Electric vehicle charging arrangement

Abstract

This invention provides an electric vehicle charging arrangement. The arrangement comprises: a source of electric power; a charging unit configured to deliver electric power from the source of electric power to a battery of an electric vehicle; an off-board heat exchanger; a first cooling circuit in thermal connection with the heat exchanger, wherein the first cooling circuit comprises a first pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to the battery of the electric vehicle during charging of the battery; and a second cooling circuit in thermal connection with the heat exchanger, wherein the second cooling circuit comprises a second pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to the charging unit during charging of the battery.

Description

[0001] ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING ARRANGEMENT

[0002] Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates to an electric vehicle charging arrangement. Background of the invention

[0004] As the electrification of vehicles continues, one of the key considerations is the time required to recharge the battery. Reducing the recharge time is generally desirable, as this remains one of the significant drawbacks of electric vehicles when compared to vehicles powered by petrol, or diesel.

[0005] Another key driving factor in the field of electric vehicles is a desire to increase the capacity of the batteries powering the vehicles. However, this exacerbates the existing issues discussed above with regards to the time taken to recharge the batteries.

[0006] Therefore, there is a general desire to find solutions to increase the speed at which electrical energy is delivered to the battery during charging: in other words, to increase the power at which the battery is charged. However, in a typical ultra-fast charging scenario, the large amounts of power transferred from the charger to the battery leads to immense heat generation inside the battery, especially as the principal mechanism for increasing the power transferred to the battery is by increasing the current at which the energy is supplied.

[0007] To ensure safe and optimised battery operation, it is necessary to remove excess heat from the charging system and to maintain the temperature of the battery and the charging components in a recommended range. It is an aim of the current invention to overcome at least some of the disadvantages as sociated with the current state of the art . Summary of the Invention

[0008] According to an aspect of the invention , there is provided an electric vehicle charging arrangement . The arrangement comprises : a source of electric power ; a charging unit configured to deliver electric power f rom the source of electric power to a battery of an electric vehicle ; an off -board heat exchanger ; a battery cooling circuit in thermal connection with the heat exchanger , wherein the battery cooling circuit comprises a first pumping arrangement configured to deliver a f low of coolant to the battery of the electric vehicle during charging of the battery; and a first charging unit cooling circuit in thermal connection with the heat exchanger , wherein the first charging unit cooling circuit comprises a second pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to at least a first component of the charging unit during charging of the battery . The first pumping arrangement and second pumping arrangement are independent of each other such that the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit is independent of the flow of coolant in the f irst charging unit cooling circuit .

[0009] In some embodiments of the invention , the charging unit may compri se a charging post , a charging cable and a charging plug .

[0010] The arrangement may further compri se a second charging unit cooling circuit in thermal connection with the heat exchanger , wherein the second charging unit cooling circuit comprises a third pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to at least a second component of the charging unit during charging of the battery . The third pumping arrangement may be independent of the first pumping arrangement and the second pumping arrangement such that the flow of coolant in the second charging unit cooling circuit i s independent of the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit and the f irst charging unit cooling circuit .

[0011] The arrangement may further compri se a third charging unit cooling circuit in thermal connection with the heat exchanger , wherein the third charging unit cooling circuit comprises a fourth pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to at least a third component of the charging unit during charging of the battery . The fourth pumping arrangement may be independent of the first pumping arrangement , the second pumping arrangement and the third pumping arrangement such that flow of coolant in the third charging unit cooling circuit is independent of the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit , the first charging unit cooling circuit , and the second charging unit cooling circuit .

[0012] The battery cooling circuit may be integrated within the charging unit , such that a charging plug of the charging unit i s conf igured to provide the connection between the first cooling circuit and the vehicle during charging of the battery .

