Advanced Automotive Battery Conferences

Session 3A:
 

Battery Pack Thermal Design

Oliver is a Walter P. Chrysler Technical Fellow, for Energy Storage Systems, at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, where he is responsible for the Battery systems technology roadmap and architecture for FCA. He is a member of the United States Advanced Battery Consortium Technical Advisory Committee, and chairs the committees on 12V Stop Start and 48V Mild Hybrid batteries. He is also Chairman for the Society for Automotive Engineers’ Work Group on Capacitive Energy Storage Systems. He holds both a BS and a Master’s Degree in Materials Science, for the University of Toronto. Oliver has 20 years’ experience in the advanced energy storage industry. Prior to Chrysler Oliver was at Cobasys, where he was responsible for all Nickel Metal-Hydride cell and module development, as well as the development of their lithium-ion battery portfolio. Before Cobasys, Oliver was at Valence Technology, where he was responsible for lithium-ion cell design and development, which included extended-term deployments to Northern Ireland, South Korea, and China. Before Valence, Oliver was at Ultralife, developing lithium primary and secondary cells for extreme environment applications. He currently holds over 10 patents, and more than 20 publications.

1. Battery Thermal Management in xEVs  -  Session Introduction
   Oliver Gross, Technical Fellow – Energy Storage Systems, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
   

   As electrified powertrain technologies are deployed in larger quantities across all geographical regions to improve greenhouse gas emissions and comply with ZEV/NEV mandates, the pressures for OEM’s to reduce cost and maintain customer acceptance have also increased.  The integration of advanced battery systems in xEVs does require the appropriate thermal system to allow the vehicles to meet customer expectations.  This presentation will give an overview of the various types of thermal systems used in today’s xEV landscape.

   • Presentation Outline
     • FCA Company background in electrification (Including a slide about EV’s in Detroit)
     • The need for thermal systems in xEV batteries
     • Battery Thermal System Technologies
       - Air
       - Liquid
       - Refrigerant
     • Simulation / Analysis tools for thermal system development
     • Production vehicle trends
     • Summary, conclusions, acknowledgements
      
   • Session Introduction
2. Effect of a Stand Alone Battery Thermal System on Lithium Ion Battery Life and Driving Range
   Brad Brodie, Senior Manager, Thermal Systems R&D, DENSO International America
   

   It is well documented that lithium ion battery cells are very sensitive to temperature. When the cells are subjected to ambient temperatures colder than their optimal design temperature, they lose available power which results in reduced driving range of the vehicle. This effect is compounded by the fact that most vehicles use electric PTC heaters to actively heat the battery and the cabin which is energy being spent not propelling the vehicle. On the other side, when the battery is subjected to hot temperature above its optimal temperature, the battery life is reduced. In 2011 the Department of Energy began funding a three year project for DENSO along with support from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Chrysler to study if a dedicated battery thermal system could reduce the size of the battery pack by minimizing the effect of cold and hot ambient on the battery. This presentation will review:

   • Brief review of the simulation model which was created to simulate the Fiat 500EV battery pack in conjunction with a stand-alone thermal system.
   • Simulation results which show an increase in battery life and driving range by evaluating various driving habits and climates. (Minneapolis, Seattle, Miami)
   • Bench test data of the Fiat 500EV battery pack with the stand alone thermal system to correlate the simulation data at various drive cycles and conditions.
   • The presentation will conclude with a discussion about the potential battery size reduction (and cost savings) to due to the thermal system compared to the added cost of the battery thermal system.
3. Micro-hybrid Battery Thermal Design: An Investigation of Thermal Design Impacts on Drive Profile Performance and Aging Response in a 48V Battery System
   Mark Johnson, System Engineer, Johnson Controls
   

   A critical component to micro-hybrid application widespread adoption is in providing a significant value to a large portion of everyday drivers of vehicles while not adding significant costs to provide full performance benefits for uncommon operation or conditions. Based on the driving profiles specified and the thermal environment of the battery in the vehicle, a 48V system may require various cooling strategies, such as actively pumped liquid cooling, actively blown air cooling, and passively cooling approaches. The primary purpose of this investigation is to quantify the trade-offs in a 48V micro-hybrid drive profile performance for U.S. population drivers, and battery life that results from setting thermal design cooling targets of a 48V battery system for temperature conditions throughout the U.S and E.U.