- Dad or mum firm of Dodge, Ram, Jeep envisions an exhaust system for EVs
- Would determine battery thermal runaway, may assist forestall ensuing hearth by treating gases
- Dodge Charger Daytona EV already makes the sound of an ICE exhaust system
Exhaust methods take away the byproducts of inside combustion, so they could appear superfluous in electrical automobiles. However Stellantis would possibly disagree with that.
On Jan. 16, america Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) printed a patent submitting from the automaker (initially filed in 2023) for an electrical car exhaust system that, Stellantis claims, may assist forestall EV battery fires—or management the extent of their harm.
When batteries overheat—or expertise thermal runaway, in engineering parlance—they will launch flammable gases that then ignite within the presence of the excessive temperatures generated by the overheating batteries, Stellantis explains within the doc. These gases can embody hydrogen, in addition to hydrocarbons like methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propane, cyclopropane, and butane, in line with the automaker.
Stellantis EV exhaust system patent picture
Eradicating these gases may forestall thermal runaway from escalating into fires, the automaker causes, in addition to vent strain from the battery pack. With Stellantis’ 4 new modular STLA platforms designed to accommodate combustion engines and their exhaust methods, in addition to all-electric powertrains, there is definitely room for the required plumbing.
Stellantis even designed an exhaust system of types for the Dodge Charger Daytona EV, to reproduce the V-8 rumble of previous Chargers—though that system is completely meant for sound and vibration.
Within the battery exhaust system, gases and they’d go by means of “a plurality of therapy zones for chemically treating the movement of gases to get rid of or not less than cut back the variety of numerous chemical species from the movement,” Stellantis says within the submitting—bringing to thoughts some similarities to the catalytic converters utilized in combustion automobiles.
Stellantis EV exhaust system patent picture
Trendy batteries in most EVs are rigidly managed by way of battery administration system parameters. They’re additionally tightly sealed, with liquid cooling methods, and monitored on the module or cell stage in a manner that may isolate a faulty portion of the pack. So whereas it is shocking to see an automaker specializing in an final result that its engineers have possible gone to nice lengths to keep away from, this is not the one uncommon resolution proposed for lessening the chance of EV battery fires. In 2019 the automotive provider Bosch proposed utilizing pyrotechnics to rapidly sever electrical connections between battery pack and the remainder of the car if thermal runaway happens. Both resolution could be extra about containing harm, and probably making automobiles safer for first responders to strategy, than forestall runaways within the first place.
Fireplace threat has led to a number of massive EV recollects, however in 2023 the Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security (IIHS) stated that, as a security concern, it is outweighed (no pun meant) by the bulk of many present EVs and the harm they will inflict on different street customers.
