Module - Battery Design

A common grouping of cells that can be built as a sub-assembly and be replicated many times to form a total battery pack. Normally this will include:

Cells in series and parallel
Electrical interconnects between cells
Voltage sense harness
Temperature sensors
Local control board for sensing
Mechanical system to hold all of the cells – for pouch and prismatic cells the module will need to apply pressure over the lifetime of the cells to support their operation.
Heating/cooling interface

Module Manufacturers

The move towards larger modules and now cell to pack design is changing how modules are viewed by the large vehicle OEMs. However, in most other industries a robust modular based battery pack design has benefits that are difficult to give up. One area is servicing where a common building block can significantly reduce the overall cost.

Modules in the 2019 Porsche Taycan

Thermal Interface Materials

A key aspect of the thermal design is the connection between the cell and the cooling system. The interface between a hard cased cell and a cooling plate will need some form of thermal interface material that can connect the two.

It is really important that this material maintains that thermal interface over the lifetime of the product.

Digital Twin of a Battery Module

The capacity and resistance differences of cells amplify the inhomogeneity at a system level and results in accelerated aging and degradation.

For the module design, where many cells are in parallel, the BMS typically does not have access to individual cell currents and temperatures.

We aim to predict current, state of health and temperature of each cell in the module (or pack) via modelling the interaction between cell and busbar and weld quality.