Thermal management system and motor vehicle having thermal management system
By introducing a heating resistor into the coolant circuit and connecting it to the inverter, the inverter generates heat to heat the battery and the vehicle interior, solving the problems of low-temperature charging damage and high preheating costs in electric vehicles, and achieving a fast and low-cost preheating effect.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- VOLKSWAGEN AG
- Filing Date
- 2025-11-10
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-12
AI Technical Summary
In the existing technology, the traction battery of electric vehicles is easily damaged when charged in low-temperature environments, and the preheating process is costly, resulting in charging power delay and increased cost.
A heating resistor is introduced into the coolant circuit and electrically connected to the inverter. The inverter generates heat when energized and distributes the heat through the coolant circuit, directly heating the traction battery and the vehicle's interior space.
It enables rapid and non-damaging preheating of the traction battery in low-temperature environments, reducing energy consumption and costs in the preheating process, and improving charging efficiency and vehicle interior comfort.
Smart Images
Figure CN122008779A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to a thermal management system for motor vehicles, and more particularly to a thermal management system for pre-treating motor vehicles, comprising a motor, a traction battery, an inverter, and a coolant circuit, wherein the motor has a stator with multi-phase stator windings, the traction battery is electrically connected to the inverter, the inverter has multiple output phases connected to the phases of the multi-phase stator windings of the motor to generate a rotating magnetic field, and the coolant circuit is configured to guide the cooling medium.
[0002] The present invention also relates to a motor vehicle including a thermal management system, particularly a thermal management system for pre-treating the motor vehicle, the thermal management system having a motor, a traction battery, an inverter and a coolant circuit. Background Technology
[0003] Traction batteries are typically designed as high-voltage batteries and supply direct current (DC) to the inverter. In electric vehicles, the inverter is particularly configured as a pulse inverter with three output phases electrically connected to three phases of the stator windings, thereby generating a rotating magnetic field during motor operation. A rotor, rotatably supported within the stator, rotates in response to the rotating magnetic field and transmits this rotational motion to the vehicle's transmission, which is force-transmittedly connected to the vehicle's drive wheels. This converts the electrical energy contained in the traction battery into kinetic energy.
[0004] In the field of electrification mentioned here, pretreatment is specifically understood as preheating the traction battery and / or conditioning the vehicle's interior space before departure. If the traction battery of an electric vehicle has excessively low temperatures, especially below 0°C, for example during cold winter months, it can be permanently damaged if it is frequently charged at excessively high power. Therefore, known battery management systems reduce the charging power for such extended periods, i.e., until the traction battery is heated to a sufficiently high temperature. Depending on the battery type and cell chemistry, the optimal temperature for the traction battery should be between 25°C and 45°C. To avoid this delay and to enable the traction battery to be charged directly at high power, preheating of the traction battery is incorporated into the pretreatment process.
[0005] To generate the required heat, a device and control equipment are provided, wherein the device and control equipment are combined to generate heat and regulate the distribution of heat within the vehicle. Providing a large number of devices for generating heat and suitable control equipment is costly; therefore, setting and maintaining an ideal temperature distribution within the scope of pretreatment represents a high cost factor in an unfavorable manner.
[0006] The following is known from the prior art: In particular, DE 10 2013 012 164 A1 describes a traction battery system for an electrically driven vehicle, comprising a high-voltage battery, a temperature regulating device for regulating the temperature of the high-voltage battery, a temperature measuring device for detecting the temperature of the high-voltage battery or the ambient temperature of the high-voltage battery, a battery control device, and an electric heating device for directly or indirectly heating the high-voltage battery, wherein the battery control device is configured to direct the current generated by regenerative braking to the heating device when the temperature is below a preset threshold temperature of the high-voltage battery or the environment of the high-voltage battery.
[0007] A temperature control device for a motor vehicle is known from DE 10 2022 004 894 B3, which has a refrigerant circuit through which refrigerant can flow, wherein at least one refrigerant compressor for compressing the refrigerant, at least one evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant, and a cooling heat exchanger for cooling the refrigerant that can be circulated by air are arranged, wherein: • The temperature control device has a temperature control circuit through which a temperature control medium can flow, and at least one electrical or electronic structural component is arranged in the temperature control circuit, which can be temperature controlled by means of the temperature control medium. • The temperature control device has a third heat exchanger arranged not only in the refrigerant circuit but also in the temperature control circuit, through which the refrigerant and the temperature control medium can flow and is attached to the evaporator and the cooling heat exchanger, through which heat can be exchanged between the refrigerant and the temperature control medium. • In the refrigerant circuit, a collector is arranged downstream of the third heat exchanger and upstream of the refrigerant compressor, which can simultaneously contain the gas phase and liquid phase of the refrigerant. • The refrigerant circuit has a first piping element that is fluidly connected to a collector and fluidly connected to a refrigerant compressor, through which refrigerant can be guided from the collector to the refrigerant compressor; • The refrigerant circuit has a second piping element fluidly connected to the evaporator, which is fluidly connected to a first piping element at a bypass point located downstream of the collector and upstream of the refrigerant compressor, such that refrigerant flowing through and from the evaporator into and subsequently through the second piping element can be guided from the evaporator, bypassing the collector, to the bypass point and then to the first piping element at the bypass point; and • The third heat exchanger is arranged in the third piping element of the refrigerant circuit through which the coolant flowing through the third heat exchanger passes; wherein • The third piping element is fluidly connected to the second piping element at the second bypass point, such that the refrigerant flowing through the third heat exchanger and the third piping element can be guided to the second piping element at the second bypass point, bypassing the collector, and then guided to the first piping element at the first bypass point via the second piping element.
