Charging station for electrified vehicles

1. A vehicle charging station, comprising:

a cooling system including a chiller assembly and a fan arranged to blow an airflow across said chiller assembly to generate a cooling airflow and then direct said cooling airflow toward a portion of a thermal management system located onboard an electrified vehicle,

wherein said cooling system is housed inside a housing of said vehicle charging station,

wherein said housing includes a vent and said cooling airflow is communicated through said vent to a location external to said housing.

2. The vehicle charging station as recited in claim 1 , wherein said chiller assembly includes a heat exchanger, and said fan is configured to communicate said airflow across said heat exchanger to generate said cooling airflow.

3. The vehicle charging station as recited in claim 1 , wherein said chiller assembly includes a compressor, a first heat exchanger, an expansion valve and a second heat exchanger.

4. The vehicle charging station as recited in claim 3 , wherein said first heat exchanger is a condenser and said second heat exchanger is an evaporator.

5. The vehicle charging station as recited in claim 1 , comprising a controller configured to control operation of said cooling system.

6. The vehicle charging station as recited in claim 5 , wherein said controller is configured to command operation of said cooling system during DC fast charging events.

7. The vehicle charging station as recited in claim 1 , comprising a charging cord that extends to a location outside of said housing of said vehicle charging station.

8. The vehicle charging station as recited in claim 1 , wherein said cooling system is powered by an external power source.

9. A method, comprising:

augmenting cooling of a battery pack of an electrified vehicle during a DC fast charging event, the step of augmenting cooling including communicating a cooling airflow from a cooling system of a charging station through a vent of a housing of the charging station and then across a component of a thermal management system of the electrified vehicle.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the component of the thermal management system includes a cooling pack.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the cooling pack includes a radiator, a condenser, or both.

12. The method as recited in claim 9 , comprising communicating the cooling airflow if a charging cord of the charging station is plugged into a charging port of the electrified vehicle.

13. The method as recited in claim 9 , comprising continuing to communicate the cooling airflow after the DC fast charge event has ended.

14. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the cooling system includes a fan and a chiller assembly.

15. The method as recited in claim 14 , wherein the chiller assembly includes a compressor, a first heat exchanger, an expansion valve and a second heat exchanger.

16. The method as recited in claim 9 , comprising blowing airflow across a heat exchanger of the cooling system to generate the cooling airflow.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the airflow loses heat to a coolant circulated inside the heat exchanger as the airflow is communicated across the heat exchanger.

18. A vehicle charging station for charging an electrified vehicle, comprising:

a housing including a vent; and

a cooling system housed inside the housing and including a chiller assembly and a fan arranged to blow an airflow across a heat exchanger of the chiller assembly to generate a cooling airflow and then direct the cooling airflow through the vent to cool a portion of a thermal management system located onboard the electrified vehicle when the electrified vehicle is parked near the vehicle charging station;

wherein the housing is separate from the electrified vehicle being charged by the vehicle charging station.

19. The vehicle charging station as recited in claim 18 , wherein the chiller assembly is arranged axially between the fan and the vent.