DE102021110546A1 - Commercial vehicle with a battery device with horizontally arranged cylindrical battery cells - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a commercial vehicle (10) which has a battery device (12). The battery device (12) comprises a multiplicity of cylindrical battery cells (16). These cylindrical battery cells (16) are arranged horizontally, so that their longitudinal cylinder axis extends at least essentially parallel to a floor of the utility vehicle (10).

Description

The present invention relates to a utility vehicle with a battery device that includes a large number of individual battery cells. The battery device can, for example, be a traction battery, ie the commercial vehicle can be driven battery-electrically.

The transport sector is currently responsible for a significant proportion of the emitted polluting exhaust gases and CO ₂ emissions. One approach to addressing this problem is to use battery electric vehicles. While there are already practicable solutions in the field of passenger cars, there are greater challenges for commercial vehicles. This is due in particular to the typically higher weight and/or higher performance requirements of commercial vehicles. This entails various problems when using conventional traction batteries in utility vehicles, such as high costs, high weight, long charging times, large installation space requirements and the like.

One approach to meeting these challenges is to increase efficiency. Like in the DE 10 2009 022 300 A1 is described, an increase in the efficiency of an electrical component can, however, be associated with disproportionately high technical and thus cost-intensive effort. Therefore, a vehicle is proposed there that has an energy storage device that is connected to a number of electrically operated components of the vehicle, a heat storage device for temporarily storing thermal energy, and a cooling circuit. At least one of the number of components and the heat accumulator are thermally coupled to the latter during operation and/or standstill of the vehicle. Heat loss occurring in the at least one component during its operation can be dissipated through the cooling circuit and temporarily stored in the heat accumulator for later removal. In this way, a vehicle is to be provided which has improved efficiency in a simpler manner.

Another approach to the realization of a commercial vehicle with a traction battery is in the EP 3 041 063 A2 described. A commercial vehicle is proposed there, which has a traction battery with a battery housing in which several individual cells are arranged which are connected to one another in parallel and/or in series and combined to form a cell assembly. The battery housing is at least partially surrounded on the outside by a foam material for thermal insulation. This is intended to prevent the traction battery from heating up too much in the "Parking" operating state and the resulting aging effects on the battery cells.

In principle, diverse approaches to the realization of traction batteries for vehicles are already known, which, however, can, for example, require considerable production and operating costs, extensive and expensive peripheral components and expensive and complex cooling. For example, WO 3020/200 338 A1 describes a battery cell macro module housing for accommodating a plurality of cylindrical battery cells in an interior space. In this case, a housing shell is provided with two longitudinal walls and two end walls which enclose the interior in a ring shape. The insides of the walls each have a plurality of positioning indentations, each of which is designed for positioning a battery cell perpendicular to the passage plane enclosed by the walls. The inner sides of the walls also have separating elements which are arranged between adjacent positioning indentations and protrude into the interior. The longitudinal walls are longer than the end walls and the positioning indentations in the end walls are at a greater distance from one another than the positioning indentations in the longitudinal walls.

As a further approach, the DE 10 2019 132 687 A1 a power storage battery and a corresponding thermal control element, which aims to provide a solution for thermal control of a two-level battery that is compact and does not penalize the weight of the battery. The thermal control element described there has an intermediate cover arranged between a first and second level of electricity storage cells. This is made of a composite material and has first and second major surfaces facing the first and second planes, respectively. First and second thermal control fluid flow volumes are formed on the first and second major surfaces. The thermal control element further comprises a first thermally conductive plate disposed against the first major surface of the intermediate cover and closing the first flow volume formed on the first major surface, and a second thermally conductive plate disposed against the second major surface of the intermediate cover and on the second major surface formed second flow volume closes.

The object of the present invention is to provide an effective and efficient implementation capability of a battery-electric or battery-electric commercial vehicle.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the subject matter of the independent patent claims. Possible refinements and developments of the present invention are disclosed in the dependent patent claims, in the description and in the figures.

