High voltage electrical system for battery electric vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11279243-B1
Application number	US-202117403179-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 16, 2021
Priority date	Nov 30, 2020
Publication date	Mar 22, 2022
Grant date	Mar 22, 2022

Abstract

Connection and control concepts for battery packs in a high voltage battery assembly are provided. Parallel, modular configurations permit improved safety, voltage balancing, and redundancy, improving operation and reliability of an associated high voltage electrical vehicle such as a heavy-duty truck.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A high voltage (HV) electrical system for a vehicle, the HV electrical system comprising:
a front distribution box having at least one front positive HV connector and at least one front negative HV connector;
a rear distribution box having at least one rear positive HV connector and at least one rear negative HV connector; and
a battery pack assembly comprising at least one battery pack, wherein the battery pack assembly comprises at least two pack positive HV connectors and at least two pack negative HV connectors,
wherein the front distribution box, the battery pack assembly, and the rear distribution box are electrically coupled in parallel,
wherein the front positive HV connector is directly coupled to a first of the at least two pack positive HV connectors,
wherein a second of the at least two pack positive HV connectors is directly coupled to the rear positive HV connector,
wherein the rear negative HV connector is directly coupled to a first of the at least two pack negative HV connectors, and
wherein a second of the at least two pack negative HV connectors is directly coupled to the front negative HV connector.

2. The HV electrical system of claim 1 , wherein the battery pack assembly comprises multiple battery packs, and wherein each of the multiple battery packs are electrically coupled in parallel with one another.

3. The HV electrical system of claim 1 ,
wherein the battery pack assembly comprises a first battery pack, a second battery pack, and a third battery pack,
wherein each of the first, second, and third battery packs has a first positive HV connector, a second positive HV connector, a first negative HV connector, and a second negative HV connector,
wherein the front positive HV connector is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the first battery pack, the second positive HV connector of the first battery pack is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the second battery pack, the second positive HV connector of the second battery pack is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the third battery pack, and the second positive HV connector of the third battery pack is directly coupled to the rear positive HV connector, and
wherein the rear negative HV connector is directly coupled to the first HV negative connector of the first battery pack, the second negative HV connector of the first battery pack is directly coupled to the first negative HV connector of the second battery pack, the second negative HV connector of the second battery pack is directly coupled to the first negative HV connector of the third battery pack, and the second negative HV connector of the third battery pack is directly coupled to the front negative HV connector.

4. The HV electrical system of claim 3 ,
wherein the front distribution box comprises a second front positive HV connector and a second front HV negative connector, and wherein the rear distribution box comprises a second rear positive HV connector and a second rear negative HV connector,
wherein the battery pack assembly comprises a fourth battery pack, a fifth battery pack, and a sixth battery pack,
wherein each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth battery packs has first positive HV connector, a second positive HV connector, a first negative HV connector, and a second negative HV connector,
wherein the second front positive HV connector is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the fourth battery pack, the second positive HV connector of the fourth battery pack is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the fifth battery pack, the second positive HV connector of the fifth battery pack is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the sixth battery pack, and the second positive HV connector of the sixth battery pack is directly coupled to the second rear positive HV connector, and
wherein the second rear negative HV connector is directly coupled to the first negative HV connector of the fourth battery pack, the second negative HV connector of the fourth battery pack is directly coupled to the first negative HV connector of the fifth battery pack, the second negative HV connector of the fifth battery pack is directly coupled to the first negative HV connector of the sixth battery pack, and the second negative HV connector of the sixth battery pack is directly coupled to the second front negative HV connector.

5. The HV electrical system of claim 4 ,
wherein the front distribution box comprises a third front positive HV connector and a third front negative HV connector,
wherein the rear distribution box comprises a third rear positive HV connector and a third rear negative HV connector;
wherein the battery pack assembly comprises a seventh battery pack, an eighth battery pack, and a ninth battery pack,
wherein each of the seventh, eighth, and ninth battery packs has a first positive HV connector, a second positive HV connector, a first negative HV connector, and a second negative HV connector,
wherein the third front positive HV connector is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the seventh battery pack, the second positive HV connector of the seventh battery pack is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the eighth battery pack, the second positive HV connector of the eighth battery pack is directly coupled to the first positive HV connector of the ninth battery pack, and the second positive HV connector of the ninth battery pack is directly coupled to the third rear positive HV connector, and
wherein the third rear negative HV connector is directly coupled to the first negative HV connector of the seventh battery pack, the second negative HV connector of the first battery pack is directly coupled to the first negative HV connector of the eighth battery pack, the second negative HV connector of the eighth battery pack is directly coupled to the first negative HV connector of the ninth battery pack, and the second negative HV connector of the ninth battery pack is directly coupled to the third front negative HV connector.

6. The HV electrical system of claim 1 ,
wherein the battery assembly further comprises at least one battery sub-assembly, each sub-assembly comprising multiple battery packs,
wherein the front distribution box comprises a number of front positive HV connectors equal to the number of sub-assemblies and further comprises a number of front negative HV connectors equal to the number of sub-assemblies,
wherein the rear distribution box comprises a number of rear positive HV connectors equal to the number of sub-assemblies and further comprises a number of rear negative HV connectors equal to the number of sub-assemblies, and
wherein the front distribution box is electrically coupled to each of the sub-assemblies in parallel via a respective front positive HV connector and a respective front negative HV connector, and wherein the rear distribution box is electrically coupled to each sub-assembly in parallel via a respective rear positive HV connector and a respective rear negative HV connector.

7. The HV electrical system of claim 6 , wherein each of the sub-assemblies comprises at least three battery packs.

8. The HV electrical system of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one battery packs comprises:
a plurality of battery modules, wherein a first module assembly comprises a first half of the plurality of battery modules and a second module assembly comprises a second half of the plurality of battery modules, and wherein the first module assembly is electrically coupled to the second module assembly; and
a circuit breaking system electrically coupled to the first module assembly and the second module assembly such that, resp

Assignees

• Nikola Corp

Inventors

• Ashraf Umran
• Corona Michael
• Mclemore T Neil
• Sarkissian Varoujan

Classifications

• H02J7/82

  Control of state of charge [SOC] · CPC title

• H02J7/60

  including safety or protection arrangements · CPC title

• H02J7/54

  Passive balancing, e.g. using resistors or parallel MOSFETs · CPC title

• B60L2240/549

  Current · CPC title

• B60L2240/547

  Voltage · CPC title