[0013] The source of electric power may be a stationary energy storage reservoir . The arrangement may therefore comprise a storage cooling circuit in thermal connection with the heat exchanger , wherein the storage cooling circuit comprises a f ifth pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to the stationary energy storage re servoir during charging of the battery . The fifth pumping arrangement may be independent of the other pumping arrangements in the arrangement so that the flow of coolant in the storage cooling circuit is independent of the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit and the charging unit cooling circuit or charging unit cooling circuits, as the case may be.

[0014] The battery cooling circuit may comprise a first coolant material and the first charging unit cooling circuit may comprise a second coolant material, different to the first cooling material. In embodiments with additional cooling circuits, such as the second and third charging unit cooling circuit and the storage cooling circuit referenced above, each of these cooling circuits may also comprise different coolant materials to each other and to the first and second coolant materials.

[0015] The flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit may be configured to occur at a first mass-flow rate, while the flow of coolant in the first charging unit cooling circuit may be configured to occur at a second mass-flow rate, different to the first mass-flow rate. Again, in embodiments with additional cooling circuits, the flow of coolant in these cooling circuits may also occur at different mass-flow rates to each other and to the first mass-flow rate and the second mass-flow rate.

[0016] The first cooling circuit may comprise a robotic arm that is configured to autonomously connect the battery cooling circuit to the vehicle in order to enable delivery of the flow of coolant to the battery during charging. As such, no manual intervention may be required in order to connect the battery cooling circuit to the vehicle.

[0017] The heat exchanger may comprise a first refrigerant circuit and a second refrigerant circuit. The battery cooling circuit may be in thermal connection with the first refrigerant circuit and the first charging unit cooling circuit may be in thermal connection with the second refrigerant circuit. In embodiments where additional cooling circuits are present, as discussed above, the heat exchanger may comprise further refrigerant circuit s in thermal connection with the additional cooling circuit s .

[0018] The battery cooling circuit and the first charging unit cooling circuit may each comprise at lea st one sensor configured to monitor characteristics of the flow of coolant in each of the battery cooling circuit and the first charging unit cooling circuit , respectively .

[0019] The arrangement may further compri se a control system in communication with the at least one sensor in each of the battery cooling circuit and f irst charging unit cooling circuit . The control system may be in communication with the first pumping arrangement and the second pumping arrangement . The control system may be operable to control the first pumping arrangement and the second pumping arrangement to control the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit and the first charging unit cooling circuit in dependence on the monitored characteri stics of the flow of coolant , a s determined by the sensors in the cooling circuits . For example , the control system may be configured to control the flow rate of coolant in the battery charging circuit and / or the first charging unit cooling circuit by controlling the first and second pumping arrangements , re spectively .

[0020] In embodiments comprising further cooling circuits , these too may be provided with sensors to monitor characteri stics of the flow of coolant therein, which may also be in communication with the control system . Accordingly, the control system may also control the pumping arrangements in these cooling circuit s in dependence on the monitored characteristics of the f low of coolant therein .

[0021] It will be apparent to the s killed person that individual features of the electric vehicle charging arrangement dis cus sed above may be combined where appropriate .

[0022] Brief Description of the Drawings

[0023] The invention will now be des cribed with reference to the following drawings , in which :

[0024] Figure 1 schematically illustrates an electric vehicle charging arrangement in accordance with an embodiment of the pre sent invention ; and

[0025] Figure 2 schematically illustrates an electric vehicle charging arrangement in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention .

[0026] These drawings depict one or more implementations in accordance with the present teachings , by way of example only, not by way of limitation . In the figure s , like reference numerals refer to the same or s imilar element s . Detailed Description of the Drawings

[0027] Figure 1 schematically illustrates a charging arrangement 10 for charging an electric vehicle 100 .

[0028] The charging arrangement 10 compri ses a charging unit 20 , which delivers electric power from a source of electric power 30 to a battery 110 of the electric vehicle 100 . The charging unit 20 may comprise a plurality of different components that may be arranged in a number of ways , a s known to those s killed in the art , but is shown in Figure 1 to compri se a charging post 22 , a charging cable 24 , and a charging plug 26 . When the charging plug 26 is plugged into the respective socket of the electric vehicle 100 , electric power is transferred from the source of electric power 30 to the battery 110 via the charging unit 20 .