A commercial vehicle according to the invention has a battery device. This battery device can, for example, be or include a traction battery, ie a drive battery of the commercial vehicle, or be part of such a traction battery. For its part, the battery device comprises a multiplicity of cylindrical battery cells, ie round cells. These battery cells are arranged horizontally, so that their longitudinal cylinder axes extend at least essentially parallel to a floor of the utility vehicle. The longitudinal cylinder axes of the battery cells are their axes or axes of symmetry, which extend parallel to a respective lateral cylinder surface and centrally through end faces of the respective battery cell that are perpendicular thereto. These cylinder longitudinal axes are aligned here at least essentially parallel to a plane spanned by a vehicle longitudinal direction and a vehicle transverse direction of the utility vehicle. Depending on the application or implementation, the longitudinal cylinder axes can be aligned at least essentially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle or at least essentially parallel to the transverse direction of the vehicle.

The commercial vehicle according to the invention can in particular be a truck or bus, but in principle any type of battery-powered commercial vehicle. The battery device can preferably be arranged between two axles of the utility vehicle, as a result of which a favorable weight distribution and thus particularly good driving stability of the utility vehicle can be achieved.

More installation space is often available in commercial vehicles than, for example, in conventional passenger cars, so that the installation space situation or packaging requirements with regard to the battery installation in commercial vehicles are less problematic than in battery-electric passenger cars. It may also be easier to meet higher requirements with regard to the energy content of the battery device in commercial vehicles than in passenger cars. This enables greater component standardization of the battery device for the commercial vehicle or for different commercial vehicles, so that, for example, fewer individually adapted special solutions are necessary than, for example, in typically smaller passenger cars. This means that safety components of the battery device can also be integrated more simply or made more robust, for example thermal and/or electrical shielding of adjacent battery cells.

Basically, the present invention enables a reduction in costs and charging times as well as an increase in the performance and safety of battery-electric commercial vehicles by enabling the functional advantages of the concept of the horizontal round cell to be exploited. Reduced charging times also allow shorter ranges and thus lower costs and lower weight to become practicable.

Compared to other cell formats, such as pouch cells or prismatic tents, the proposed use of horizontal cylindrical battery cells in a commercial vehicle offers various advantages. This enables a simpler and at the same time safer construction of the battery device, since there is no significant swelling during operation in the case of cylindrical battery cells.

In addition, improved cooling is made possible, since, for example, shorter heat conduction paths from the individual battery cells to a heat sink can be implemented and cylindrical battery cells typically have a more favorable ratio of coolable cell surface to cell volume for cooling, especially compared to conventional bottom cooling for battery cells of other formats. Such a more effective cooling can also enable greater charging speeds and thus possibly smaller sizes or capacities of the battery device in a practicable manner.

Cylindrical battery cells also have the advantage that due to their shape, even when the battery cells are packed very tightly, the total contact area of the battery cells with one another is smaller than with battery cells of other formats. This enables improved safety and robustness against a propagation of a thermal fault in a battery cell through the entire battery device and/or a reduced effort for appropriate safety measures. This can also practicably enable increased energy densities of the battery device overall when using less aggressive cell chemistries than previously often used in traction batteries.

Compared to a vertical arrangement of cylindrical battery cells that is customary in conventional battery-electric vehicles, the present invention enables an increased cell size in a particularly simple manner, in particular with an arrangement of several battery cells one above the other in the vertical direction of the vehicle. Due to the horizontal arrangement, the cylindrical battery cells can easily be several times longer in the direction of their longitudinal cylinder axes than round cells of conventional battery devices with a vertical cell arrangement. This means that, despite the greater total energy content of the battery device, fewer battery cells can be used in comparison to conventional traction batteries in passenger cars. This enables the battery device provided according to the invention to have a simpler structure, lower costs and greater energy density. The use of correspondingly fewer battery cells in traction batteries for conventional PWS, on the other hand, can be problematic in terms of energy scalability, as explained in more detail elsewhere. However, it should be pointed out here that this problem does not exist in the present invention, or only to a significantly lesser extent.

