Unitary Thermal Energy Management for Propulsion Range Augmentation (UTEMPRA)
- MAHLE Behr Manufacturing Management, Inc., El Paso, TX (United States)
Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) encounter weather-dependent driving range. A major drain on the vehicle battery is the HVAC system which, when typically using resistive heating only, can result in a reduction of up to 50% of the driving range in winter weather. In this project, a BEV thermal management system is designed and demonstrated on a Fiat 500e BEV. The system comprises a simple, compact, semi-hermetic refrigerant sub-system and an accompanying a coolant circulatory system which, through an innovative valve arrangement, is used to transfer heat between the several heat sources and sinks in the BEV. The system is capable of A/C and heat pump operation, thermal management of the traction battery and powertrain electronics and also recycles waste heat of the vehicle powertrain to heat the cabin to further converse energy. An automated control system is implemented and tested that selects the relevant mode of operation and optimizes energy usage while meeting vehicle thermal requirements. In wind tunnel tests, the vehicle and UTEMPRA system demonstrated 13% (the target of the project was set at 15%) range increase at -10°C driving at a steady 40 kph speed. The vehicle also demonstrated full capability to automatically control thermal conditions at a wide range of ambient temperatures thus demonstrating the viability of such a system in practice.
- Research Organization:
- MAHLE Behr Manufacturing Management, Inc., El Paso, TX (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EE0006840
- OSTI ID:
- 1569646
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-MAHLE-0006840
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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