A novel hybrid thermal management approach towards high-voltage battery pack for electric vehicles

ABSTR A C T Controlling the temperature of a battery pack within an optimal range and ensuring uniform temperature dis-tribution are the key to improving battery life. With the elevating energy density of batteries, more efficient and energy-saving thermal management system is urgently required for improving electric vehicle (EV) performance in terms of safety and long-term durability. In this work, a novel hybrid thermal management system towards a high-voltage battery pack for EVs is developed. Both passive and active components are integrated into the cooling plate to provide a synergistic function. A 35kWh battery pack incorporated with electrical, mechanical and thermal management components was designed, manufactured and integrated. As the core hardware, a pack-level cooling plate set was innovatively designed by integrating with phase change material (PCM). The results show that the combined passive and active cooling strategy ensured a desirable working temperature below 40C and a uniform heat distribution across the entire pack at discharging rates ranging from 0.5C to 1.5C under customized control strategies. Moreover, the cycling performance of air cooling and hybrid cooling, as well as the thermal insulation performance at both battery module level and pack level are compared, demonstrating the superior thermal management capability of the hybrid solution.

Automated summary

This work developed a novel hybrid thermal management system for high-voltage battery packs in electric vehicles, utilizing a combination of passive and active cooling strategies to achieve desirable working temperature and uniform heat distribution. Compared with air cooling, the hybrid cooling demonstrated superior thermal management capability.