RELATED FIELD

[0001] This invention claims the priority of the Chinese patent application 202110818244.0 filed on July 20, 2021, of which the content (Text, Drawings and Claims) is incorporated by reference

[0002] The present application generally relates to the technical field of vehicles, and more particularly, to a high-voltage battery pack and a vehicle having the same.

BACKGROUND

[0003] A power battery pack is the only high-voltage electric energy storage and supply system in a pure electric vehicle. Through internal electrochemical reaction and electrical control, the power battery pack stores the energy of the power grid or the on-board energy recovery system, and provides electric energy to the electric drive system of the whole vehicle and other electrical systems.

[0004] In the existing design, the power battery pack is bulky and heavy, and it is pretty hard to find a perfect installation space therefor on the vehicle. For the layout of the power battery pack, the following points need to be considered: there should be as many batteries as possible in a limited space, so as to achieve a longer cruising range with a lower frequency of charging; the influence of the position of the power battery pack on the safety performance of the vehicle should be fully considered, and especially in extreme cases such as collision, rollover, and drop, whether the power battery pack will catch fire and explode due to large acceleration or severe compression deformation, or whether parts of the battery pack will enter the passenger compartment and cause additional injury should be fully considered; the influence of the weight and shape of the power battery pack on the service life of the whole vehicle structure should be fully considered, because the weight of the power battery pack will bring a lot of static and dynamic loads to the chassis and suspension of the vehicle, and under long-term vibration and impact, these static and dynamic loads easily cause fatigue damage to the mechanical parts of the vehicle; the heat dissipation conditions of the power battery pack should be fully considered, and especially under high temperature and high electrical load working conditions, the power battery pack will generate a lot of heat, and if the heat dissipation conditions are not ideal, or if the power battery pack is close to the heat source, the service life of the power battery pack will decrease sharply; the installation position of the power battery pack in the vehicle will also affect the distribution of axle load and the center of gravity of the vehicle, which in turn affects the ride experience and comfort of the vehicle.

[0005] It can be seen that the design of the power battery pack needs to comprehensively consider a variety of factors. For the power battery pack in the existing design, stamped steel plates are generally used to form the housing of the battery pack by laser welding, which has the disadvantage of insufficient strength. In addition, the electrical connector and the liquid connector are generally provided in the same area, which may result in excessively long external wiring harness of the battery pack housing and further introduce the step of positioning the external wiring harness on the vehicle body. Furthermore, the battery pack generally adopts a cooling plate of a harmonica-tube-like structure, and the cooling plate is an ultra-large or ultra-small stamped plate, which is not conducive to improving the cooling efficiency and reducing the cost.

[0006] What is described in this Background section should not be considered as prior art by virtue of being mentioned in this Background section or being related to the background art.

SUMMARY

[0007] An object of the present application is to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art, and to propose a high-voltage battery pack and a vehicle having the same, wherein housing design, battery module layout, wiring harness arrangement, and cooling system design of the high-voltage battery pack aim to provide a power battery pack that is safe and robust in any adverse situation.

[0008] According to a first aspect of the present application, a high-voltage battery pack is proposed, which includes: a housing, multiple sets of battery modules, a wiring harness and a cooling system; wherein the housing includes an accommodating portion and a cover portion, the accommodating portion is connected with the cover portion to form a front chamber and a rear chamber, the front chamber is used for placing the battery modules arranged in a single layer, and the rear chamber is used for placing the battery modules arranged in two layers; the housing has a narrowing transition portion from rear to front along its length direction, and the narrowing transition portion defines the boundary between the front chamber and the rear chamber; and the accommodating portion is defined by a side wall and a bottom plate, a support beam is arranged in the accommodating portion, the support beam abuts against the side wall along the width direction of the housing, and an end of the support beam abutting against the side wall is provided with a buffer support structure.

[0009] According to the above technical concept, the present application may further include one or more of the following optional forms.

[0010] In some optional forms, the support beam includes a first support beam and a second support beam, the first support beam is located in the front chamber, the second support beam abuts against the narrowing transition portion, and the second support beam has the buffer support structure adapted to the shape of the narrowing transition portion.

[0011] In some optional forms, the first support beam is provided with a support member protruding toward the cover portion.

[0012] In some optional forms, the side wall, the bottom plate and the support beam are made of aluminum; and the side wall, the bottom plate and the support beam are connected by welding.

