Reconfigurable battery electric vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11201375-B2
Application number	US-201916710225-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 11, 2019
Priority date	Dec 11, 2019
Publication date	Dec 14, 2021
Grant date	Dec 14, 2021

Abstract

A battery electric vehicle includes a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel longitudinal members and a floor pan coupled to and above at least a portion of the longitudinal members. A battery pack bay is defined below the floor pan, longitudinally between predefined front and rear limits, and laterally between the longitudinal members. A battery pack may be upwardly disposed within the battery pack bay, the battery pack including a pair of laterally spaced apart sides whereat the first battery pack is removably attached to the respective longitudinal members. The battery pack may be dimensioned longitudinally to occupy less than the entire longitudinal space of the battery pack bay. A closeout structure may be removably attached to the respective longitudinal members and one longitudinal end of the first battery pack.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A battery electric vehicle, comprising:
a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel longitudinal members;
a floor pan coupled to and above at least a portion of the longitudinal members, wherein a battery pack bay is defined below the floor pan, longitudinally between predefined front and rear limits, and laterally between the longitudinal members;
a first battery pack disposed within the battery pack bay, the battery pack comprising a pair of laterally spaced apart sides whereat the first battery pack is removably attached to the respective longitudinal members, the first battery pack dimensioned longitudinally to occupy less than the entire longitudinal space of the battery pack bay; and
a closeout structure removably attached to the respective longitudinal members and one longitudinal end of the first battery pack.

2. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the closeout structure comprises a cross-braced panel.

3. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the closeout structure comprises at least one hat bracket attached to the closeout structure and removably attached to the floor pan.

4. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the closeout structure comprises a lateral member at a longitudinal end opposite the one longitudinal end of the first battery pack and removably attached to the floor pan between the longitudinal members.

5. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the longitudinal members comprise a plurality of mounting provisions distributed along substantially the entire lengths thereof and configured for removable attachment of a second battery pack dimensioned to occupy substantially the entire longitudinal space of the battery pack bay.

6. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the longitudinal members comprise a set of mounting provisions distributed substantially along the entire lengths thereof and configured for removable attachment of a first battery pack dimensioned longitudinally to occupy substantially the entire longitudinal space of the battery pack bay, the first battery pack being removably attached to the respective longitudinal members at a first sub-set of the mounting provisions, the closeout structure removably attached to the respective longitudinal members at a second subset of the mounting provisions.

7. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel longitudinal members comprise rocker assemblies.

8. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first battery pack is positioned between the spaced apart longitudinal members fully forward in the longitudinal space of the battery pack bay, and the closeout structure is positioned between the spaced apart longitudinal members and between the one longitudinal end of the first battery pack and the predefined rear limit.

9. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first battery pack is positioned between the spaced apart longitudinal members fully rearward in the longitudinal space of the battery pack bay, and the closeout structure is positioned between the spaced apart longitudinal members and between the one longitudinal end of the first battery pack and the predefined front limit.

10. The battery electric vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the first battery pack is positioned between the spaced apart longitudinal members intermediate in the longitudinal space of the battery pack bay, and the closeout structure is positioned between the spaced apart longitudinal members and between the other end of the first battery pack and the other of the predefined front and rear limits opposing the other end of the first battery pack.

11. A method for configuring a battery electric vehicle, comprising:
providing a vehicle structure comprising a battery pack bay beneath a floor pan of the vehicle, including predefined front and rear limits defining an available longitudinal space of the battery pack bay and an available lateral space between a pair of spaced apart longitudinal members;
selectively assembling the vehicle in one of a first configuration and a second configuration;
wherein assembling the vehicle in the first configuration comprises installing a first battery pack to the spaced apart longitudinal members, the first battery pack being dimensioned to occupy substantially the entire available longitudinal space of the battery pack bay; and
wherein assembling the vehicle in the second configuration comprises installing a second battery pack to the spaced apart longitudinal members, the second battery pack being dimensioned to occupy less than the entire available longitudinal space of the battery pack bay, installing a first closeout structure to the spaced apart longitudinal members and to one longitudinal end of the second battery pack, and extending the first closeout structure substantially to the one of the predefined front and rear limits opposing the one longitudinal end of the second battery pack.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein installing the first and second battery packs comprises removably installing the battery packs.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein assembling the vehicle in the second configuration comprises installing the second battery pack between the spaced apart longitudinal members fully forward in the longitudinal space of the battery pack bay, and installing the first closeout structure between the spaced apart longitudinal members and between the one longitudinal end of the second battery pack and the predefined rear limit.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein assembling the vehicle in the second configuration comprises installing the second battery pack between the spaced apart longitudinal members fully rearward in the longitudinal space of the battery pack bay, and installing the first closeout structure between the spaced apart longitudinal members and between the one longitudinal end of the second battery pack and the predefined front limit.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein assembling the vehicle in the second configuration comprises installing the second battery pack between the spaced apart longitudinal members intermediate in the longitudinal space of the battery pack bay, and installing a second closeout structure between the spaced apart longitudinal members and between the other end of the second battery pack and the other of the predefined front and rear limits opposing the other end of the second battery pack.

16. A battery electric vehicle, comprising:
a pair of spaced apart and substantially parallel longitudinal members;
a floor pan coupled to and above at least a portion of the longitudinal members, wherein a battery pack bay is defined below the floor pan, laterally between the longitudinal members and longitudinally between predefined front and rear limits;
the longitudinal members comprising a set of mounting provisions distributed substantially along the entire lengths thereof and configured to receive fasteners to removably secure one of a first battery pack or a combination of a second battery pack and a closeout structure, the first battery pack dimensioned to occupy substantially the entire longitudinal space of the battery pack bay between the front and rear limits, the second battery pack dimensioned to occupy less than the entire available longitudinal space of the battery pack bay between one of the front and rear limits and a longitudinal position intermediate the front and rear limits, and the closeout structure dimensioned to cover at least a majority of the battery pack bay between the intermediate longitudinal

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• White Andrew W
• Swartzell Terry A
• Saari David A
• Kriete Charles N

Classifications

• H01M50/20 Primary

  Mountings; Secondary casings or frames; Racks, modules or packs; Suspension devices; Shock absorbers; Transport or carrying devices; Holders (structural combination of accumulators with charging apparatus H01M10/46) · CPC title

• B60K2001/0438

  Arrangement under the floor · CPC title

• B60K1/04 Primary

  of the electric storage means for propulsion · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

  Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries · CPC title

• H01M50/258

  Modular batteries; Casings provided with means for assembling · CPC title