Another approach to realizing electric utility vehicles is to use fuel cells. The present invention also offers advantages over this approach. Purely battery-electric drives require significantly fewer energy conversion steps than fuel cell-based drives, at least in a so-called "well-to-wheel" overall view. Since commercial vehicles also typically have a relatively high energy throughput, the battery-electric drive proposed here has significant efficiency and cost advantages compared to a fuel-cell-based drive, at least when viewed over a respective overall life cycle. Fuel cell systems also have a greater overall complexity than purely battery-electric drives, since, for example, a hydrogen tank and an associated line system and an additional battery must be provided to serve power demand peaks. This increased complexity can be saved by the present invention.

In one possible embodiment of the present invention, the cylindrical battery cells have a length of at least 150 mm, in particular 150 mm to 400 mm, in the direction of their longitudinal cylinder axis, and a diameter perpendicular thereto of at least 30 mm, in particular 30 mm to 60 mm. For a given energy content of the battery device, this enables a smaller number of battery cells than would be possible when using conventional round cells. As already mentioned, this enables a reduced outlay on components and a higher energy density of the battery device. The use of a correspondingly reduced number of battery cells can be problematic in terms of the scalability of the energy content in conventional traction batteries of passenger cars with a smaller total energy content. In order to achieve scaling to different energy contents for a given nominal voltage, different circuit configurations of the individual battery cells, in particular different numbers of P connections, ie parallel connections or interconnections, can be used, for example. When using the relatively large battery cells proposed here in passenger cars, this can lead to a less fine scalability of the energy content. However, this problem becomes less important when the battery device is used according to the invention in a commercial vehicle because the total energy content of the battery device in commercial vehicles is usually greater than in conventional passenger cars. For example, it can be provided that the battery device for the commercial vehicle according to the invention has an energy content of at least 100 kWh, in particular at least 200 kWh or several 100 kWh. In this way, the possible advantages of using battery cells dimensioned as proposed can be used particularly effectively and efficiently without significant disadvantages arising as a result.

In a further possible embodiment of the present invention, the battery device has a so-called cell-to-pack structure. The cylindrical battery cells are arranged in a common battery housing without a separate module housing. In particular, the battery cells themselves or a cell holder or cell carrier that is in direct contact with the battery cells can serve as structural components of the battery device, ie components that take up or support a mechanical load. This enables a particularly effective and efficient use of space and thus a greater energy density or a lower installation space requirement for a given total energy content of the battery device. In addition, the battery device can be manufactured particularly easily, with little effort and cost-effectively. Even if the battery device has a lower mechanical resilience overall compared to a structure with several module housings provided in addition to the battery housing, the structure proposed here can still be useful when used in a commercial vehicle, since there, for example, it can accommodate larger payloads compared to conventional cars anyway more stable supporting structures can be provided and, if necessary, there are less strict requirements in terms of vehicle size and vehicle weight.

In a further possible embodiment of the present invention, the battery cells are organized in a plurality of groups, which are electrically connected in series and each have a plurality of battery cells with a truly parallel alignment of their cylinder axes. In other words, a number of battery cells are arranged next to one another and combined transversely to their longitudinal cylinder axes. The battery cells of a group can, for example, be combined mechanically, i.e. kept together. It is also provided here that a cell contacting system or element for electrically contacting the battery cells is arranged on one end face of each group of battery cells or on the end faces of the battery cells in each group. In the embodiment of the present invention proposed here, several such groups of battery cells are arranged one behind the other in the direction of the longitudinal cylinder axes of their battery cells. In other words, the multiple or at least two groups of battery cells are arranged such that an extension of the longitudinal cylinder axis of a battery cell in a first group passes through a second group of battery cells and there runs parallel to the longitudinal cylinder axis of a battery cell in the second group. A plurality of such groups, here for example the first and the second group, are then arranged in a common plane that extends at least essentially parallel to the floor. This enables efficient use of a typically larger area of the commercial vehicle available in this plane in comparison to conventional passenger cars, as well as a weight distribution that is particularly favorable as a result in terms of stability and driving characteristics. In addition, especially when using the larger battery cells mentioned elsewhere, a particularly flat design of the battery device in the vertical direction of the vehicle is easily made possible, which in turn can be advantageous in terms of flexible body design and use of the commercial vehicle.

