- Guardian firm of Dodge, Ram, Jeep envisions an exhaust system for EVs
- Would determine battery thermal runaway, might assist forestall ensuing hearth by treating gases
- Dodge Charger Daytona EV already makes the sound of an ICE exhaust system
Exhaust techniques take away the byproducts of inner combustion, so they could appear superfluous in electrical autos. However Stellantis may disagree with that.
On Jan. 16, the US Patent and Trademark Workplace (USPTO) revealed a patent submitting from the automaker (initially filed in 2023) for an electrical car exhaust system that, Stellantis claims, might 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 embrace hydrogen, in addition to hydrocarbons like methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propane, cyclopropane, and butane, in accordance with the automaker.
Stellantis EV exhaust system patent picture
Eradicating these gases might 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 techniques, in addition to all-electric powertrains, there is definitely room for the required plumbing.
Stellantis even designed an exhaust system of kinds for the Dodge Charger Daytona EV, to reproduce the V-8 rumble of previous Chargers—though that system is solely meant for sound and vibration.
Within the battery exhaust system, gases and they might cross by “a plurality of therapy zones for chemically treating the movement of gases to get rid of or no 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 autos.
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 techniques, and monitored on the module or cell stage in a means that may isolate a faulty portion of the pack. So whereas it is shocking to see an automaker specializing in an end result that its engineers have doubtless 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 shortly sever electrical connections between battery pack and the remainder of the car if thermal runaway happens. Both resolution can be extra about containing harm, and probably making autos safer for first responders to strategy, than forestall runaways within the first place.
Hearth threat has led to a number of giant 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.
