Electric vehicle thermal management system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9707822-B2
Application number	US-201615363850-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 29, 2016
Priority date	Mar 16, 2015
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

An electric vehicle thermal management system and an electric vehicle using the thermal management system, wherein a passenger cabin is heated by the heat dissipated from a battery and/or a motor, and the battery and the electric motor are connected in different cooling paths. Heat is supplied to the passenger cabin by using the heat absorbed by cooling liquid from the battery and/or the motor, so that the electric power of the electric vehicle can be effectively utilized to increase the endurance mileage of the electric vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electric vehicle thermal management system for heating a passenger cabin of an electric vehicle by means of the heat absorbed from a battery and/or an electric motor of the electric vehicle, the system comprising:
a first cooling path, wherein cooling liquid is circulated in the first cooling path, and the cooling liquid passes through the battery and performs heat exchange with the battery;
a second cooling path, wherein the cooling liquid is circulated in the second cooling path, and the cooling liquid passes through the motor and performs heat exchange with the motor;
a third cooling path, wherein the third cooling path comprises an inlet and an outlet, and the inlet and the outlet are in fluid communication; and
wherein, the cooling liquid flows through at least one of the first cooling path and through the second cooling path,
wherein when the cooling liquid flows through the first cooling path and through the second cooling path, the cooling liquid from the first cooling path and the cooling liquid from the second cooling path converge at the inlet of the third cooling path, flow through the third cooling path and then divide at the outlet of the third cooling path to re-flow into the first cooling path and the second cooling path.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a valve device for selectively connecting a first radiator to one path of the first cooling path, the second cooling path and the third cooling path or separating the first radiator from all the first cooling path, the second cooling path and the third cooling path.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein,
the valve device comprises a first switch and a second switch,
the first switch is arranged in the first cooling path, and the cooling liquid flows through the battery and then flows into the first switch,
through the first switch, the cooling liquid in the first cooling path selectively flows into the inlet of the third cooling path after flowing through the first radiator or directly flows into the inlet of the third cooling path,
the second switch is arranged in the second cooling path, and the cooling liquid flows through the motor and then flows into the second switch, and
through the second switch, the cooling liquid in the second cooling path selectively flows into the inlet of the third cooling path after flowing through the first radiator or directly flows into the inlet of the third cooling path.

4. The system of claim 3 , further comprising:
a control device, wherein the control device controls the state of the first switch according to the temperature of the battery.

5. The system of claim 3 , further comprising:
a control device, wherein the control device controls the state of the second switch according to the temperature of the motor.

6. The system of claim 3 , further comprising:
a second radiator, wherein the second radiator is selectively connected in the third cooling path or separated from the third cooling path.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a control device;
a refrigerator, wherein through the control device, the refrigerator is selectively connected in the first cooling path to perform heat exchange with the cooling liquid in the first cooling path or separated from the first cooling path.

8. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a pump connected in the second cooling path;
when the temperature of the battery reaches or exceeds a second preset temperature, the control device controls the refrigerator to perform heat exchange with the first cooling path and controls the pump in the second cooling path to slow down or stop so as to slow down or stop the flow of the cooling liquid in the second cooling path.

9. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a control device; and
a pump arranged in the first cooling path,
wherein, when the temperature of the battery reaches a first preset temperature, the control device controls the pump in the first cooling path to speed up so as to increase the flow rate of the cooling liquid in the first cooling path.

10. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a control device;
a heater, wherein the cooling liquid in the first cooling path flows through the heater; and
the control device selectively starts or stops the heater.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a cooling liquid source, wherein the cooling liquid source is connected in the third cooling path for supplementing the cooling liquid and the cooling liquid to the electric vehicle thermal management system.

12. An electric vehicle, comprising:
a passenger cabin;
a battery;
an electric drive motor; and
a thermal management system configured to heat the passenger cabin by means of the heat absorbed from at least one of the battery or the electric motor, the thermal management system including:
a first cooling path, wherein cooling liquid is circulated in the first cooling path, and the cooling liquid passes through the battery and performs heat exchange with the battery;

a second cooling path, wherein the cooling liquid is circulated in the second cooling path, and the cooling liquid passes through the motor and performs heat exchange with the motor;
a third cooling path, wherein the third cooling path comprises an inlet and an outlet, and the inlet and the outlet are in fluid communication; and
wherein, the cooling liquid flows through at least one of the first cooling path and through the second cooling path,
wherein when the cooling liquid flows through the first cooling path and through the second cooling path, the cooling liquid from the first cooling path and the cooling liquid from the second cooling path converge at the inlet of the third cooling path, flow through the third cooling path and then divide at the outlet of the third cooling path to re-flow into the first cooling path and the second cooling path.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , further comprising:
a valve device for selectively connecting the first radiator to one path of the first cooling path, the second cooling path and the third cooling path or separating the first radiator from all the first cooling path, the second cooling path and the third cooling path.

14. The vehicle of claim 13 , wherein,
the valve device comprises a first switch and a second switch,
the first switch is arranged in the first cooling path, and the cooling liquid flows through the battery and then flows into the first switch,
through the first switch, the cooling liquid in the first cooling path selectively flows into the inlet of the third cooling path after flowing through the first radiator or directly flows into the inlet of the third cooling path,
the second switch is arranged in the second cooling path, and the cooling liquid flows through the motor and then flows into the second switch, and
through the second switch, the cooling liquid in the second cooling path selectively flows into the inlet of the third cooling path after flowing through the first radiator or directly flows into the inlet of the third cooling path.

15. The vehicle of claim 14 , further comprising:
a control device, wherein the control device controls the state of the first switch according to the temperature of the battery.

16. The vehicle of claim 14 , further comprising:
a control device, wherein the control device controls the state of the second switch according to the temperature of the motor.

17. The vehicle of claim 14 , further comprising:
a second radiator, wherein the second radiator is selectively connected in the third c

Assignees

• Thunder Power Hong Kong Ltd
• Thunder Power New Energy Vehicle Dev Co Ltd

Inventors

• Cheng Ming-Chieh

Classifications

• H02J7/56

  Active balancing, e.g. using capacitor-based, inductor-based or DC-DC converters · CPC title

• H01M10/486

  for measuring temperature · CPC title

• B60L58/27

  by heating · CPC title

• B60K2001/005

  the electric storage means · CPC title

• B60L58/24

  for controlling the temperature of batteries · CPC title