Due to the arrangement of the cell contacting system on the face side, electrical contacting or contacting of the battery cells can be implemented in a simple and robust manner despite the lying arrangement of the battery cells and the arrangement of several groups of battery cells one behind the other. At least one cell contacting system of a group of battery cells facing another group of battery cells can be protected particularly well against external mechanical influences and thus against damage, which increases the robustness of the battery device and makes the battery device and the commercial vehicle as a whole particularly reliable. This is the case because this cell contacting system is bordered on both sides by groups of battery cells with regard to its main extension plane.

In one possible development of the present invention, each of the groups includes exactly one battery cell in the direction of the longitudinal cylinder axes of its battery cells. In other words, with regard to the battery cells, each group is exactly one battery cell long in this direction. The groups of battery cells of the battery device arranged one behind the other are then connected to one another in series in a serpentine or meandering pattern. Corresponding serial connections of the groups are arranged at their outer ends transverse to the direction of the longitudinal axis of the cylinder of the battery cells. In other words, a current path can run along the series connections, for example, in a first group in its transverse direction, i.e. transverse to the direction of the longitudinal cylinder axes of the battery cells in this group, through this group, then at the opposite end in the direction of the longitudinal cylinder axes of its battery cells to the corresponding end of the in the direction of the cylinder longitudinal axes closest or adjacent group and in this group in the opposite transverse direction through the battery cells, etc. This allows a particularly simple and in the direction of the cylinder longitudinal axes particularly narrow, i.e. space-saving arrangement of the groups. In particular, due to the electrical interconnection proposed here, there are no special requirements with regard to an exactly collinear alignment of the longitudinal cylinder axes of battery cells of different groups, so that the battery device can be manufactured in a particularly simple manner. At the same time, a particularly robust mounting and effective cooling of the battery cells or groups of battery cells is made possible in a simple manner.

Although the groups of battery cells are arranged one behind the other in one plane here, a group can comprise several battery cells or layers of battery cells arranged one above the other in the vertical direction of the vehicle standing vertically on the floor of the utility vehicle. The battery cells within a group can then be connected to one another in series in such a layer, while the multiple layers, ie battery cells arranged one above the other in the vertical direction of the vehicle, can be electrically connected to one another in parallel.

The battery device can also comprise a plurality of groups of battery cells which are arranged one above the other in the vertical direction of the vehicle and which can each comprise one or more layers of battery cells. Such groups of batteries arranged one above the other in the vertical direction of the vehicle rie cells can then be electrically connected to one another in parallel, i.e. they can be connected to one another by electrical P connections.

In a further possible embodiment of the present invention, the battery cells are arranged in several layers one above the other in the vehicle vertical direction of the utility vehicle standing perpendicularly on the floor of the utility vehicle. In particular, two layers that are adjacent in the vertical direction of the vehicle can be offset from one another by half a cell diameter, so that the battery cells are packed very densely. A corrugated cooling plate is arranged between at least two layers of battery cells. The corrugation of the cooling plate is designed in such a way that a battery cell is arranged in a trough and a crest protrudes into an intermediate space or free space between two battery cells. As a result, a particularly space-efficient arrangement and, at the same time, particularly effective and uniform cooling of the battery cells can be achieved. A cooling medium can flow through the cooling plate, that is to say for example it can have a cavity or one or more coolant channels. This can enable further improved cooling of the battery cells. A respective cooling plate can be arranged between all the layers of battery cells or only between some of the layers, ie only in some of the gaps between two adjacent layers. This can depend on another configuration, a cooling requirement, a power requirement, a weight and/or space limitation and/or the like.

