PI: Ken Goodson, Department of Mechanical Engineering
This project is focused on the design, optimization and development of a passive heat pipe for aggressive thermal management of fast charging cables and batteries for electric vehicles. Existing charging stations operate at relatively low currents (<500 A) and power delivery rates due to the temperature rise within the components of the charging system due to electrical self-heating. To achieve charging times of a few minutes, the charging levels must be increased to >1500 amps and > 1500 volts, which will require improved and extensive electrical, thermal and mechanical redesign and optimizations. The proposed technology will substantially improve the charging performance metrics of these systems. It will reduce the weight of the cable and the energy overhead and the cost and design complexity of the charging station while significantly improving the overall reliability.
