Vehicle Body Battery Layout for Side-Impact Load Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
In vehicle body structures with battery units mounted below the floor panel, lateral collisions can lead to increased impact loads on batteries due to deformation of the side sill, compromising battery protection and capacity.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle body structure design featuring a pair of side sills, pillars, and strategically positioned battery arrangement portions, including a first arrangement inside the pillars and a second arrangement away from the side sill, to distribute impact loads and increase battery capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the battery unit is arranged to reach close to the side sill to increase mounting capacity, then the battery capacity is increased, but the impact load on the battery increases when the side sill deforms inward upon lateral collision
Solution Approach 1:
The battery arrangement space is segmented into two distinct portions: a first battery arrangement portion positioned away from the side sill to avoid impact loads, and a second battery arrangement portion positioned closer to the side sill to maximize capacity. This segmentation allows the system to simultaneously achieve both safety (reduced impact load) and capacity (increased battery quantity) by distributing batteries across different risk zones.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the battery arrangement space are assigned different functional qualities based on their collision risk. The first battery arrangement portion (away from side sill) is designated for high-capacity storage with lower protection requirements, while the second battery arrangement portion (near side sill) is designed with enhanced protection structures to withstand potential impact loads. This local differentiation optimizes both capacity and safety.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the battery is positioned away from the side sill to reduce impact load, then the impact load on the battery is reduced, but the battery capacity is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The solution transitions from a one-dimensional positioning problem (single location for batteries) to a two-dimensional distribution strategy by utilizing both lateral position (distance from side sill) and longitudinal position (front-rear arrangement) dimensions. This allows maximum battery capacity to be achieved by filling available space across multiple dimensions while maintaining safe distances from high-risk collision zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges two previously separate battery arrangement strategies into a unified system: the safe-distance arrangement (first portion) and the space-maximizing arrangement (second portion). By combining these approaches, the system achieves both protection goals (reduced impact load) and capacity goals (increased battery quantity) that neither strategy could achieve alone.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle structure includes side sills, pillars, a first battery arrangement portion provided inside the vicinity of the pillars in a vehicle width direction below a floor panel, and a second battery arrangement portion provided at a center portion in the vehicle width direction below the floor panel in a region inside an outer portion of the first battery arrangement portion in the vehicle width direction.