Advances in Electrification and Thermal Management of Propulsion Systems

A special issue of World Electric Vehicle Journal (ISSN 2032-6653).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 4296

Special Issue Editors

General Motors Company, Detroit, MI, USA
Interests: CFD; turbomachinery; thermal management

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Guest Editor
Simerics, Inc., Novi, MI, USA
Interests: CFD

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The pursuit of energy conservation has led to the rapid development of hybrid and electric vehicles. In recent years, considerable research efforts have been implemented in the design and optimization of the electric propulsion system, and the market has witnessed a significant expansion in the sales of electric vehicles.

Presently, thermal management remains a serious challenge that affects the compactness, efficiency, and lifetime of an electric propulsion system, including battery heat dissipation, insulation material development, and power electronics and electric motor cooling. Hence, efforts must be spent on efficiently controlling the internal temperature while miniaturizing the propulsion system.

This Special Issue focuses on the advances in the electrification and thermal management of propulsion systems and seeks contributions on how to achieve a compact and thermally efficient electric propulsion design. The topics of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Battery pack cooling and miniaturization;
  • Power electronics and motor cooling;
  • Thermal design optimization;
  • Measurement technique development.

Dr. Zhe Liu
Dr. Chiranth Srinivasan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. World Electric Vehicle Journal is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • battery
  • power electronics
  • electric motors
  • thermal management
  • miniaturization

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3089 KiB  
Article
Application of Real-Life On-Road Driving Data for Simulating the Electrification of Long-Haul Transport Trucks
by K. Darcovich, H. Ribberink, E. Soufflet and G. Lauras
World Electr. Veh. J. 2024, 15(4), 149; https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj15040149 - 4 Apr 2024
Viewed by 694
Abstract
The worldwide commitment to the electrification of road transport will require a broad overhaul of equipment and infrastructure. Heavy-duty trucks account for over one-third of on-road energy use. Electrified roadways (e-Hwys) are an emerging technology where electric vehicles receive electricity while driving via [...] Read more.
The worldwide commitment to the electrification of road transport will require a broad overhaul of equipment and infrastructure. Heavy-duty trucks account for over one-third of on-road energy use. Electrified roadways (e-Hwys) are an emerging technology where electric vehicles receive electricity while driving via dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT), which is becoming highly efficient, and can bypass the battery to directly serve the motor. A modeling study was undertaken to compare long-haul trucks on e-Hwys with conventional battery technology requiring off-road recharging to assess the most favorable pathway to electrification. Detailed data taken from on-road driving trips from five diesel transport trucks were obtained for this study. This on-road data provided the simulations with both real-life duty cycles as well as performance targets for electric trucks, enabling an assessment and comparison of their performance on e-Hwys or with fast recharging. Battery-only trucks were found to have lifetimes down to 60% original battery capacity (60% SOH) of up to 9 years with 1600 kWh packs, and were similar to conventional diesel truck performance. On e-Hwys smaller pack sizes in the 500 to 900 kWh capacity range were sufficient for the driving duty, and showed lifetimes upwards of 20 years, comparing favorably to the battery calendar life limit of about 26 years. For a 535 kWh battery pack, an e-Hwy DWPT level of 250 kW was sufficient for a 36 tonne truck to complete all the daily driving as defined by the diesel reference trucks, and reach a battery pack end of life point of 60% SOH. Full article
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20 pages, 3829 KiB  
Article
Thermal Management System of the UNICARagil Vehicles—A Comprehensive Overview
by Daniel Gehringer, Timo Kuthada and Andreas Wagner
World Electr. Veh. J. 2023, 14(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj14010006 - 28 Dec 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2742
Abstract
The collaboration project UNICARagil aiming to develop new autonomous battery electric vehicle concepts has progressed and the four vehicle prototypes have been built up. All seven universities and six industrial partners have worked towards this milestone. At the time of writing the four [...] Read more.
The collaboration project UNICARagil aiming to develop new autonomous battery electric vehicle concepts has progressed and the four vehicle prototypes have been built up. All seven universities and six industrial partners have worked towards this milestone. At the time of writing the four vehicles are operational and can be driven by a safety driver using a sidestick. The automated driving functions are being applied on the test track and first demonstrations are carried out. This paper gives an overview of the results, which have been achieved within the work package of the thermal onboard network. The thermal management system including the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and its development process is explained in detail. Furthermore, climate chamber measurements with prototype hardware of a sensor data processing computer and the integration of the air conditioning control unit into the vehicle’s automotive service-oriented architecture framework are described. A coupled simulation approach to predict occupant thermal comfort in one vehicle variant is presented. Simulation results using environmental conditions typical for a European summer show a comfortable environment for all six occupants. In addition, the simulation and development process of a thermoelectric heat pump is shown. First measurement results with the heat pump on a test bench are highlighted which show an achievable coefficient of performance greater than two. Full article
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