[0029] The charging arrangement 10 i s provided with a cooling system . The cooling system compri ses an off-board heat exchanger 40 and a coolant delivery system 50 . By 'off-board' , it is meant that the heat exchanger 40 is not an integral or contiguous part of the charging unit 20 or the source of electric power 30 and is instead provided as a separate unit . The heat exchanger 40 interact s with the other component s of the charging arrangement 10 via the coolant delivery system 50 . The off -board heat exchanger 40 comprises a refrigerant circuit ( not shown ) . The refrigerant circuit i s in thermal connection with the coolant delivery system 50 , such that coolant in the coolant delivery system 50 i s cooled when pas sing through the heat exchanger 40 . In other words , heat in the coolant is transferred to ref rigerant in the refrigerant circuit .

[0030] The coolant delivery system 50 comprises a plurality of cooling circuits that each deliver coolant to dif ferent components of the charging arrangement 10 . The coolant in each cooling circuit is in thermal connection with the component so that heat generated when charging the battery 110 can be transferred away from the charging arrangement 10 and back to the heat exchanger 40 . The coolant delivery system 50 therefore acts to cool the components of the charging arrangement 10 during charging of the battery 110 and provides indirect thermal connection between the refrigerant in the heat exchanger 40 and the components of the charging arrangement 10 .

[0031] Currently, charging arrangements employ a single cooling circuit to cool the battery 110 and any other components of the charging arrangement that are determined to require cooling during charging . The s ingle cooling circuit may work in combination with an on-board battery thermal management system . The on-board thermal management system provides cooling to the battery 110 during charging and during discharge of the battery 110 a s the electric vehicle 100 consumes power .

[0032] However , the significantly increased power at which electrical energy is provided in ultra-fa st charging arrangements and the immense increa se in the heat generated as a result means that cooling systems based on a single cooling circuit may be insufficient . In addition , the increa sed power of ultra-fast charging arrangements means that suff icient heat i s generated in other components of the charging arrangement ( e . g . , the charging post 22 ) for the thermal management of these components to be cons idered in more detail .

[0033] As a result , the coolant delivery system 50 of the charging arrangement 10 shown in Figure 1 incorporates a first cooling circuit 52 and a second cooling circuit 54 . The f irst cooling circuit 52 is in thermal connection with the heat exchanger 40 and the battery 110 of the electric vehicle 100 and is configured to deliver a flow of coolant to the battery 110 to remove heat generated in the battery 110 during charging .

[0034] The first cooling circuit 52 comprises a connector 70 to facilitate connection of the first cooling circuit 52 to the vehicle 100 so that the f low of coolant can be delivered to such a place that thermal connection with the battery 110 can be established . To this end, the vehicle 100 may comprise an internal battery cooling circuit (not shown ) in order to establish thermal connection between the f irst cooling circuit 52 and the battery 110 . Such a connection may be indirect , in that the f irst cooling circuit 52 may be in thermal connection with the internal battery cooling circuit , with the internal battery cooling circuit then being in thermal connection with the battery 110 . Alternatively, the first cooling circuit 52 may be configured to be in f luid communication with the internal battery cooling circuit so that there is direct thermal connection between the first cooling circuit 52 and the battery 110 . In either case , the internal battery cooling circuit may be considered to be part of the battery 110 , such that the f irst cooling circuit 52 is in thermal connection with the battery 110 directly or indirectly via the internal battery cooling circuit .

[0035] The second cooling circuit 54 is in thermal connection with the heat exchanger 40 and the charging unit 20 of the charging arrangement 10 and is configured to deliver a flow of coolant to the charging unit 20 to remove heat generated in the charging unit 20 during charging of the battery 110 . Although Figure 1 shows the second cooling circuit 54 as being external to the charging unit 20 for clarity, the second cooling circuit 54 may be more conveniently integrated into the hardware of the charging unit 20 in order to provide the thermal connection therebetween .

