the electric battery as the electric battery is charged;
- and
- a controller receiving battery information of the electric battery and controlling the flow of coolant from the coolant source through the connector to the electric battery.
3 more elements
An electric vehicle comprising:
- an electric battery powering a drive system of the vehicle, the electric battery including a plurality of battery cells, each of the battery cells including two parallel planar surfaces, the battery cells being spaced from each other to define a plurality of channels inside the electric battery between the cells, each of the channels being delimited by two of the battery cells such that each channel is between one planar surface of one of the battery cells and one planar surface of another of the battery cells;
- a charging connector receptacle for removably receiving a connector of a charging station, the charging station supplying electric charge and coolant to the electric battery through the connector, the receptacle including an electrical inflow section for receiving electrical charge from the charging station via the connector and a coolant inflow section for receiving coolant from the charging station via the connector;
- a coolant conduit between the electric battery and the receptacle configured to direct coolant from the coolant inflow section of the receptacle to the channels in the electric battery for cooling the electric battery;
- and
- an electrical power connection between the electrical battery and the receptacle.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.