Prismatic Inverted-U battery stack geometry

1 . A prismatic battery, comprising:

a prismatic battery can comprising an upper region, a vertical Z-direction along a height of the prismatic battery can, and a horizontal Y-direction along a width of the prismatic battery can; and

a plurality of stacked battery layers disposed inside of the prismatic battery can;

wherein the plurality of stacked battery layers has an in-plane direction and a transverse direction that is perpendicular to the in-plane direction;

wherein the plurality of stacked battery layers has an orthotropic thermal conductivity that has an in-plane thermal conductivity in the in-plane direction and a transverse thermal conductivity in the transverse direction;

wherein the in-plane thermal conductivity is greater than the transverse thermal conductivity;

wherein the plurality of stacked battery layers is configured inside of the prismatic battery can in an Inverted-U geometry; and

wherein the in-plane thermal conductivity in the upper region of the prismatic battery can is higher in the horizontal Y-direction than the transverse thermal conductivity in the vertical Z-direction.

2 . The prismatic battery of claim 1 , wherein a ratio of the in-plane thermal conductivity divided by the transverse thermal conductivity of the plurality of stacked battery layers is greater than about 10.0.

3 . The prismatic battery of claim 1 , wherein an aspect ratio of a height of the prismatic battery can divided by a width of the prismatic battery can is greater than about 1.5.

4 . The prismatic battery of claim 3 , wherein the aspect ratio of the height of the prismatic battery can divided by the width of the prismatic battery can is greater than about 3.0.

5 . The prismatic battery of claim 1 , wherein the upper region of the prismatic battery can has a height that ranges from 10% to 20% of a total height of the prismatic battery can.

6 . The prismatic battery of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of stacked battery layers comprises

a negative current collector layer;

an anode electrode layer disposed adjacent to the negative current collector layer;

a separator layer disposed adjacent to the anode electrode layer;

a cathode electrode layer disposed adjacent to the separator layer opposite the anode electrode layer; and

a positive current collector layer disposed adjacent to the cathode electrode layer.

7 . The prismatic battery of claim 6 ,

wherein the prismatic battery can comprises a Lithium-ion battery;

wherein the negative current collector layer comprises copper;

wherein the anode electrode layer comprises a material chosen from graphite, Lithium Titanate, Silicon/Carbon, or Tin/Cobalt alloy, and combinations thereof,

wherein the separator layer comprises a micro-porous polyolefin polymer chosen from micro-porous polyethylene (PE), micro-porous polypropylene (PP), or micro-porous polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and combinations thereof;

wherein the cathode electrode layer comprises a compound chosen from lithium-metal-oxides, LiCoO 2 (LCO), LiMn 2 O 4 (LMO), LiFePO 4 (LFP), Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt oxides (NMC), or Nickel-Cobalt-Aluminum Oxide (NCA), and combinations thereof; and

wherein the positive current collector layer comprises aluminum.

8 . A prismatic battery pack, comprising:

a first prismatic battery can;

a second prismatic battery can that is disposed adjacent to the first prismatic can;

an actively-cooled, bottom cold plate disposed underneath the first and second prismatic battery cans; and

a thermal response barrier (TRB) layer disposed in-between the first and second prismatic battery cans;

wherein the TRB layer is configured to reduce heat conduction from the first prismatic battery can to the second prismatic battery can;

wherein the first prismatic battery can comprises a first plurality of stacked battery layers that are configured in an Inverted-U geometry inside of the first prismatic battery can; and

wherein the second prismatic battery can comprises a second plurality of stacked battery layers that are configured in an Inverted-U geometry inside of the second prismatic battery can.

9 . The prismatic battery pack of claim 8 , wherein the second prismatic can is configured to have a thermal response time greater than about 1300 seconds to reach a peak temperature no more than about 155 C after a Thermal Runaway (TR) event occurs in the adjacent first prismatic battery can.

10 . The prismatic battery of claim 8 , wherein the first plurality of stacked battery layers comprises

a negative current collector layer;

an anode electrode layer disposed adjacent to the negative current collector layer;

a separator layer disposed adjacent to the anode electrode layer;

a cathode electrode layer disposed adjacent to the separator layer opposite the anode electrode layer; and

a positive current collector layer disposed adjacent to the cathode electrode layer.

11 . An electric motor vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle body with a passenger compartment;

a plurality of road wheels attached to the vehicle body;

a traction motor attached to the vehicle body and operable to drive one or more of the plurality of road wheels to thereby propel the electric motor vehicle; and

a traction battery pack attached to the vehicle body and electrically connected to the traction motor;

wherein the traction battery pack comprises a prismatic battery can;

wherein the prismatic battery can comprises:

an upper region;

a vertical Z-direction oriented along a height of the prismatic battery can;

a horizontal Y-direction oriented along a width of the prismatic battery can; and

a plurality of stacked battery layers disposed inside of the prismatic battery can;

wherein the plurality of stacked battery layers has an in-plane direction and a transverse direction that is perpendicular to the in-plane direction;

wherein the plurality of stacked battery layers has an orthotropic thermal conductivity that has an in-plane thermal conductivity in the in-plane direction and a transverse thermal conductivity in the transverse direction;

wherein the in-plane thermal conductivity is greater than the transverse thermal conductivity;

wherein the plurality of stacked battery layers is configured inside of the prismatic battery can in an Inverted-U geometry;

wherein the in-plane thermal conductivity in the upper region of the prismatic battery can is higher in the horizontal Y-direction than the transverse thermal conductivity in the vertical Z-direction.

12 . The electric motor vehicle of claim 11 , wherein a ratio of the in-plane thermal conductivity divided by the transverse thermal conductivity of the plurality of stacked battery layers is greater than about 10.0.

13 . The electric motor vehicle of claim 11 , wherein an aspect ratio of a height of the prismatic battery can divided by a width of the prismatic battery can is greater than about 1.5.

14 . The electric motor vehicle of claim 13 , wherein the aspect ratio of the height divided by the width of the prismatic battery can is greater than about 3.0.

15 . The electric motor vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the prismatic battery can comprises a Lithium-ion battery.

16 . The electric motor vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the traction battery pack is disposed on top of an actively-cooled, bottom cold plate.

17 . The electric motor vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the upper region of the prismatic battery can has a height that ranges from 10% to 20% of a total height of the prismatic battery can.

18 . The electric motor vehicle of claim 11 , further comprising:

a second prismatic battery can that is disposed adjacent to the first prismatic battery can;

an actively-cooled, bottom cold plate disposed underneath both the first and second prismatic battery cans; and

a thermal response barrier (TRB) layer disposed in-between the first and second prismatic battery cans that is configured to reduce heat conduction from the first prismatic battery can to the second prismatic battery can.

19 . The electric motor vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the second prismatic can is configured to have a thermal response time greater than about 1300 seconds to reach a peak temperature less than about 155 C, after a Thermal Runaway (TR) event occurs in the first prismatic battery can.