Nissan e-NV200 has active battery cooling ?

http://transportevolved.com/2014/06/12/nissan-e-nv200-show-change-policy-battery-heating-cooling/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not sure what to make of this vis-a-vis hot battery.

Although Nissan mentions the fact the e-NV200 has an active battery cooling and heating system in its press release accompanying the e-NV200 launch, it wasn’t until we examined the battery pack more closely in a cut-away model on display that we understood how it worked.
...
Nissan wouldn’t go into too many details with us, but it looks as if the e-NV200 can send warm or cold coolant from the van’s main HVAC system to the small integral radiator within the battery box. Air is then drawn through the radiator fins and is then cooled or heated as needed to keep the battery pack and battery box at optimum temperature.

Click to expand...

Curious. How exactly is a tiny evaporator and squirrel fan tucked away in a corner of the pack going to effectively cool the entire battery pack?

Air must be getting pulled through the little evaporator by the fan - but then where does the air go?

well isnt that special........ I think Nissan would have to be nuts to not incorporate a similar system into the next gen battery pack for the Leaf.

If its effective enough it would allow more moderate pack temps in normal everyday use, and reduce the heat build up during rapid charges, especially consecutive rapid charges during a " road trip".

this is key to the Leaf next gen car or other ev's from nissan especially if they have larger packs that make long distance trips more feasable.

Imagine a 42kwh equipped leaf with NO cooling system in the battery , after 115 miles you stop at your first DCFC and the pack temp rises , at your next stop it rises again and so on

at some point you are in the red zone , charging or power is reduced or at the least your pack is degrading.

kmp647 said:

well isnt that special........ I think Nissan would have to be nuts to not incorporate a similar system into the next gen battery pack for the Leaf.

If its effective enough it would allow more moderate pack temps in normal everyday use, and reduce the heat build up during rapid charges, especially consecutive rapid charges during a " road trip".

Click to expand...

The cost does not appear to be large. Perhaps $100 in parts for Nissan. Retail cost, maybe $500. But I have to wonder if they only added it to the van because they expect the vans to get multiple QCs / day in commercial use.

drees said:

Curious. How exactly is a tiny condenser and squirrel fan tucked away in a corner of the pack going to effectively cool the entire battery pack?

Air must be getting pulled through the little condenser by the fan - but then where does the air go?

Click to expand...

The evaporator? for the cabin AC is also fairly small and needs to remove a lot of heat.

myleaf said:

The evaporator? for the cabin AC is also fairly small and needs to remove a lot of heat.

Click to expand...

Yes, evaporator in A/C mode (could be a condenser if used in heat mode).

What's the size of the cabin AC evaporator?

Edit: looks like 10" x 10" is pretty common size. For reference the LEAF modules are about 11.5" x 8.3" so I'd have to guess that the evaporator shown here is around 7"x7".

Edit 2: And isn't it going to need a water drain hole unless there's a special procedure for drying all the air out before sealing the pack?

Wow. A glimmer of hope. Finally.

drees said:

myleaf said:

The evaporator? for the cabin AC is also fairly small and needs to remove a lot of heat.

Click to expand...

Yes, evaporator in A/C mode (could be a condenser if used in heat mode).

What's the size of the cabin AC evaporator?

Edit: looks like 10" x 10" is pretty common size. For reference the LEAF modules are about 11.5" x 8.3" so I'd have to guess that the evaporator shown here is around 7"x7".

Edit 2: And isn't it going to need a water drain hole unless there's a special procedure for drying all the air out before sealing the pack?

Click to expand...

Yes, I agree about the need of the wafer drain hole, but as you mentioned it would be probably be best to have a air tight container with a dry nitrogen? ambient

It terms of implementation, it should be very similar to the second "rear" air conditioner in some mini-vans. (one compressor and two evaporators).

According to the article they have included this in e-nv200 and not Leaf because ...

But my question is - are they not using the "hot battery" the brand new e-nv200 ? Or do they use the hot battery and still need the cooling ?

Nissan says the addition of the internal radiator is to keep the battery pack’s temperature at optimum operating conditions, since the more tightly-packed battery pack of the e-NV200 has less space for air to circulate around the cells and therefore is more prone to changes in heat than the LEAF battery pack.

There’s also some allusion from Nissan that it expects the e-NV200 to be treated far more roughly than any of its LEAFs would be. As well as the obvious misuse from the hands of delivery drivers or high-milage fleet life, Nissan engineers told us they wanted the e-NV200 to cope with frequent rapid charges in a single day without damaging battery life.

Click to expand...

drees said:

The cost does not appear to be large. Perhaps $100 in parts for Nissan. Retail cost, maybe $500. But I have to wonder if they only added it to the van because they expect the vans to get multiple QCs / day in commercial use.

Click to expand...

I think with Leaf the problem was packaging rather than price - and ofcourse added complexity that will result in higher service cost.

The e-NV200 Prototype that I'm testing has Battery cooling...
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16945" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;