Why to use a Battery Thermal Management System?

The electric powered vehicle industry is booming. There is a lot of new development in Hybrid and fully Electric vehicles. Since the last couple of years we see also that the heavy mobile vehicles are moving towards high voltage electrification.

Key to maximize lifetime and capacity of a high voltage battery is: Thermal management

Typically, todays cell types have an operating range between -40 and 60 °C. To maximize lifetime and performance the preferred cell temperature is between 15 and 35 °C.

Controlling this range can be done by passive or active cooling and heating. Passive conditioning is most simple but have its limitations. For example:

• Limited ambient temperature of +-35 °C to operate in.
• Limited coolant flow rate through battery plus a minimum required ∆T between ambient and cooling liquid to accomplish heat transfer, will result in a big radiator.

Therefore E&F Thermal Systems offers Active cooling and heating in their BTMS systems. We offer two main types, liquid to liquid and liquid to air.  

Liquid to Liquid BTMS benefits

•  Compact, no relatively big condenser
•  Silent, no additional fan
•  Low in maintenance, less moving parts
• Positioning, no airflow and clean environment required
•  Heat pump system optional, Low heating power required

Liquid to Air BTMS benefits

•  Stand-alone, no additional coolant circuit required
•  Lower costs, in respect to a Liquid to liquid system