[0036] The first cooling circuit 52 may also be integrated into the hardware of the charging unit 20 to provide a compact and simple arrangement for an operator to use . In this ca se , the charging plug 26 additionally acts as the connector 70 that facilitate s connection of the first cooling circuit 52 with the vehicle 100 .

[0037] To control the f low of coolant , each cooling circuit comprises a pumping arrangement ( not shown ) . The pumping arrangement may comprise a series of pumps , valves , compres sors and distributors , as will be known and understood by the s killed person . The flows of coolant in the f irst and second cooling circuits 52 , 54 are independent of each other and so the components of the pumping arrangement of each cooling circuit 52 , 54 operate independently of one another to enable this .

[0038] The divis ion of the coolant delivery system 50 into the f irst and second cooling circuits 52 , 54 as discussed above therefore makes the charging arrangement 10 particularly suited to the needs of ultra-fast charging in electric vehicles by providing cooling to the charging unit 20 during charging of the battery to remove the exces s heat generated at the charging unit 20 by the high power being delivered through the system . In addition , as the heat generated by the battery 110 is signif icantly greater than that generated by the charging unit 20 , the battery 110 will have markedly different cooling requirements to the charging unit 20 . Therefore , by separating the coolant delivery system 50 into the f irst and second cooling circuits 52 , 54 , the different cooling needs of the different components of the charging arrangement can be met by tailoring various properties of the coolant in the cooling circuits 52 , 54 .

[0039] For example , the first cooling circuit 52 may have a higher mas s-flow of coolant than the second cooling circuit 54 to account for the greater heat generated by the battery 110 than the charging unit 20 . The temperature of the coolant in the first and second cooling circuits 52 , 54 may also vary based on the expected cooling load on the respective circuits by the components of the charging arrangement 10 . The temperature of the coolant material in the f irst and second cooling circuits 52 , 54 may also vary based on differing operational temperature windows of the battery 110 and the charging unit 20 . The coolant material itself may also vary between the first and second cooling circuit s in order to fulfil the dif ferent cooling requirements of the battery 110 and the charging unit 20 .

[0040] As a result of the different properties of the coolant in the first and second cooling circuit s 52 , 54 , the heat exchanger 40 may be provided with separate refrigerant circuits for each cooling circuit . If the properties of the coolant in the first and second cooling circuit s 52 , 54 differ , this may influence the neces sary properties of the ref rigerant , or refrigerant circuits , so that refrigeration of the coolant can occur eff iciently . The provis ion of separate refrigerant circuit s in the heat exchanger for each of the first and second cooling circuit s 52 , 54 therefore follows a similar philosophy to the provis ion of the first and second cooling circuits to cool the battery 110 and the charging unit 20 .

[0041] The charging arrangement of Figure 1 therefore enables the temperature of the battery 110 and other components of the charging arrangement 10 to be maintained in the recommended temperature range during charging , improving the efficiency and durability of the components . The tailored coolant delivery system 50 also of fers an opportunity to scale , balance and optimise the cooling of the components while minimis ing the power consumption of the system .

[0042] Naturally, for the maximum beneficial ef fect to be reali sed by separating the coolant delivery system 50 into different cooling circuits 52 , 54 , it is important for the thermal loads on each component of the charging arrangement 10 to be known . This enables selection of the various coolant properties (material , mas s-flow , temperature , etc ) , as well a s properties of the heat exchanger 40 ( s ize , refrigerant , thermal contact area between refrigerant and coolant , etc ) to tailor those properties to the cooling requirements of the respective components .

[0043] The provi sion of the first and second cooling circuit s 52 , 54 may also help the coolant delivery system 50 fulf il a higher overall cooling demand as it enables the heat generated by each component to be isolated .

