Thermal Conditioning of EV Battery for Improved Performance, Reliability and Lifetime

PI: Ken Goodson, Mehdi Asheghi, Mechanical Engineering

Thermal management systems (TMS) for battery EVs are designed to provide adequate cooling during the normal operation (driving cycles) of the vehicle. Recently, we have developed a system-level modeling tool in MATLAB platform with a library of Thermal and Electrical parts for EVs, aiming to develop a design optimization tool for thermal management, reliability, and lifetime of fast charging EV battery capable of running a wide range of battery thermal load and management scenarios. We concluded that it may be possible to nearly double the lifetime of EV battery at a very modest cost of $250/year by implementing novel “thermal conditioning” strategies to maintain an optimal battery operating temperature. The thermal conditioning strategies includes but not limited to precooling and preheating during the fast-charging battery at 2-3 C-rates, in hot and cold environments, respectively, as well as implementing a more aggressive cooling protocol during the discharge process (typical driving cycle) at the expense of only 5-10% reduction in the driving range. This project will include system-level thermal and electrical modeling of EV battery subjected to normal operation and extreme fast-charging protocols.