[0013] In some optional forms, the side wall includes a front side wall and a rear side wall, the front side wall is provided with a motor drive connector and a liquid connector, and the rear side wall is provided with a charging connector. Arranging the motor drive connector and the charging connector in different positions of the housing allows reducing the consumption of the external wiring harness of the battery pack.

[0014] In some optional forms, the high-voltage battery pack further includes a power distribution box, and the power distribution box is adjacent to the motor drive connector; the wiring harness includes a low-voltage wiring harness and a high-voltage wiring harness, and the high-voltage wiring harness includes a busbar connecting the charging connector with the power distribution box.

[0015] In some optional forms, the cooling system includes multiple cooling plates, an liquid inlet pipe and an liquid outlet pipe, the number of the cooling plates corresponds to the number of sets of the battery modules, each cooling plate is arranged below a corresponding set of battery modules, and each cooling plate is provided with an inlet connected to the liquid inlet pipe and an outlet connected to the liquid outlet pipe to provide flows in the same direction within the multiple cooling plates. The cooling system in the high-voltage battery pack of the present application provides one cooling plate for each set of battery modules, and coolants in the multiple cooling plates have the same flow direction, so that the cooling system has uniform temperature distribution and high cooling efficiency.

[0016] In some optional forms, the side wall is provided with the liquid connector, and the liquid inlet pipe and the liquid outlet pipe are both connected with the liquid connector.

[0017] In some optional forms, an exhaust hole is provided on a rear side of the cover portion, and the cover portion is provided with multiple reinforcing portions.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present application, a vehicle including a drive motor, a charging port and a power battery pack is further provided, wherein the power battery pack is the high-voltage battery pack according to the first aspect of the present application.

[0019] The high-voltage battery pack of the present application is used for renewable energy vehicles. Considering the influence of the high-voltage battery pack on the interior space and center of gravity of the vehicle, the housing is in a design of different heights and has multiple buffer structures therein, ensuring the safety of the battery modules.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Other features and advantages of the present application will be readily understood through the following preferred embodiments described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals indicate the same or similar components.

[0021] FIG. 1 shows a front perspective view of a high-voltage battery pack according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] FIG. 2 shows a rear perspective view of the high-voltage battery pack in FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 3 shows a top perspective view of an accommodating portion of a housing of the high-voltage battery pack;

[0024] FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 at the A-A cross-section; [0025] FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of the housing of the high-voltage battery pack;

[0026] FIG. 6a shows a perspective view of a first support beam, and FIG. 6b shows a perspective view of a second support beam;

[0027] FIG. 7a shows a schematic view of the layout of the battery modules that are not placed in the accommodating portion of the housing, and FIG. 7b shows a schematic view of the battery modules that are already placed in the accommodating portion of the housing;

[0028] FIG. 8a shows a perspective view of the arrangement of the battery modules and the wiring harness in the high-voltage battery pack, and FIG. 8b shows a top view of the arrangement of the battery modules and the wiring harness in the high-voltage battery pack;

[0029] FIG. 9a shows a perspective view of the arrangement of the battery modules and a low-voltage wiring harness, and FIG. 9b shows a perspective view of the arrangement of the battery modules and a high-voltage wiring harness; and

[0030] FIG. 10a shows a perspective view of a cooling system viewed from one perspective, and FIG. 10b shows a perspective view of the cooling system viewed from another perspective.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The implementation and usage of the embodiments are discussed in detail below in conjunction with the drawings. However, it is conceivable that the specific embodiments discussed herein are merely intended to illustrate specific ways of implementing and using the present application, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. When describing structures and positions of components, the direction-related expressions herein, such as "front", "rear", "left", "right", "upper", "lower", "top", and "bottom", are not absolute, but relative. When the components are arranged as shown in the drawings, these direction- related expressions are appropriate, but when the positions of these components in the drawings are altered, these direction-related expressions should be altered accordingly.

[0032] In the present application, the length direction and the width direction are perpendicular to each other in the horizontal direction, and the height direction is in the vertical direction. In addition, the "front" and "rear" are distinguished in the length direction of the high-voltage battery pack.

