EV Battery Pre-Cooling for Faster DC Charging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cooling systems in electric vehicles are often insufficient to manage the high heat generated during fast charging, leading to potential temperature exceedance and reduced battery life, especially when starting from high temperatures or ambient conditions.
Innovation Solution
A pre-cooling system for electric vehicle batteries that uses a location sensor and controller to determine the energy required to reach a charging station, initiating cooling based on remaining battery energy and anticipated charging conditions to maintain optimal temperature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If DC fast charging is used to reduce charging time, then charging speed is improved, but battery temperature increases excessively
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-cools the battery before fast charging by using the vehicle's cooling system during periods when the battery is not being charged. The controller monitors battery temperature and activates the cooling system in advance to reduce battery temperature below a threshold before initiating fast charging, thereby preventing excessive temperature rise during charging while maintaining high charging speed
2Productivity
If high charging current is used to reduce charging time, then charging speed is improved, but Joule heating increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system activates the cooling system before fast charging begins to preemptively remove heat that will be generated by high charging current. By monitoring battery temperature and activating cooling in advance, the system creates thermal headroom that allows higher charging currents to be used without causing dangerous temperature rises from Joule heating
3Temperature
If cooling system capacity is increased to manage fast charging heat, then temperature control is improved, but system cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the vehicle's existing cooling system capacity by activating it in advance during non-charging periods. The controller monitors battery temperature and activates the cooling system before fast charging to maximize the benefit of available cooling capacity without requiring system upgrades. This temporal scheduling allows the existing cooling system to perform sufficient heat removal despite limited capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the vehicle's own cooling system and thermal management infrastructure to pre-cool the battery, rather than requiring external or additional cooling equipment. The vehicle's existing cooling resources are utilized during idle periods to prepare the battery for fast charging, making the system self-sufficient without additional hardware investment
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The pre-cooling system effectively maintains battery temperature within safe thresholds, allowing for maximized charging current and reduced charge time while preserving battery life.
Implementation Method 1
an electric vehicle battery cooling system
Implementation Method 2
an electric vehicle battery cooling system
Implementation Method 3
High power charging of large batteries using high charging current can result in self-heating of the battery due to Joule heating according to the following equation: W=J−1·R·I2·t
Data Source
AI summary
An illustrative system includes a location sensor configured to sense location of an electric vehicle and to generate a signal indicative of an electric vehicle's location. An electric vehicle battery cooling system is configured to provide cooling to an electric vehicle's battery. A controller is electrically couplable to receive the signal indicative of an electric vehicle's location from the location sensor and is configured to determine battery energy for the electric vehicle to reach a location of a charging station. The battery energy is based on the location of the electric vehicle and an amount of electrical energy remaining in the electric battery. The controller is configured to initiate cooling of the electric battery based on the amount of electrical energy remaining in the electric battery and the battery energy for the electric vehicle to reach the location of the charging station.