Driving-Aware Battery Thermal Management System in Electric Vehicles: Incorporating Cell Discharge Rate, Temperature, and Aging

Abstract

This article presents a novel approach to battery thermal management control in electric vehicles (EVs), focusing on the establishment of a power loss model that incorporates temperature and aging effects on internal resistance, thereby enabling accurate estimation of battery power loss for optimized battery thermal management systems (BTMS). In addition, this article introduces a BTMS design capable of both heating and cooling, aiming to maintain optimal battery temperature and enhance battery efficiency and longevity. The proposed methodology includes an offline optimization layer to improve battery longevity and BTMS energy efficiency and an online control layer to maintain a safe battery temperature operation. The adaptability of this BTMS design for real-time applications in various climates is achieved by integrating discharge rate (c-rate) information from the drive cycle. This results in a two-level, driving-aware BTMS control system tailored to varying driving patterns specific to commuter applications. Consequently, this research significantly advances EV battery thermal management by addressing key challenges such as reducing power loss estimation error by up to 28%, optimizing temperature regulation, improving power efficiency by up to 7 kJ for different drive cycles, and enhancing battery aging by more than 3% per life cycle, while ensuring adaptability to various driving patterns for commuters.