Interesting alternative?
TotalEnergies says it has developed an interesting cooling system for batteries of (partly) electric cars. The batteries are ‘immersed’ in oil, which can keep things cool. It would make the battery more efficient and save weight.
Proper cooling of an EV battery is essential for charging, range and lifespan. According to TotalEnergies, in some cases there is considerable room for improvement in this regard. The energy giant took a plug-in hybrid Volvo XC90, unscrewed the battery pack and provided a completely new cooling system. In short, the battery pack is ‘immersed’ in oil instead of conventional cooling via the radiator of the car or the climate control system in the interior. This allows the heat from the battery to be dissipated if desired.
TotalEnergies does not elaborate on the exact construction of the system, but according to the French company the results are promising. Adjustments to the battery pack itself were not necessary and the size of the total pack did not cause any problems. The whole could thus be placed back in the Volvo. It even results in a weight reduction of 4 percent on the total car weight. More important is the gain in efficiency. The charging capacity that the battery can handle with the standard charger increased from 3.7 kW to 22 kW due to the better cooling. TotalEnergies does not say whether it affects the electric range of the XC90, but that it is 5.6 percent cheaper to install a battery pack with such a cooling system than with the original system.
Other findings and results will undoubtedly follow at a later date. TotalEnergies says it finds the results promising and sees it as a potential game changer for EVs. We are curious.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl