A recent patent filing shows that Rivian is looking for alternative cooling methods as a way to speed up the fast charging of electric vehicles.
A patent application published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on February 14 notes that thermal management during charging can consume quite a bit of power. As a solution, it proposes to transfer some of the load from the vehicle’s cooling system to the charging system.
Batteries need to stay within a certain temperature window to achieve maximum charging rates, and according to Rivian, that cooling consumes real energy, reducing the maximum charging rate. The company claims in the patent application that that cooling demand increases from a few kilowatts with AC charging to 15 kW or more with DC fast charging.
Patent image of the Rivian EV . charger cooling system
Rivian notes that the need for cooling for charging also requires a larger air conditioning system that can use more energy for the rest of the time driving.
The company has boasted that their cooling method is based on the cooling pad run across the packHowever, this is a more efficient way to regulate the temperature of the pack. And cabin cooling system in some EV now helps speed up fast charging, so this is not an off-the-beaten-path idea.
The document offers a long list of alternative cooling arrangements — including fanning cool air underneath the vehicle — presumably implying that, while Rivian has not found any For this, the company wants to confirm this idea. That’s often the driving force for auto patents, whether or not the automaker filing them has a solid production plan for a certain feature.
Patent image of the Rivian EV . charger cooling system
In any case, it looks like this would take a huge amount of power at the charging station level to make any difference to the vehicle, so it’s not yet clear how feasible it will be. However, other companies have looked at ways to improve charging performance through more efficient cooling.
Ford and Purdue University have helped develop a charging cable based on the phase change of the coolant from liquid to vapor, meeting the need for bulky cable. That’s what charging hardware supplier Huber+Suhner has predicted might be needed to support electric cars charge very fast.