[0044] The concepts behind the charging arrangement 10 of Figure 1 may be further developed in order to further maximise the capability of the charging arrangement 10 to respond to the cooling requirements of the different components of the charging unit 20 . Figure 2 shows a charging arrangement 10 much like the one seen in Figure 1. However, in Figure 2, it can be seen that the coolant delivery system 50 comprises a third cooling circuit 56 and a fourth cooling circuit 58. Each of the second, third and fourth cooling circuits 54, 56, 58 are in thermal connection with the heat exchanger 40 and different components of the charging unit 20: the second cooling circuit 54 is in thermal connection with the charging post 22, the third cooling circuit 56 is in thermal connection with the charging cable 24 and the fourth cooling circuit 58 is in thermal connection with the charging plug 26. Therefore, the second, third and fourth cooling circuits 54, 56, 58 are configured to deliver a flow of coolant to the respective individual components of the charging unit 20 to remove heat generated in those components during charging of the battery 110.

[0045] As with the second cooling circuit 52 shown in Figure 1, the second, third and fourth cooling circuits 54, 56, 58 are shown in Figure 2 to be external to the charging unit 20, but may more conveniently be integrated into the hardware of the charging post 22, the charging cable 24 and the charging plug 26, respectively. The first cooling circuit 52 may also be integrated within the charging unit 20, with the charging plug 26 additionally performing the connector 70 to connect the first cooling circuit 52 to the vehicle 100.

[0046] In some embodiments, components of the charging arrangement 10 (for example the battery 110 and / or the charging post 22, or other components of the charging unit 20) may be immersed in an immersion cooling reservoir. In this case, the respective cooling circuit 52, 54, 56, 58 in thermal connection with that component acts as a conduit between the heat exchanger 40 and the immersion cooling reservoir in order to remove heat in the immersion cooling reservoir. In this way, thermal connection is maintained between the cooling circuit and the component to be cooled.

[0047] The charging arrangement 10 may omit one of the second, third and fourth cooling circuits 54, 56, 58 if the cooling requirements of any of the charging post 22, charging cable 24 or charging plug 26 are determined to be such that cooling is not required during charging of the vehicle. In this case, the charging arrangement would comprise three cooling circuits, with the first cooling circuit 52 associated with the battery 110 in the manner described above and the second and third cooling circuits 54, 56 associated with the two of the components of the charging unit 20 (i.e. , two out of the charging post 22, charging cable 24 and charging plug 26) .

[0048] Alternatively, if the cooling requirements of two of the components of the charging unit 20 are determined to be the same, or similar, the charging arrangement 10 may again comprise three cooling circuits, but one of the cooling circuits associated with the charging unit 20 may be in thermal connection with both components of the charging unit 20 determined to have similar cooling requirements .

[0049] For example, if the charging post 22 and the charging cable 24 are determined to have similar cooling requirements, the charging arrangement 10 may comprise a first cooling circuit in thermal connection with the battery 110, as before, a second cooling circuit 54 in thermal connection with both the charging post 22 and the charging cable 24, and a third cooling circuit 56 in thermal connection with the charging plug 56. Alternative arrangements where the charging post 22 and charging plug 26 have similar cooling requirements, or the charging cable 24 and charging plug 26 have similar cooling requirements are also possible.

[0050] As with the charging arrangement of Figure 1, each of the cooling circuits 52, 54, 56, 58 comprise dedicated independent pumping components and valves to enable independent flow of coolant therearound, in order to enable tailoring of the coolant properties to the cooling requirements of the components with which they are in thermal connection. This enables further optimisation of the design of the coolant delivery system.

[0051] One additional issue with the provision of ultrafast charging arrangements for electric vehicles, and the corresponding increase in heat generated during charging is the need to significantly increase the mass-flow of coolant to the battery 110. This means that the connector 70 for transferring the coolant to the vehicle 100 in order to establish thermal connection with the battery 110, as well as the tubing for the first cooling circuit 52 are significantly increased in weight for ultra-fast charging arrangements, as compared to slower charging arrangements. A considerable effort is therefore required to connect the connector 70 manually, increasing the risk of loose connections, leakages and safety incidents on site .

