Implementation of Battery Thermal Management System for High-Performance Electromobility Application: A Hybrid Cold Plate and Phase Change Material Approach

The boost and strengthening of electromobility are only possible under the simultaneous development of energy storage systems along with their ancillary systems. In this regard, the tms study is being broadened as it is in charge of battery packs' good performance and durability. New systems or adaptions of already employed ones are being studied to improve electric vehicle outcomes. In this context, the system presented in this work is a hybrid system between the current cold plates and the lately studied pcm, which is incorporated into a real case electrification of a commercial vehicle. As a result, integrating the pcm buffer into the battery pack's base structure aims to improve mechanical strength while also improving thermal management. The operation analysis results under 6C fast charge and motorway speed discharge showed the capability of the proposed tms. The increase in the system's thermal capacitance by 31.9% when combining the use of cold plate with pcm enabled distributing the heat dissipation along the charge and discharge, despite the weight being increased by 10.14%. Hence, the auxiliary cooling system's peak power was reduced, allowing for size reduction and an energy consumption reduction of 21%. Moreover, the pcm delimits the maximum temperature reached by the system with a reduction at the end of fast charge of more than 10%, serving as a security element with the cold plate switched off. Therefore, the proposed system's weight demerits could be overcome with temperature and auxiliary consumption reductions, proving an effective system for a high-performance vehicle.