For many consumers, the thermal management system is either a knowledge blind spot or an area they don't pay much attention to. Even some people who have heard of thermal management mostly only know that it exists in combustion cars, but in fact, electric cars also have thermal management systems. The thermal management system plays a significant role in the efficiency of the electric vehicle's electronics operation, energy consumption, and range, directly affecting the driver's and passengers' driving experience.
For daily use of electric vehicles, the thermal management in automobiles system plays a crucial role in the following scenarios:
In winter, the driver first turns on the seat heating and then turns up the temperature of the air conditioning system to provide comfortable and warm conditions inside the car. The thermal management system directly affects the speed of blowing the warm wind. If the thermal management system is not good, the warm air will not be powerful, and the passengers in the car will feel cold. Children may even catch a cold. There is another more troublesome issue. After the air conditioning system has finally warmed up, if the energy is not well controlled, it will be found that even if the car has not traveled far, the displayed range data will drop significantly. On top of this, the battery temperature is relatively low in winter, and energy release is relatively blocked, making this even more severe.
In summer, the role of the thermal management in automobiles system may be relatively straightforward, mainly taking some time to lower the cabin temperature. However, the energy consumption of the thermal management system during the process of rapid cooling is also critical.
The quality of the thermal management system of an electric vehicle actually affects the efficiency of the vehicle's electronics operation, waste heat recovery, energy consumption, and range. These effects are directly reflected in the driving experience of the driver and passengers. The importance of a good thermal management system for an electric vehicle is self-evident.
When the charging pile is powered on, the entire vehicle can convert the external input of electrical energy into thermal energy, storing it in the battery, and raising the battery temperature to maintain the optimal state, waiting for driving. During driving, this part of the thermal energy will also be used for passenger cabin heating. Compared with pure electric vehicles without this function, the temperature inside the car will increase faster, and it can also save the huge amount of electricity consumed when the vehicle starts in cold weather because of heating various systems. In addition, the thermal management in automobiles system also dynamically collects the waste heat generated in each system of the vehicle during driving and converts this thermal energy into the heat source of the air conditioning system, which can save more electricity, significantly improve the range in winter, and increase the efficiency of heat use.