Tesla Improves Semi, Files Patent for 'High power shielded busbar for electric vehicle charging and power distribution'

Image: Tesla Patent

Tesla continues to improve its vehicles, and apparently, that is also true for its upcoming Semi. The recent patent "High power shielded busbar for electric vehicle charging and power distribution" and accompanying drawings hint that the invention will be used in its Semi truck.

Although Semi production has been rescheduled, Tesla continues to refine it using new technologies. The company filed a patent for "High power shielded busbar for electric vehicle charging and power distribution" in March 2021 and published it in September. It describes the invention that is most likely needed for use in Semi trucks.

Tesla explains that car wiring for vehicles includes a plurality of cables for communicating power signals or data signals from one end to another. Traditional cable designs are unable to support the increased demand for high-power distribution inside the vehicle. Further, there is a constant need for improving the designs of the cables to handle high power in excess of several hundred kilowatts. Traditional cables do not provide sturdy, rigid, high power, and shielded support for electric vehicle charging and power distribution. Moreover, as the number of electronic modules increases, the complexity and cost associated with traditional cables becomes excessive. In addition, failures in wires or conductors of large cable assemblies can be difficult to isolate and costly to repair.

The patent describes how a busbar can be made, in what shape, and in what materials, so it can transfer high power from one point to another in an electric vehicle, for example, from a charging port to a battery. In addition, the company strives to save time both in their production and installation, so their size/mass may be reduced, and charge rate and thermal performance may be increased.

The most interesting thing about this patent is that Tesla uses a drawing of a semi-trailer as an example. Although Semi itself is not drawn, this anyway may indicate that such busbars will be used primarily for installation in it.

FIG.9 is perspective view of an alternate embodiment showing a set of high power shielded busbars within a semi-truck.

© 2021, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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