Electric vehicle batteries have an internal architecture that can be very different. There are those that are divided into modules and those that have a cell-to-pack structure, to give you the two most common examples. But in recent years, we have seen cars with what can be called “intermediate” systems. That is, they use “double” or, if you like, “halved” batteries.

These are, for example, the Tesla Cybertruck and the GMC Hummer EV, which have a similar design for the same purpose: charge as soon as possible.

Are (large) American electric cars ahead?

Except in certain cases, batteries of electric cars work at a voltage of 400 volts. They are divided into two large connected modules, which allows you to double the voltage and reach 800 volts. This is the case of the aforementioned Hummer EV, a model with a 400-volt architecture that, when connected to a particularly powerful charging station, is capable of maintaining 800 volts through the operation of the two battery units it has.
This allows the car to charge at a peak power of up to 350 kW, allowing it to cover approximately 150 km every 10 minutes. Not bad, but there is better.
Tesla’s Cybertruck also has a similar battery called a “split battery”. There are currently no two modules, but four at 200 volts each. This means that when connected in series, they can reach 800 volts during charging, which allows Elon Musk’s electric pickup truck to charge up to 350 kW, especially if you connect it to the Supercharger V4.
However, if you charge it with the Supercharger V3, which thus provides less power, the Cybertruck goes directly to 400 volts by connecting the batteries in series two to use the maximum output power of this type of charging station, which is 250 kW. .

What are the advantages of this type of architecture?

A series-connected modular solution offers many advantages. The first refers to the absence of a DC-DC converter or any other device acting as a voltage modifier, since the modules are able to “adapt” to the terminals, automatically maximizing the charging power. And this absence is also present advantages in terms of cost and space.
They also make it easy to develop new versions of these cars. Tesla, for example, has said it may introduce a Cybertruck with a 1,000-volt architecture in the future, as the brand has already done with the Tesla Semi. as? Quite simply, just adding a fifth module.
And other manufacturers? This also happens, but on rather high-class models. For example, the new electric Porsche Macan has a battery divided into two modules and an 800-volt architecture. The same goes for the recently launched Audi Q6 e-tron, which shares the same platform as the Macan.

Ford, for its part, has also filed a patent for electric cars running on 800 volts with a battery that is also divided into different modules.