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7a-7b, 9a-9b, and lOa-lOb, a high-voltage battery pack 10 includes a housing 11, multiple sets of battery modules 12, a wiring harness 13 and a cooling system 14. The housing 11 includes an accommodating portion 111 and a cover portion 112, the accommodating part 111 is connected with the cover portion 112 to form a front chamber 1101 and a rear chamber 1102, and the front chamber 1101 and the rear chamber 1102 together form an accommodation chamber with a continuous space of the high- voltage battery pack 10. Referring to FIG. 7b, the front chamber 1101 is used for placing the battery modules arranged in a single layer, and the rear chamber 1102 is used for placing the battery modules arranged in two layers. Therefore, in the height direction of the high-voltage battery pack, the rear chamber 1102 is higher than the front chamber 1101. Further, the housing 11 has a narrowing transition portion 113 narrowing from rear to front along its length direction (as shown in FIGS. 1 to 2), and the narrowing transition portion 113 defines the boundary between the front chamber 1101 and the rear chamber 1102. Therefore, in the width direction of the high voltage battery pack, the rear chamber 1102 is wider than the front chamber 1101. It can be seen that the high-voltage battery pack 10 has a special shape design to adapt to the limitation of installation space and to ensure that as many battery modules as possible are arranged in the limited space.

[0034] Further, with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, the accommodating portion 111 of the housing 11 is defined by a side wall 1112 and a bottom plate 1114. The side wall 1112 includes a front side wall 1112a, a left side wall 1112b, a rear side wall 1112c and a right side wall 1112d which are connected end to end. The left side wall 1112b and the right side wall 1112d are provided with bent portions corresponding to the narrowing transition portion 113. For example, the right side wall 1112d is provided with a bent portion 1110 (shown in FIG. 5). Further, in an optional embodiment, the left side wall 1112b and the right side wall 1112d are configured as hollow structures with reinforcing ribs arranged inside, which can not only reduce the weight but also provide the required strength. When the high-voltage battery pack is impacted in the width direction, the deformation of the left side wall 1112b and the right side wall 1112d will absorb part of the impact energy and protect the battery modules inside the housing. Further, the housing 11 is also provided with connecting beams 114 which are respectively located on the left and right sides of the accommodating portion 111, and are respectively connected with the left side wall 1112b and the right side wall 1112d. Further optionally, the position and number of the connecting beams 114 on the same side are determined according to the weight distribution of the high-voltage battery pack 10 in the length direction thereof. By providing the connecting beams 114, the high-voltage battery pack 10 can be attached to a lower body (not shown) of the vehicle.

[0035] In order to ensure the overall strength of the high-voltage battery pack 10, a support beam 115 is provided in the accommodating portion 111. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5, in order to adapt to the shape of the accommodating portion 111, the support beam 115 includes a first support beam 1151 and a second support beam 1152 arranged along the width direction of the housing 11 and abutting against the side wall 1112. The first support beam 1151 is located in the front chamber 1101, and the second support beam 1152 is located in the rear chamber 1102 and abuts against the narrowing transition portion 113. Further, the second support beam 1152 abuts against the bent portions of the left side wall 1112b and the right side wall 1112d. Therefore, the first support beam 1151 and the second support beam 1152 provide strong support in the width direction of the housing 11. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7b, the spacing between the first support beam 1151 and the second support beam 1152 and the spacing between the second support beam 1152 and the rear side wall 1112c are adapted to the layout of the multiple sets of battery modules 12. Each set of battery modules is defined in the space enclosed by one support beam 115 and the side wall 1112 or by two support beams 115 and the side wall 1112. Therefore, the position and number of the support beams 115 can be adjusted according to the number of sets of battery modules.

[0036] In an optional embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6a to 6b, a first buffer support structure 1150a and a second buffer support structure 1150b are respectively provided at the ends of the first support beam 1151 and the second support beam 1152 abutting against the side wall 1112. The first buffer support structure 1150a and the second buffer support structure 1150b respectively have enlarged cross-sections relative to other parts of the first support beam 1151 and the second support beam 1152, so as to ensure that the parts of the first support beam 1151 and the second support beam 1152 abutting against the side wall 1112 have a larger contact area to disperse the external force exerted on the side wall 1112 of the housing 11. Further, the first buffer support structure 1150a and the second buffer support structure 1150b each have a collapsible structure (for example, a hollow structure). The first buffer support structure 1150a and the second buffer support structure 1150b can be used to absorb tolerances and to buffer impacts on the sides of housing 11. To be specific, the first buffer support structure 1150a and the second buffer support structure 1150b absorb external force exerted thereon through deformation. It is worth noting that the shape of the second buffer support structure 1150b matches the shape of the narrowing transition portion 113, and more specifically, the surface of the second buffer support structure 1150b in contact with the bent portion of the side wall 1112 has a substantially arc shape.

