Thanks to a patent signed by Fabrizio FavarettoManager Vehicle Architectures Innovation within the research and development department a Maranelloyou know some more details about a possible electric (or hybrid) car with license plate Ferrari. The aforementioned ‘invention’ is in the structure and positioning of the batteries in the car, in a rear-central position substantially where the endothermic engines of the traditional Prancing Horse cars are mounted today.
Ferrari filed the patent in 2019, and it was recently made public by the United States Federal Patent Office. The supercar depicted in the patent is a two-seater with the engine in a central position. But in this case it is an electrical unit. The car’s batteries are centrally mounted, with a non-horizontal structure that carries the weight behind the driver’s shoulders. The patent shows the presence of three other smaller batteries, always positioned low on the car floor but in a sort of additional frame. The advantage of this architecture, which can be seen in the gallery below, is the possibility of making it useful also for hybrid cars.
According to the text attached to the patent filing, “the most commonly used batteries are cylindrical, prismatic and pouch. They must be grouped together, electrically connected to each other and associated with the vehicle in a stable way. The mechanical connection of the battery packs is a significant problem, since, in the event of a collision, the mechanical support structures of the battery packs cannot yield, thus representing a risk for the occupants of the vehicle. These structures are generally anchored to the vehicle floor. In some cases the batteries are housed in the floor itself; in other cases they are arranged in the place normally occupied by the traditional heat engine unit. In a sports car, for example a two-seater, the batteries can be housed behind the seats“.
Ferrari has come up with a solution whereby the car’s batteries are arranged in a compartment delimited by an underbody, further subdivided into a main area and a lower one. The battery pack will be cooled thanks to aerodynamics, also due to a very particular position of the frame on which it will rest.
“The purpose is to provide an electric or hybrid sports vehicle, equipped with a platform shaped like an extractor, and a support frame for anchoring the batteries, suitable for being connected to the aforementioned platform. The platform is not horizontal and is shaped to extract a flow of air between the ground and the floor of the car. The idea is to anchor a support frame for the battery pack to an inclined portion of the platform, so that the support columns between the different structures of the battery module remain perfectly vertical, while the different support structures of the battery pack remain parallel. to the platform. Advantageously, the fact that the battery packs are stacked together parallel to the platform allows for ideal heat exchange and, at the same time, the structural rigidity remains unchanged, with the columns remaining perfectly vertical despite a non-horizontal platform“, Reads the text of the patent.
(images: USPTO.gov)
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