21 Fellten Morgan XP-1 | Dossier E-Mobility Engineering | July/August 2024 “For installation, they basically plugged in the inverter, the CCS module and the charging connector, along with two fittings for the battery cooling plates – one in, one out – and that was it,” Hazell summarises. Vertical integration The design of the pack is based on Fellten’s Universal Battery Pack, typically 55 kWh. Key takeaways applied in the 33 kWh pack include a distinctly vertical arrangement of the battery modules and structural liquid-cooling plates, as well as a standardised BMS configuration. “Really, the heritage of the Morgan pack’s technical qualities goes back to a kit we produced for the Porsche 911,” Hazell recounts. “That was when we started using the VDA 355 module and quickly realised that running the modules flat was really problematic. The classic Porsche 911 doesn’t have floor space conducive to stacking modules horizontally up and up, because attempting that means you need to have floating sections, and it then gets incredibly difficult to link the busbars to have multiple coolant links.” After confirming the cells and modules could be mounted on their sides and oriented vertically, Fellten developed a liquid-cooling plate, cut 16 mm thick from aluminium billet, that could double as a structural member. As well as having coolant channels running through it, the plates were made with holes through which the modules could be bolted. low- or zero-emission powertrains with minimum complications. Perhaps most important to motor enthusiasts and Morgan is that Fellten closely tests, and hence prioritises, the weight distribution and balance of each car to recreate as faithfully as possible how it felt to drive its original version (while increasing performance where possible). In addition to these qualities, Fellten has supplied the XP-1’s battery pack and charging system, along with the associated thermal and battery management system (BMS). “When Morgan first approached us, around early January 2023, they already knew they didn’t want to make the battery pack in-house. They didn’t have high-voltage training, they didn’t have dedicated build rooms or equipment for safely working with battery components, and they had already firmly decided that they wanted to maintain the original chassis design,” Hazell recounts. “All EV parts had to bolt onto the original chassis, because so much of it was made by an outsourced company; hence Morgan had no interest in going through a full CAD redesign of the chassis for what would in theory be a one-off prototype.” That chassis was, as Hazell puts it, extremely tight. “I don’t think it could have been a tighter fit and still have been a feasible conversion. Fortunately, they still had complete CAD files on every single component, so we could simulate every section and process virtually before we ever set foot in a room with the vehicle.” The battery pack itself was developed for Morgan from pre-existing Fellten intellectual property (IP): a 33 kWh pack designed around VDA 355 modules from DFD Energy, battery management from Orion, and a rapid-charging combined charging system (CCS), contactor, and integrated high-voltage junction systems to achieve simplicity and cleanliness of installation. Fellten’s co-founders first worked together to produce three stunt EVs for the Elekron show in Macau, China
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