In one possible development of the present invention, viewed in or along the vertical direction of the vehicle, a cooling plate is arranged only in every second intermediate space between two layers of battery cells. A respective thermal insulation element is then arranged only in the remaining intermediate spaces between two adjacent layers of battery cells. However, further such thermal insulation elements can be arranged at one or more other points of the battery device, for example viewed in the vertical direction of the vehicle below the bottom layer of battery cells and/or above the top layer of battery cells. In particular, however, it is provided here that only either a cooling plate or a thermal insulation element is arranged in a given space between two adjacent layers of battery cells. Viewed in or along the vertical direction of the vehicle, the cooling plates and the thermal insulation elements are arranged alternately. In this way, a cooling plate can be arranged adjacent to each battery cell or layer of battery cells, while at the same time thermal insulation can be achieved between at least some of the battery cells or layers of battery cells by the heat insulation element or elements. The former enables effective cooling of the battery device, while the latter enables effective protection against propagation of a thermal fault through the battery device. In the configuration proposed here, these two useful effects can be realized with a particularly small component and installation space requirement of the battery device.

A thermal insulation element in the present sense can be, for example, a protective mat, a mesh or fabric, a foam element and/or the like, in particular made of a material that is not thermally conductive or only minimally thermally conductive, at least in the vertical direction of the vehicle. If necessary, the thermal insulation elements can fulfill further functions, for example for mechanically holding or connecting the layers of battery cells to one another or to one another and/or for holding further components of the battery device. For this purpose, the thermal insulation element can be designed as an adhesive, for example, or can include an adhesive.

In a possible development of the present invention, two of the layers of battery cells with the cooling plate arranged in between are combined by at least one cell holder or cell carrier to form a group of battery cells in the vertical direction of the vehicle. The respective cell holder holds the battery cells of the respective two layers parallel to one another and also at a distance from one another perpendicular to their cylinder axes. In this way, a robust, modular or modular design of the battery device is made possible. For example, in a particularly simple manner, several such groups can be arranged one above the other in the vertical direction of the vehicle and connected to one another. The respective cell holders can in particular be designed to be load-bearing, that is to say correspondingly mechanically strong or stable. A plurality of cell holders arranged one above the other in the vertical direction of the vehicle can then rest on one another or be supported on one another in order to absorb mechanical forces or loads and to direct the battery cells held therein around.

The groups or cell holders can have a connecting element on their upper side and/or their underside for connecting to an adjacent group or an adjacent cell holder or a housing wall or the like. Such a connecting element can be designed, for example, at least as part of an adhesive or plug-in connection. Likewise, corresponding Appropriate connecting elements may be provided as individual components that are initially independent of the groups.

As already indicated elsewhere, a thermal insulation element can be arranged between two groups that are adjacent in the vertical direction of the vehicle. However, such a heat insulation element can also be part of one of the groups. A group can in particular include two cell holders. This allows the battery cells of the respective group to be kept particularly robust and stable. For example, the two cell holders of a group can be arranged on the two opposite end faces or end regions of the battery cells in the direction of the cylinder axes of the battery cells of the respective group. In this way, the battery cells can not only be kept particularly stable, but the cell holders can also fulfill other functions, for example to protect the battery cells, as holding elements or as a mounting base for other components of the battery device and/or the like.

In a further possible embodiment of the present invention, the battery cells are organized or combined into a plurality of groups, with a thermally and electrically insulating protective wall or protective mat being arranged between two adjacent groups. Depending on the arrangement of the battery device or the battery cells, a main extension plane of the protective wall or protective mat can extend in particular perpendicular to the floor of the utility vehicle in the vehicle transverse direction or perpendicular to the floor of the utility vehicle in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The protective wall or protective mat proposed here can be arranged in particular between two groups of battery cells which are arranged in the same plane running parallel to the floor of the utility vehicle. The protective wall or protective mat can in particular be more stable or massive, i.e. have a better insulating effect and/or greater mechanical strength or resilience, than the thermal insulation element mentioned elsewhere between several layers of battery cells arranged one above the other in the vertical direction of the vehicle. The protective wall or protective mat can be formed, for example, from a glass fiber or composite material or the like.

