Modeling of Battery Pack Thermal System for a Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle

Fuel economy and stringent emissions requirements have steered the automotive industry to invest in advanced propulsion hybrids, including Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) and Fuel cell vehicles. The choice of battery technology, its power and thermal management and the overall vehicle energy optimization during different conditions are crucial design considerations for PHEVs and battery electric vehicles (BEV). Current industry focus is on Li-Ion batteries due to their high energy density. However, extreme operating temperatures may impact battery life and performance. Different cooling strategies have been proposed for efficient thermal management of battery systems. This paper discusses the modeling and analysis strategy for a thermally managed Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery pack, with coolant as the conditioning medium. Subsystem and vehicle level integration issues, during different vehicle operating modes, have been addressed considering both the internal and external thermal dynamics of the battery. Preliminary comparisons of math models to system and vehicle level test data are also discussed.