Fast-charging thermal fluid for electric vehicles accelerates battery from 10% to 80% in just ten minutes.
Shell Introduces High-Performance Thermal Management Fluid for EVs
Shell, in collaboration with RML Group, has made a significant breakthrough in electric vehicle (EV) technology with the development of a new thermal management fluid. This fluid, formulated with Shell's proprietary Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) Technology, promises to revolutionize the EV charging experience.
The liquid, electrically non-conductive, fills all the spaces between the cells, ensuring direct and uniform contact for heat transfer. This innovative design could lead to more efficient heat management, a central challenge in EV battery technology.
High-speed charging generates substantial thermal energy, which can accelerate cell degradation, reduce the battery's overall lifespan, and in rare cases, lead to safety issues like thermal runaway. The new fluid aims to address these concerns, enabling a battery pack to be charged from 10% to 80% capacity in under ten minutes.
Robert Mainwaring, Shell's lead engineer on the project, stated that the ambition within this project was to show how Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluids can support significant reductions in charging time without compromising cell integrity and lifetime.
The development comes as the global battery electric vehicle market continues to expand, with sales growing 14% in 2024 compared to the previous year. The technology, by reducing time spent at charging stations, draws on Shell's experience in related fields, such as transformer oils and cooling fluids for data centers.
The newly developed fluid is expected to be introduced to the market around 2025. When applied to a future, highly aerodynamic vehicle with an efficiency of 10 km/kWh, this charging speed could add up to 24 kilometers of range per minute of charging.
Shell Lubricants' approach utilizes an immersion cooling system with its new EV-Plus Thermal Fluid, which involves submerging the battery cells directly in the fluid. This could enable simpler and more compact battery pack designs, potentially reducing complexity and cost.
Effective immersion cooling could also enable simpler and more compact battery pack designs, potentially reducing complexity and cost. The development is aimed at addressing consumer concerns about charging duration, which has been identified as a significant barrier to EV adoption by over 44% of non-EV drivers in major automotive markets. The development of Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluids aims to reduce time spent at charging stations, making the EV ownership experience more comparable to refueling a conventional vehicle.
The latest news in the battery market includes the development of a thermal management fluid for EVs that enables a battery pack to be charged from 10% to 80% capacity in under ten minutes. This innovation could pave the way towards higher charging efficiencies, enhanced safety, convenience, and cost-effectiveness.
A current market leader in efficiency, the Lucid Air Pure, operates at approximately 8.04 km/kWh. With the introduction of Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluids, we may witness a new era of EV efficiency and performance.