The safety and robustness of the battery device can be improved by the protective wall or protective mat in the event of an electrical and/or thermal fault. Due to the electrically insulating property of the protective wall or protective mat, the groups of battery cells that are separated thereby can be arranged particularly close to one another, as a result of which a particularly efficient use of installation space and a correspondingly higher energy density of the battery device can be achieved.

In a further possible embodiment of the present invention, the battery device comprises a cover plate and a base plate, between which the battery cells are arranged. The cover plate and the base plate are each joined to at least one further component of the battery device so as to transmit shear stress. The top and bottom panels can be directly or indirectly connected to each other. A direct connection can be realized, for example, by bending the cover plate and/or the base plate around the battery cells or groups of battery cells on the outside and thereby bringing them together. The cover plate and the base plate can then form a housing for the battery cells on more than two sides. An indirect connection of the top and bottom plates can be realized, for example, by a shear stress-transmitting joint with the at least one cell carrier mentioned elsewhere, for example by direct gluing or gluing to the thermal insulation element mentioned elsewhere. A particularly highly integrated design of the battery device can thus be achieved.

Additionally or alternatively, the cover plate and the base plate can be connected to one another or supported on one another, for example by struts or other plate or wall elements of the battery device.

The robustness and stability of the battery device can be improved by the cover and base plate provided here. Due to the shear stress-transmitting connection, in particular including the battery cells, the groups of battery cells or their cell holders, sufficient stability of the battery device can be achieved in a particularly space-saving and component-saving manner, for example without additional or separate structural, i.e. load-bearing elements.

Further features of the invention can result from the claims, the figures and the description of the figures. The features and feature combinations mentioned above in the description and the features and feature combinations shown below in the description of the figures and/or in the figures alone can be used not only in the combination specified in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own, without going beyond the scope of the invention to leave.

• 1 eine schematische seitliche Darstellung eines Nutzfahrzeugs mit einer Batterieeinrichtung;
• 2 eine ausschnittweise schematische Seitenansicht der Batterieeinrichtung;
• 3 eine erste ausschnittweise schematische Draufsicht der Batterieeinrichtung; und
• 4 eine zweite ausschnittweise schematische Draufsicht der Batterieeinrichtung.

The drawing shows in:

• 1 a schematic side view of a commercial vehicle with a battery device;
• 2 a partial schematic side view of the battery device;
• 3 a first partial schematic plan view of the battery device; and
• 4 a second partial schematic plan view of the battery device.

In the figures, identical and functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference symbols. For the sake of clarity, only a representative selection of elements that occur multiple times are explicitly identified in each of the figures.

1 shows a schematic side view of a utility vehicle 10. This utility vehicle 10 can be, for example, a tractor, for example a semitrailer tractor. The utility vehicle 10 is battery-electrically driven here and has a battery device 12 for this purpose. In order to achieve a favorable weight distribution, this battery device 12 is arranged here, for example, between two axles or wheels 14 of the utility vehicle 10 .

2 shows a sectional schematic side view of the battery device 12. This comprises a multiplicity of individual cylindrical battery cells 16 which are arranged horizontally, so that only one end face of the battery cells 16 can be seen here. A respective cylinder longitudinal axis of the battery cells 16 extends through these end faces, i.e. perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing and at least essentially parallel to a floor of the commercial vehicle 10.

The battery cells 16 are combined or organized into several cell groups 18 , in this case four by way of example. These cell groups 18 are stacked or arranged one above the other in a vertical direction 20 of the vehicle.

Each of the cell groups 18 includes at least one cell holder or cell carrier 22, through which the battery cells 16 of the respective target group 18 are held. For this purpose, the respective cell carrier 22 can have, for example, corresponding recesses or indentations, in or through which one of the battery cells 16 can be placed or guided. The battery cells 16 are thus held or fixed at least essentially parallel to one another and at a distance from one another by the cell carrier 22 . The cell carrier 22 can be made of an electrically non-conductive plastic material, for example. In this way, the cell carriers 22 can also contribute to short-circuit protection within the battery device 12 .

