The Future of Electric Car Batteries: A Cool Change

The car world is going electric, and that means we need better batteries. Castrol, the famous oil brand, and Virtual Vehicle Research, a top car research center, joined forces to make super-fast charging happen. They looked at two ways to cool batteries: indirect cooling with water-glycol and immersion cooling. The research was part-funded by the COMET K2 Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies.

Indirect cooling with water-glycol is the main way to cool electric car batteries right now. It’s like the cooling system used in regular cars, but immersion cooling is getting popular. It’s better for fast charging and high-end electric cars.

Most batteries today use water-glycol coolants in channels to control the temperature. But Castrol made a special fluid for immersion cooling. It’s great at managing heat and protecting the battery in different conditions, like really hot or really cold weather.

People used to think that immersion fluids were thicker than water-glycol, but Castrol made a new fluid that’s just as thin as water-glycol. This means less power is needed to cool the battery, making it more efficient.

The research in Graz looked at the best way to cool the battery cells. They also checked if it’s better to have more cooling area with less effective fluid, or less cooling area with better fluid. They even studied how the cooling affects the battery’s electrical performance and aging, and if the fluid’s flashpoint affects safety.

To test this, they made mini battery modules with seven cells and cooled them with both methods. The immersion-cooled module did better in fast-charging tests, keeping the cells cooler. It also had higher capacity and lower degradation, even with more stress.

They also did safety tests. The indirect cooling module caught fire, but the immersion-cooled one didn’t. The special fluid helps manage heat and prevents fires, making it safer.

In the end, the research shows that immersion cooling with Castrol’s special fluid is the way to go. It’s better at fast charging, keeps the battery cooler, and is safer. And it doesn’t sacrifice capacity. Castrol is working hard to make sure electric cars have the best batteries and power systems.