SELF-sustained and Smart Battery Thermal Management SolutIon for Battery Electric Vehicles

Strong efforts would be required to drastically reduce the fossil dependency and the CO2 emissions reductions in the transport sector, in line with the 2011 White paper on Transport – i.e. a 20% reduction in the CO2 emissions by 2030 (relative to 2008 levels) and a 60% reduction by 2050 (relative to 1990 levels).

Electrification of the transport sector offers EU the opportunity to achieve these long term targets. The larger automotive industry have recognized the potential of electric vehicles (EVs) and there are large strides planned in building electric charging infrastructure – as announced by E.ON and Ionity about their investment plans for ultra-fast charging infrastructure. Right now, there’s no EV that can accept this charge rate, but several automakers are working on electric cars able to accept that kind of power. SELFIE makes its biggest impact here, ensuring that the EVs, in the not so distant future, are able to accept this high charge rate without reduction on battery lifetime, and to store the energy efficiently in their batteries with minimal losses.

The overall objective is to develop and demonstrate a novel self-sustained compact battery system, consisting of:

• A smart modular battery pack, which has excellent internal thermal conductivity properties, a refrigerant cooling system and thermal storage system (heat buffer) capable to absorb excess heat due to fast charging, and which is thoroughly insulated from the outside;
• An advanced battery thermal management system capable to keep the battery temperature effectively within the optimal window and to prevent overheating (and battery degradation) due to fast charging.

SELFIE will significantly increase user acceptance of EVs by enabling fast-charging; offering significant cost reductions and elimination of range anxiety compared to other propulsion technologies.