The cell groups 18 are framed by a top plate 24 and a bottom plate 26 below. The cover plate 24 and the bottom plate 26 can each be connected to the respective adjacent cell group 18 or its cell carrier 22 with a shear stress-transmitting connection. Likewise, the individual cell groups 18 or the individual cell carriers 22 can be connected to one another in the vertical direction 20 of the vehicle, for example glued to one another. A respective thermal insulation 28 can be arranged between the individual cell groups 18 or between two cell carriers 22 that are adjacent in the vertical direction 20 of the vehicle and optionally on the inner sides of the cover plate 24 and the base plate 26 facing the cell groups 18 .

The battery cells 16 are contacted or attached or connected electrically by means of a cell contacting system 30 . The cell contacting system 30 includes S-connections 32 for serially connecting battery cells 16 in a layer of battery cells 16 and P-connections 34 for implementing a parallel connection of the layers or battery cells 16 arranged one above the other in the vertical direction 20 of the vehicle the vehicle vertical direction 20 offset by a battery cell 16 - be arranged on the opposite end side of the battery cells 16 or the battery device 12, which cannot be seen here.

The P-connections 34 here have a smaller cross-section than the S-connections 32. As a result, the P-connections 34 can act as electrical fuses at the same time. The P-connections 34 can therefore melt, for example, in the event of a fault, in order to interrupt a short-circuit current, for example.

This is therefore a possible current-flow-optimized design of the cell contacting system 30. Other arrangements or geometries of the cell contacting system 30 or the S-connections 32 and/or the P-connections 34 may also be possible, for example to keep the electrical resistance of the cell contacting system as low as possible to reach 32.

Each of the cell groups 18 also includes a cooling element 36 here. These cooling elements 36 are each arranged between the two layers of battery cells 16 of a cell group 18 . As a result, the individual cell groups 18 can be cooled separately, while each between Thermal insulation 28 arranged between the cell groups 18 prevents thermal propagation or can at least slow it down.

3 shows a sectional schematic plan view of the battery device 12. Here, in a plane that extends at least substantially parallel to the floor of the commercial vehicle 12 and is spanned by a first transverse direction 38 and a second transverse direction 40, several cell groups 18 in the direction of the cylinder longitudinal axis their battery cells 16 arranged one behind the other. Depending on the arrangement of the battery device 12 or alignment of the cell groups 18, the first transverse direction 38 can correspond to a vehicle longitudinal direction and the second transverse direction 40 to a vehicle transverse direction of the commercial vehicle 10 or vice versa.

In the perspective shown here, it can be seen that the cell groups 18 each include two cell carriers 22 arranged on the end faces of the battery cells 16 .

Within the cell groups 18, the respective battery cells 16 are connected to one another in series, for example in the first transverse direction 38. The individual cell groups 18 are then connected to one another in series by means of group connections 42 running in the second transverse direction 40 and arranged alternately at opposite ends of the cell groups 18 . This results in a serpentine or meandering current path in the S-direction in the plane shown here through the cell groups 18.

4 shows a further partial schematic top view of a part of the battery device 12. Two cell groups 18 with respective battery cells 16, which are surrounded by cell carriers 22, are shown schematically here. The cell contacting systems 30 of the cell groups 18 can also be seen here on the two opposite end faces of the battery cells 16 or the cell groups 18 in the direction of the longitudinal cylinder axes of the battery cells 16 . A protective element 44 is arranged between the two cell groups 18 . This protective element 44 can extend in the form of a wall or plate on the one hand in the vertical direction 20 of the vehicle and on the other hand—depending on the orientation of the cell groups 18 or the battery device 12—in the first transverse direction 38 or in the second transverse direction 40 . The protective element 44 is designed to be thermally and electrically non-conductive here in order to insulate the two cell groups 18--at least apart from the group connections 42--from one another.