[0037] In an optional embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the bottom plate 1114 of the accommodating portion 111 includes a first layer of the bottom plate 1114a and a second layer of the bottom plate 1114b, wherein the first layer of the bottom plate 1114a is formed by welding multiple plates and forms the bottom of the accommodating portion 111. With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the second layer of the bottom plate 1114b is located above the first layer of the bottom plate 1114a and located in the rear chamber 1102, and the second layer of the bottom plate 1114b and the first layer of the bottom plate 1114a below provide support for each layer of battery modules from the battery modules arranged in two layers.

[0038] In an optional embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the first support beam 1151 located in the front chamber 1101 is provided with a support member 116 protruding toward the cover portion 112 of the housing 11. FIG. 6a shows a first support beam 1151 without the support member. The support member 116 can be connected with the first support beam 1151 by screws so as to provide a space for wiring harnesses in the height direction of the housing 11 between the first support beam 1151 and the cover portion 112, and further in the front chamber 1101 of the housing 11. Besides, the support member 116 has a certain rigidity to protect the battery modules in the height direction of the housing 11.

[0039] According to the above description of the housing 11, the housing 11 is preferably made of aluminum. In particular, at least the accommodating portion 111 of the housing 11 and the support beam 115 arranged therein are made of aluminum, and the side wall 1112 and the bottom plate 1114 of the accommodating portion 111 are connected by welding, preferably, by friction stir welding (FSW welding) or melt inert-gas welding (MIG welding), so as to achieve lighter mass with higher mechanical strength.

[0040] As described above, the side wall 1112 of the accommodating portion 111 includes the front side wall 1112a, the left side wall 1112b, the rear side wall 1112c and the right side wall 1112d. With reference to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the front side wall 1112a is provided with a motor drive connector 15 and a liquid connector 16, and the rear side wall 1112c is provided with a charging connector 17. It is worth noting that the motor drive connector 15 and the charging connector 17 are located on opposite sides of the housing 11, and with this arrangement, the length of the external wiring harness outside the housing 11 is reduced. In the existing design, the motor drive connector and the charging connector are generally located in the same area of the power battery pack and are adjacent to each other. Generally speaking, when the length direction of the high-voltage battery pack 10 is substantially parallel to the length direction of the vehicle, since the drive motor and the charging port are located at different positions of the vehicle, a long wiring harness bypassing the outside of the high-voltage battery pack 10 will inevitably be used between the drive motor and the motor drive connector, if the charging connector is arranged close to the charging port of the vehicle. In order to avoid the excessively long wiring harness outside the high voltage battery pack 10 and to avoid the additional step for fixing the long external wiring harness, the motor drive connector 15 and the charging connector 17 are arranged, according to the present application, on opposite sides of the high voltage battery pack 10.

[0041] Further, as shown in FIGS. 8a to 8b, the high-voltage battery pack 10 further includes a power distribution box 18 and a battery management system 19 (BMS), wherein the power distribution box 18 and the battery management system 19 have the functions of the power distribution box and the battery management system known from existing designs. Referring to FIGS. 9a to 9b, the power distribution box 18 and the battery management system 19 are both arranged in the front chamber 1101 of the housing 11 and adjacent to the motor drive connector 15. The wiring harness 13 includes a low-voltage wiring harness 131 shown in FIG. 9a and a high-voltage wiring harness 132 shown in FIG. 9b. In particular, the high-voltage wiring harness 132 includes a busbar 1320 connecting the charging connector 17 with the power distribution box 18 to adapt to the arrangement position of the charging connector 17. Compared with the wiring harness bypassing the housing 11 and outside the high-voltage battery pack 10, the busbar 1320 for connecting the charging connector 17 with the power distribution box 18 avoids additional fixing and tangle of the wiring harness, which greatly saves the manufacturing cost of the vehicle.

