By Ejekwu Chidiebere
- Our immersion cooling is an enabler of smaller, lighter batteries capable of up to five times more range addition than typical BEVs, whilst using the existing charging network.
Shell Lubricants (“Shell”), says it has successfully formulated, as well as demonstrated a high-performance EV thermal management fluid with the ability to unlock significant reductions in charging times without compromise to battery safety, thermal stability or lifespan, aiding the widespread adoption of battery electric vehicles [BEVs].
Shell Lubricants, working in collaboration with RML Group – known as one of the leading UK automotive innovation companies – and “a 34 kWHr battery pack using Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluid featuring proprietary Shell Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) Technology,” has been developed which is also capable of charging from 10% to 80% capacity within 10 minutes. It reduces thermal stresses which very significantly too allow, Shell lubricant told Energy Window International (Media) in an email, much higher cell charging currents to be tolerated.
“If utilized in a carefully designed lightweight and aerodynamic car operating with an economy of 10 km/kWHr, a charging rate of 24km per minute spent charging would be achieved, and that is significantly higher than the typical 5km per minute currently attained by many existing BEV that was designed by optimizing performance while reducing the number and mass of components significantly.
Shell Lubricants has defined Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluids as electrically non-conductive fluids which facilitate excellent heat transfer by filling all of the interstitial spaces within the battery pack while maximizing direct contact between the fluid and each battery cell. They accommodate, according to the Company’s statement, the very high levels of heat generation associated with rapid charging and ensuring also, that extraordinary consistency and control of temperatures across the pack while offering enhanced protection against adverse thermal events. The statement added that this advanced thermal management technology which is already on display in the “collaborative project” was developed to showcase compact battery pack designs that are elegant, cost-effective and less complex.
“As we celebrate World EV Day, we are thrilled to demonstrate that Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluids can help to significantly improve battery thermal performance, paving the way towards higher charging efficiencies, enhanced safety, convenience and cost-effectiveness— to support the widespread adoption of BEVs demanded by legislative initiatives around the world,” says Jason Wong, Global Executive Vice President, Shell Lubricants.
“This evolution is a testament to our commitment to collaborative innovation towards enabling more value with less emission – building on our experience in high-performance transformer oils, proprietary Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) technology, and single-phase immersion cooling fluids for data centres.”
The market for BEVs has grown significantly according to Shell ubricants, with BEV sales increasing 14% in 2024 compared to 2023. Shell Recharge Survey on EVs in both Europe and USA were shown to have been driven further than ICE vehicles with over 52% of EVs in Europe and USA also driven over 15,000km a year against 22% of non-EVs in Europe and 42% in USA. “Yet, among those not driving an EV, over 44% in Europe, USA and China cite concerns about range anxiety or lack of public charging points.”
Robert Mainwaring, Shell’s lead engineer on the project said: “Consumers are in pursuit of better energy efficiency, longer driving range and faster charging. Our ambition within this project was to show how Shell EV-Plus Thermal Fluids can support significant reductions in charging time without compromising cell integrity and lifetime.
“By embracing advanced thermal management solutions, we believe this will open the door to a new generation of more sustainable, efficient and cost-effective battery electric vehicle solutions.”
Shell Lubricants also discloses intention to feature Shell EV-Plus thermal fluids at the upcoming Battery Show which will take place in North America’s Detroit from October 6-9, 2025.
About the 2025 Shell Recharge Driver Survey:
Interviews for the 2025 Shell Recharge Driver Survey were conducted in March 2025 which also showed that in the core markets, a total of 8803 BEV or PHEV drivers exist across Europe which did not exclude Germany (3,855 respondents), the Netherlands (1,997), the UK (2,351), the USA (1,000 ), and China (1,000).
Thus, for the whole of this year, a total of 2,800 non-EV drivers were surveyed with the national breakdown captured as follows: Germany (571), the Netherlands (512), UK (547 respondents), USA (500), China (500).
It would be noted that immersive cooling technologies using dielectric liquids according to the Dutch Company, have a long tradition in industrial applications and have been applied successfully in several areas, such as oil immersed transformer designs. Good dielectric properties, for Shell Lubricants, are essential to prevent electric shorts “as the fluid is directly in contact with high voltage electrical systems.” “Therefore, high specific electrical resistivity and high break down voltage are key to ensure reliable function of the electric system.”
Shell says it has more than a century of experience in dielectric fluid development and production. And building on its extensive experience in dielectric fluids and GTL technology, Shell said it has, even more recently, developed a range of Shell Immersion Cooling Fluids for use in single-phase immersion cooling systems for data centers, as well as the Shell EV-Plus Thermal Management (TM) range of products, aimed at, not only meeting but also exceeding the latest requirements from automotive OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers which includes battery pack and cell manufacturers. The Company also disclosed that it has even acquired, just recently, Panolin and MIDEL/MIVOLT, to expand its portfolio, which now contains not only thermal fluids formulated with GTL technology that are biodegradable to varying degrees, but also natural and synthetic ester base oils. “Together this establishes a comprehensive suite of solutions designed to meet diverse thermal management needs across a range of applications, including power transmission and distribution, data center cooling, and thermal management of EV batteries, electric motors, inverters and fast chargers.”
Shell recalls that earlier this year, its Immersion Cooling Fluids were the first to gain recognition as Intel Data Center Certified for Immersion Cooling thereby affirming their compatibility with 4th and 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors. “Data centres can also benefit from Intel’s Immersion Warranty Rider, which covers the use of Shell’s immersion cooling fluids.”