[0052] To this end, the charging arrangement may be configured to enable the connector 70 to be connected to the vehicle 100 autonomously (i.e. , without manual handling of the connector 70 or the first cooling circuit 52) . For example, a robotic arm may be used to effect autonomous coupling between the connector 70 and the vehicle 100. As alluded to above, this reduces the risk of safety incidents or loose / faulty connections between the connector 70 and the vehicle 100. However, with the need for manual interaction with the connector obviated, this enables the first cooling circuit 52 to be de signed for higher mas s-flow, in turn allowing the first cooling circuit to provide a greater cooling capacity . This means that there is no need to over-dimension the on-board thermal management systems for the battery 110 , allowing this space to be taken up either with the battery 110 itself , or be utilised as additional space in the vehicle 100 , for example to provide extra loading capacity .

[0053] This is particularly advantageous in embodiment s where the first cooling circuit 52 is integrated within the hardware of the charging unit 20 , such that the charging plug 2 6 acts as the connector 70 . This make s the interface of the charging arrangement 10 with the vehicle 100 compact , reliable and safe to operate .

[0054] The source of electric power 30 may be provided as a connection to a mains power supply . However , as shown in Figures 1 and 2 , the source of electric power 30 may al so take the form of an off-board battery energy storage system . The battery energy storage system 30 acts as a reservoir of stored energy and enables the charging arrangement 10 to be used in remote locations where connection to mains electrical power is challenging .

[0055] While the battery energy storage system 30 is likely to have a capacity many time s greater than that of the battery 110 of the vehicle 100 , the same battery energy storage system 30 may be utilised a s part of multiple different charging arrangements 10 , in the provision of a charging station , as explained in greater detail below . As a result , the battery energy storage system 30 may also require cooling during charging of the battery 110 .

[0056] Consequently, a fifth cooling circuit 60 may be employed to deliver a flow of coolant to the battery energy storage system 30 to remove the heat generated therein during charging of the battery 110 . The fifth cooling circuit 60 is in thermal connection with the heat exchanger 40 and the battery energy storage system 30. The flow of coolant in the fifth cooling circuit is independent of the flow of coolant in other cooling circuits to enable tailoring of the coolant properties in dependence on the cooling requirements of the battery energy storage system 30. As a result, the fifth cooling circuit 60 comprises dedicated pumping components and valves, much like the other cooling circuits of the charging arrangement 10.

[0057] As discussed above, the charging arrangement 10 may be provided as part of a charging station that comprises a plurality of charging arrangements 10. Certain components may be shared between different charging arrangements 10, such as the battery energy storage system 30 and the off- board heat exchanger 40. However, each of the charging arrangements 10 comprises its own charging unit 20 and coolant delivery system 50.

[0058] Such a charging station is well-suited to fleet vehicles, as the similarity of the batteries and charging systems between vehicles of the fleet means that the cooling requirements for the vehicle batteries 110 and the components of the charging arrangement 10 will be similar.

[0059] The cooling circuits 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 may be provided with sensors to monitor characteristics of the coolant flow therein, such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, etc. The charging post 22, charging cable 24 and charging plug 26 may also be provided with sensors to monitor their temperature and charging performance. Charging performance may be monitored by monitoring a variety of parameters, such as charging speed, state of health and charging efficiency. The sensors communicate with a coolant flow control system. Based on the information received from the various sensors throughout the charging arrangement 10, the coolant flow control system can control the pumps, valves, compressors and distributors in order to adapt the flow of coolant in the cooling circuits 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 to the present condition of the various components and so optimise the cooling provided by the coolant delivery system 50. This may be especially useful in the context of a charging station, where the charging load varies over time as a result of differing numbers of vehicles using the charging station to recharge.

[0060] While many possible variations of the charging arrangement have been described above, it will be clear to the skilled person that additional variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed in the appended claims.

