Air conditioned RAN

[prasadtakkar]

https://www.teslarati.com/rivian-pa...Lx3xXrrfOinb2rx2YRuHKwjNITk2E&mibextid=tejx2t

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[atebit]

4) Wipe Hands On Pants

 

[COdogman]

It’s an interesting idea, but there are so many factors I am skeptical of how well this would work in practice. If it’s 90+ degrees outside and humid I doubt the cold air would make it very far under the truck to help with battery temp…

 

[Riviot]

 

[Dark-Fx]

It’s an interesting idea, but there are so many factors I am skeptical of how well this would work in practice. If it’s 90+ degrees outside and humid I doubt the cold air would make it very far under the truck to help with battery temp…

On a vehicle like Aptera, it could be enormously helpful since they depend on skin cooling for the battery.

 

[COdogman]

On a vehicle like Aptera, it could be enormously helpful since they depend on skin cooling for the battery.

True. Unfortunately we’ll never know for sure because Aptera is the Canoo of fuselage shaped EVs.

 

[Speedrye]

Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't appear this is just blowing air under the truck. Figure 7 shows a pretty defined inlet and exhaust around the battery from the ventilation system. Surely that wouldn't just be air intakes to the outside air, right? Are you supposed to connect an air hose as well as the regular charger? Is the ventilation system the indoor cabin system, or some other system? So many questions...

 

[prasadtakkar]

Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't appear this is just blowing air under the truck. Figure 7 shows a pretty defined inlet and exhaust around the battery from the ventilation system. Surely that wouldn't just be air intakes to the outside air, right? Are you supposed to connect an air hose as well as the regular charger? Is the ventilation system the indoor cabin system, or some other system? So many questions...

I guess as it gets closer to production we will learn more.

 

[COdogman]

Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't appear this is just blowing air under the truck. Figure 7 shows a pretty defined inlet and exhaust around the battery from the ventilation system. Surely that wouldn't just be air intakes to the outside air, right? Are you supposed to connect an air hose as well as the regular charger? Is the ventilation system the indoor cabin system, or some other system? So many questions...

Obviously the info in that blog post didn’t come from Rivian (maybe it’s in the actual patent filing?), but it does say it’s blowing the air under your truck.

Best of all, this system could easily integrate into any of Rivian’s current vehicles because it requires no physical alteration of the battery temperature management system. As seen in the diagram below, the vehicle’s battery management system would work to maintain the battery’s internal temp, but instead of taking in only outside air, the air being pushed underneath the truck would be pre-conditioned by the charger.

Do the air vents/ shutters on the front of the truck lead to the battery? Maybe as you said there would be a way to direct that cooled air through there to accomplish what they are trying to do.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Okay, maybe I'm missing something, but it doesn't appear this is just blowing air under the truck. Figure 7 shows a pretty defined inlet and exhaust around the battery from the ventilation system. Surely that wouldn't just be air intakes to the outside air, right? Are you supposed to connect an air hose as well as the regular charger? Is the ventilation system the indoor cabin system, or some other system? So many questions...

I didn't look at the rest of the patent but the photo on teslarati shows both a "remote airflow station" and a separate "remote coolant flow station". I'm guessing the patent is just covering their bases on different ways of doing the same task. A battery could be air cooled or it could be liquid cooled. You could have an industrial sized liquid coolant chiller that would be way more capable of heat load exchange than you'd want on a vehicle that doesn't need to exchange as much heat under standard operation.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I didn't look at the rest of the patent but the photo on teslarati shows both a "remote airflow station" and a separate "remote coolant flow station". I'm guessing the patent is just covering their bases on different ways of doing the same task. A battery could be air cooled or it could be liquid cooled. You could have an industrial sized liquid coolant chiller that would be way more capable of heat load exchange than you'd want on a vehicle that doesn't need to exchange as much heat under standard operation.

From the actual patent document:

ABSTRACT
A charging station assembly capable of generating and delivering a conditioned airflow while charging a battery of a vehicle. The temperature and flow rate of this conditioned airflow may be controlled based on the ambient conditions and battery status. The conditioned airflow may be directed toward an outside heat exchanger of a refrigerant system of the vehicle to enhance capacity. The conditioned airflow may also be routed to a battery pack for direct cooling or heating through additional ventilation system. In hot ambient conditions, the charging station provides cool air to facilitate battery cooling. In cold ambient conditions, the charging station provides hot air to facilitate battery heating. This charging station assembly shifts the load from the vehicle refrigerant system to the charging system, thereby improving battery thermal management capability, while eliminating the need for an oversized refrigerant system.

Maybe this is why the RAN stations are all sideways, to leave room for these units.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

Seems like you would want some kind of cowl or duct to direct the air where you want it to go…. Or a charging station attendant plugging in coolant hoses

 

[atebit]

Or a charging station attendant plugging in coolant hoses

‘Dose was the days, E-dit’

 

[jollyroger]

‘Dose was the days, E-dit’

I just had to find that comercial lol:

 

[prasadtakkar]

I just had to find that comercial lol:

Awesome!

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