Battery module for an electric vehicle, and method of assembly thereof

An electric vehicle comprising:

• a vehicle chassis;
• a battery module having:
• an auxiliary power module (APM);
• and
• at least one battery pack assembly including:
• a plurality of frames arranged in a stack;
• a plurality of battery cells, each of which is disposed in one of the frames;
• and
• a plurality of cooling plates, each of which is in thermal communication with at least one of the plurality of battery cells, each cooling plate having an inlet and an outlet connected by at least one coolant channel through which coolant may be circulated;
• and
• a liquid cooling system for distributing the coolant to the plurality of cooling plates;
• wherein the APM and the battery pack assembly are stacked together and held together under compression such that the coolant may flow through at least one of the APM and the battery pack assembly to each of the cooling plates.

A method of assembling a battery module for an electric vehicle, the method comprising:

• stacking on a module stacker a plurality of battery frames, each having at least one battery cell disposed within it, and a plurality of cooling plates in an alternating arrangement such that each cooling plate is in thermal communication with at least one battery cell, to form a battery pack assembly;
• and
• stacking on the module stacker an auxiliary power module (APM) together with the battery pack assembly, the APM and the battery pack assembly being held under compression such that coolant may flow through at least one of the APM and the battery pack assembly to each of the cooling plates;
• wherein each cooling plate has an inlet and an outlet connected by at least one coolant channel through which the coolant is circulated.