Claims

C L A I M S1. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) , the arrangement comprising: a source of electric power (30) ; a charging unit (20) configured to deliver electric power from the source of electric power (30) to a battery (110) of an electric vehicle (100) ; an off-board heat exchanger (40) ; a battery cooling circuit (52) in thermal connection with the heat exchanger (40) , wherein the battery cooling circuit (52) comprises a first pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to the battery (110) of the electric vehicle (100) during charging of the battery (110) ; and a first charging unit cooling circuit (54) in thermal connection with the heat exchanger (40) , wherein the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) comprises a second pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to at least a first component of the charging unit (20) during charging of the battery (110) , wherein the first pumping arrangement and second pumping arrangement are independent of each other such that flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit (52) is independent of the flow of coolant in the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) .

2. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in Claim 1, further comprising a second charging unit cooling circuit (56) in thermal connection with the heat exchanger (40) , wherein the second charging unit cooling circuit (56) comprises a third pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to at least asecond component of the charging unit (20) during charging of the battery (110) , wherein the third pumping arrangement is independent of the first pumping arrangement and the second pumping arrangement such that the flow of coolant in the second charging unit cooling circuit (56) is independent of the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit (52) and the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) .

3. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in Claim 2, further comprising a third charging unit cooling circuit (58) in thermal connection with the heat exchanger (40) , wherein the third charging unit cooling circuit (58) comprises a fourth pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to at least a third component of the charging unit (20) during charging of the battery (110) , wherein the fourth pumping arrangement is independent of the first pumping arrangement, the second pumping arrangement and the third pumping arrangement such that the flow of coolant in the third charging unit cooling circuit (58) is independent of the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit (52) , the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) , and the second charging unit cooling circuit (56) .

4. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the battery cooling circuit is integrated within the charging unit (20) , such that a charging plug (26) of the charging unit (20) is configured to provide the connection between the first cooling circuit (52) and the vehicle (100) during charging of the battery (110) .

5. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the source ofelectric power (30) is a stationary energy storage reservoir .

6. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in Claim 5, further comprising a storage cooling circuit (60) in thermal connection with the heat exchanger (40) , wherein the storage cooling circuit (60) comprises a fifth pumping arrangement configured to deliver a flow of coolant to the stationary energy storage reservoir (30) during charging of the battery (110) .

7. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the battery cooling circuit (52) comprises a first coolant material and the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) comprises a second coolant material, different to the first coolant material .

8. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit (52) is configured to occur at a first mass-flow rate, and wherein the flow of coolant in the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) is configured to occur at a second mass-flow rate, different to the first mass-flow rate.

9. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a robotic arm configured to autonomously connect the battery cooling circuit (52) to the vehicle (100) in order to enable delivery of the flow of coolant to the battery (110) during charging.

10. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the heat exchanger (40) comprises a first refrigerant circuit and a second refrigerant circuit, and wherein the battery cooling circuit (52) is in thermal connection with the first refrigerant circuit and the first charging unit coolingcircuit (54) is in thermal connection with the second refrigerant circuit.

11. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the battery cooling circuit (52) and the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) each comprise at least one sensor configured to monitor characteristics of the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit (52) and the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) , respectively.

12. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the arrangement (10) further comprises a control system in communication with the at least one sensor in each of the battery cooling circuit (52) and first charging unit cooling circuit (54) , and wherein the control system is in communication with the first pumping arrangement and the second pumping arrangement, and wherein the control system is operable to control the first pumping arrangement and the second pumping arrangement to control the flow of coolant in the battery cooling circuit (52) and the first charging unit cooling circuit (54) in dependence on the monitored characteristics of the flow of coolant.

13. An electric vehicle charging arrangement (10) as claimed in Claim 12 when dependent on Claim 8, wherein the control system is configured to control the first pumping arrangement to change the first flow rate and / or is configured to control the second pumping arrangement to change the second flow rate.

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