Lightning Battery Teardown by Munro

[JBauer]

I was really surprised to see the amount of layers between the cooling plate and the battery cells. It seems even less advanced than what was in the Chevy Bolt.

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[MickeyAO]

I was really surprised to see the amount of layers between the cooling plate and the battery cells. It seems even less advanced than what was in the Chevy Bolt.

Having torn down many battery packs including several Bolt packs, and watching the teardown of the F150 Lightning pack (I will be tearing one down in the next 6 months), I'm not sure why you think there are more layers in this pack from a Bolt pack. Maybe you missed the thermal transfer material used between the cold plate and the heat sinks from a Bolt pack?

 

[JBauer]

Having torn down many battery packs including several Bolt packs, and watching the teardown of the F150 Lightning pack (I will be tearing one down in the next 6 months), I'm not sure why you think there are more layers in this pack from a Bolt pack. Maybe you missed the thermal transfer material used between the cold plate and the heat sinks from a Bolt pack?

The cooling plate they show runs along the bottom of the pack while the Volt have fins between the stacked cells.



That effectively increases the surface area in contact with the cells improving heat transfer. Though it seems they did away with the complexity for the Bolt, and most manufacturers have done the same.

 

[MickeyAO]

The cooling plate they show runs along the bottom of the pack while the Volt have fins between the stacked cells.



That effectively increases the surface area in contact with the cells improving heat transfer. Though it seems they did away with the complexity for the Bolt, and most manufacturers have done the same.

The cooling plate will not just be cooling the bottom of the cell. Think of an L-shaped metal plate where a small portion sits on the cold (or warming) plate while the large part will cover the entire side of a cell. I really wish I could post a picture of some of the other packs.

For the Volt, my first thought while tearing it down was 'That's a lot of O rings'.

 

[Grumpy2]

"The cooling plate will not just be cooling the bottom of the cell. Think of an L-shaped metal plate where a small portion sits on the cold (or warming) plate while the large part will cover the entire side of a cell. I really wish I could post a picture of some of the other packs."

I think such a L-shaped metal plate would be significantly more efficient. The fabric of the pouch cell has very little of it's total surface area touching the thermal paste. The module is very dense, and the cooling area is certainly limited.
https://www.youtube.com/@WeberAuto
Weber Auto has several good videos of the Mach E battery pack and highlights how Ford has changed the internals of the battery over just a year or so.
I seems to me your L-shaped heat transfer device would be a good further improvement.

 

[MickeyAO]

"The cooling plate will not just be cooling the bottom of the cell. Think of an L-shaped metal plate where a small portion sits on the cold (or warming) plate while the large part will cover the entire side of a cell. I really wish I could post a picture of some of the other packs."

I think such a L-shaped metal plate would be significantly more efficient. The fabric of the pouch cell has very little of it's total surface area touching the thermal paste. The module is very dense, and the cooling area is certainly limited.
https://www.youtube.com/@WeberAuto
Weber Auto has several good videos of the Mach E battery pack and highlights how Ford has changed the internals of the battery over just a year or so.
I seems to me your L-shaped heat transfer device would be a good further improvement.

The L-shaped plate is used on several vehicles including the Bolt and Mach-E. I fully expect it to be used on the Lightning, but since this is an Sk Innovations designed pack, it would be the first I have seen from them. The only pack from SK Innovations I have taken apart was the Kia Soul with forced air cooling.

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