By organizing the battery cells 16 in the cell groups 18, a modular structure of the battery device 12 is achieved without actually having to use individual classic battery modules with a separate module housing in each case.

Overall, the examples described show how an advantageous application of the concept of the horizontal round cell can be implemented in battery-electric storage devices in a commercial vehicle 10 .

reference list

10

commercial vehicle

12

battery setup

14

Wheels

16

battery cell

18

cell group

20

vehicle elevation

22

cell carrier

24

cover plate

26

bottom plate

28

thermal insulation

30

cell contacting system

32

S connection

34

P connection

36

cooling element

38

first transverse direction

40

second transverse direction

42

group connection

44

protective element

QUOTES INCLUDED IN DESCRIPTION

This list of documents cited by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Patent Literature Cited

• DE 102009022300 A1 [0003]
• EP 3041063 A2 [0004]
• DE 102019132687 A1 [0006]

Claims (10)

Commercial vehicle (10), having a battery device (12) which comprises a multiplicity of cylindrical battery cells (16), the battery cells (16) being arranged horizontally so that their longitudinal cylinder axes extend at least essentially parallel to a floor of the commercial vehicle (10). . commercial vehicle (10) after claim 1 , characterized in that the battery cells (16) have a length of at least 150 mm, in particular 150 mm to 400 mm, and perpendicular thereto a diameter of at least 30 mm, in particular 30 mm to 60 mm, in the direction of their longitudinal cylinder axis. Commercial vehicle (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the battery device (12) has a cell-to-pack structure in which the battery cells (16) are arranged in a common battery housing (24, 26) without separate module housing . Commercial vehicle (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the battery cells (16) are organized in a plurality of electrically series-connected groups (18) of a plurality of battery cells (16) each with a truly parallel alignment of their longitudinal cylinder axes, with one end face of each group (18) a cell contacting system (30) is arranged and several groups (18) are arranged one behind the other in the direction of the longitudinal cylinder axes of their battery cells (16). commercial vehicle (10) after claim 4 , characterized in that each group (18) comprises exactly one battery cell (16) in the direction of the cylinder longitudinal axes of its battery cells (16) and the groups (18) arranged one behind the other are connected to one another in series in a serpentine pattern, the serial connections (42) the groups (18) are arranged at their outer ends transverse to the direction of the longitudinal axis of the cylinder of the battery cells (16). Commercial vehicle (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the battery cells (16) are arranged in several layers lying one above the other in the vehicle vertical direction (20) of the commercial vehicle (10) standing perpendicularly on the ground, in particular with an offset of two in the vehicle vertical direction ( 20) of adjacent layers by half a cell diameter, with a corrugated cooling plate (36), in particular through which a cooling medium can flow, being arranged between at least two layers. commercial vehicle (10) after claim 6 , characterized in that viewed in the vertical direction (20) of the vehicle, a respective cooling plate (36) is arranged only in every second space between two of the layers and only in the other spaces between two layers, in particular also below the bottom layer and above the top layer , A respective thermal insulation element (28) is arranged. commercial vehicle (10) after claim 6 or 7 , characterized in that in the vertical direction (20) of the vehicle, two of the layers with the cooling plate (36) arranged between them are supported by a cell holder (22), in particular a load-bearing cell holder (22), which holds the battery cells (16) of the two layers parallel to one another and perpendicular to their longitudinal cylinder axes spaced apart from one another, are combined to form a group (18) of battery cells (16), in particular a plurality of such groups (18) being arranged one above the other in the vertical direction (20) of the vehicle and being connected to one another. Commercial vehicle (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the battery cells (16) are organized into a plurality of groups (18), with a thermally and electrically insulating protective wall (44) or protective mat (44) between each two groups (18). is arranged. Commercial vehicle (10) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the battery device (12) comprises a cover plate (24) and a base plate (26), between which the battery cells (16) are arranged, the cover plate (24) and the Base plate (26) are each joined to transmit shear stress with at least one further component (22) of the battery device (12).

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