Ford is exploring strategies to simplify the restore of electrical car battery packs, significantly as their cooling techniques evolve, in accordance with a latest patent submitting.
Printed by the USA Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) on December 12, 2024, the patent was submitted by Ford on June 12, 2023. It outlines a system permitting for the substitute of battery modules while not having to take away the complete battery pack from the car. This strategy might doubtlessly decrease restore prices and promote sustainability by enabling some packs to be refurbished with new modules as a substitute of requiring a complete substitute.
The patent emphasizes sustaining a well-recognized design for the battery pack situated beneath the car’s ground, that includes a number of modules that home a number of battery cells. It proposes using detachable caps and spring-loaded connectors for electrical terminals, facilitating the straightforward removing of modules as mandatory.
Moreover, the submitting introduces the idea of immersion cooling, a way the place battery parts are cooled utilizing a non-conductive fluid, eliminating the chance {of electrical} shorts. This comparatively new technique departs from the normal liquid cooling techniques employed in most fashionable electrical autos, which generally use coolant exterior of the modules or with cooling plates. Whereas establishing immersion cooling might simplify entry to battery modules, it might additionally require additional {hardware}.
In distinction, different producers comparable to Mercedes-Benz are exploring air-cooling options. The design of cells and modules is underneath analysis, with Basic Motors investigating varied configurations to reinforce cooling effectivity, and Canoo creating a structural battery pack that integrates modules with the car’s body and cooling system.
This subject is quickly evolving. Rimac is among the many few firms which have carried out a real immersion cooling system able to thermally conditioning every cell at a number of factors. Tesla’s Cybertruck may make the most of an identical system, however particulars have but to be disclosed. Advancing such expertise into the mass market might place Ford forward of its rivals, together with Tesla.
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