[0042] As shown in FIGS. 10a to 10b, the high-voltage battery pack 10 further includes a cooling system 14. The cooling system 14 includes multiple cooling plates 141, an liquid inlet pipe 142 and an liquid outlet pipe 143, wherein the number of the cooling plates 141 corresponds to the number of sets of the battery modules 12, each cooling plate 141 is arranged below a corresponding set of battery modules 12, and each cooling plate 141 is provided with an inlet 1411 connected to the liquid inlet pipe 142 and an outlet 1412 connected to the liquid outlet pipe 143 to provide flows in the same direction within the multiple cooling plates 141 and ensure uniformity of liquid flow distribution. As can be seen from the figure, the liquid inlet pipe 142 and the liquid outlet pipe 143 are respectively arranged on two sides inside the housing 11 along the length direction of the housing 11, the inlet 1411 of each cooling plate 141 is located on the side where the liquid inlet pipe 142 is located, and the outlet 1412 of each cooling plate 141 is located on the side where the liquid outlet pipe 143 is located. Such arrangement is helpful to provide uniform temperature distribution inside the housing 11, especially to provide approximately the same liquid temperature at the inlets 1411 of the multiple cooling plates 141, so that the cooling system 14 generally has a higher cooling efficiency. Compared with ultra-large cooling plates, the cooling system 14 of the present application provides a uniform temperature distribution. Compared with ultra-small cooling plates, the cooling system 14 of the present application provides a simple arrangement of the cooling pipeline (including the liquid inlet pipe, the liquid outlet pipe).

[0043] In an optional embodiment, both the liquid inlet pipe 142 and the liquid outlet pipe 143 are connected to the liquid connector 16, and the liquid connector 16 integrates a main liquid supply port and a main liquid discharge port, reducing the risk of air leakage from the housing 11.

[0044] In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 7a to 7b, four sets of battery modules 12 are shown, wherein two sets of battery modules, each set including four battery modules, are arranged in a single layer in the front chamber 1101, and two sets of battery modules, each set including five battery modules, are stacked up-down in the rear chamber 1102. Therefore, the four sets of battery modules provide eighteen battery modules, and four cooling plates are provided for the four sets of battery modules. It should be understood that the number of sets of battery modules and the number of battery modules for each set are not limited thereto in the present application.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 2, an exhaust hole 1120 is provided on a rear side of the cover portion 112 of the housing 11. Multiple exhaust holes 1120 may be provided. An exhaust valve is provided in the housing 11 at a position corresponding to the position of the exhaust hole 1120, so as to discharge the high-temperature gas in the housing 11 from the rear of the high-voltage battery pack 10 in time, and then discharge it from the rear of the vehicle, preventing the high-voltage battery pack 10 from overheating and causing damage to the occupants in the vehicle.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the cover portion 112 of the housing 11 is provided with multiple reinforcing portions, wherein the cover portion 112 is optionally made of steel, and the multiple reinforcing portions are formed by stamping, so as to improve the strength of the cover portion 112. [0047] According to another aspect of the present application, a vehicle (not shown) including a drive motor, a charging port and a power battery pack is further provided, wherein the power battery pack is the high-voltage battery pack 10 according to the above description. The high-voltage battery pack 10 described in this application and arranged in the vehicle has the advantages of simple wiring, safety and reliability.

[0048] It is not difficult to see from the above description that the high-voltage battery pack 10 of the present application has a compact structure and has good adaptability to vehicles. In the high-voltage battery pack 10 of the present application, the design of the housing has high mechanical strength and protection capability, the layout of the wiring harness can greatly reduce the consumption of the external wiring harness of the battery pack, the layout of the cooling system has uniformity of flow and temperature distribution, and the cooling effect is good and the connection of the cooling system is simple.

[0049] It should be understood that the embodiments shown in the figures only illustrate the optional shape, size and arrangement of each optional component of the high-voltage battery pack according to the present application. However, these embodiments are merely intended to illustrate, rather than limit. Other shapes, sizes and arrangements may be adopted without departing from the idea and scope of the present application.

[0050] The technical contents and technical features of the present application have been disclosed above. However, it can be understood that, those skilled in the art can make various changes and improvements to the above-disclosed concept under the creative concept of the present application, and all these various changes and improvements still fall within the protection scope of the present application. The description of the foregoing embodiments is exemplary rather than restrictive, and the protection scope of the present application is determined by the appended claims.