[0008] An electric motor is known from US 10,587,162 B2, which includes the following: • Casing; • Stator, comprising stator sheets and end windings; and • A rotor connected to the housing via at least one rotor bearing, wherein the rotor includes the following: • A hollow cylinder having an inner wall, an outer wall, a first distal end, and a second distal end; • The first axis section, which is connected to the first distal end of the hollow cylinder; • The second axis section, which is connected to the second distal end of the hollow cylinder; • A fluid supply pipe having a fluid receiving end and a fluid supply end, wherein the fluid supply end extends into a hollow cylinder; and • Multiple fluids exit the opening; • At least one drive motor fluid pump for pumping fluid to the fluid receiving end of a fluid supply pipe; and • A drive motor electronics device, wherein, in waste heat mode, the drive motor electronics device drives the stator with or without causing the rotor to rotate; • The drive motor fluid pump at least partially fills the hollow cylinder with fluid in order to force the fluid out of the hollow cylinder in order to collect heat from the stator end windings; and • A drive motor fluid pump can circulate fluid to a heat exchanger to heat the battery.
[0009] Finally, DE 10 2009 034 609 A1 discloses a machine having an electric motor combined with an energy recovery device (i.e., a thermoelectric generator), wherein the energy recovery device can convert thermal energy into another form of energy, wherein the other form of energy is particularly electrical energy and / or mechanical energy, wherein the energy recovery device is coupled to the elements of the electric motor that generate heat during the operation of the electric motor. Summary of the Invention
[0010] Therefore, the objective of this invention is to create a thermal management system and a motor vehicle equipped with such a thermal management system, which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art. In particular, it should be possible to generate and distribute heat with relatively low expenditure and therefore relatively low cost.
[0011] This task is solved by the thermal management system described below and the motor vehicle equipped with such a thermal management system.
[0012] A thermal management system is configured for use in a motor vehicle and includes a motor, a traction battery, an inverter, and a coolant circuit. The motor has a stator with multiphase stator windings. The traction battery is electrically connected to the inverter, which has multiple output phases connected to phases of the motor's multiphase stator windings to generate a rotating magnetic field. The coolant circuit is configured to guide the cooling medium. According to the invention, the coolant circuit includes at least one heating resistor electrically connected to the inverter and arranged to release heat to the cooling medium.
[0013] Thus, during heating operation, the at least one heating resistor is directly energized by the inverter, which can be provided within the scope of electric motor vehicles. Therefore, the inverter performs a dual function, energizing not only the stator windings but also the at least one heating resistor, thereby saving the provision of additional power supplies and / or related peripheral equipment.
[0014] Advantageous improvements to the present invention are given below.
[0015] According to an advantageous design of the invention, the motor has a housing that partially houses the coolant circuit. The housing also houses the stator and rotor, thus effectively dissipating the heat generated at the stator during the prescribed operation of the motor.
[0016] Preferably, the at least one heating resistor is arranged in a section of the coolant circuit, which is housed by the motor housing. This reliably protects the heating resistor from mechanical damage and saves on additional housing components needed to reliably support the heating resistor.
[0017] In particular, the coolant circuit is connected to at least one heat sink (Wärmesenke, sometimes called a heat absorber) for heat dissipation (Wärmeabfuhr, sometimes called heat dissipation), wherein the heat sink is preferably the traction battery. Thus, the traction battery can be pre-treated (temperature regulated) by means of a heating resistor, thereby allowing it to be charged in an ideal manner, i.e., quickly and / or without damage, even at low external temperatures. Alternatively and / or additionally, the coolant circuit can be connected to the vehicle compartment (Fahrzeugkabine, sometimes called the vehicle passenger compartment) as a heat sink for heat dissipation, so that a comfortable interior temperature can be established before driving begins.
[0018] The coolant circuit is preferably configured to guide cooling water as the cooling medium. In the motor area, the coolant circuit is partially designed as a water-jacketed cooling device.
[0019] The conductive connection between the inverter and the at least one heating resistor can preferably be switched by means of an actuator such that, while the at least one heating resistor is energized, a phase of the stator winding is without current. For example, such an actuator can be implemented by an automatically switching switch. Thus, even when the motor is stopped, i.e., not rotating, and therefore also when the vehicle is stationary, current can be applied to the at least one heating resistor. This is particularly advantageous when pre-treating the traction battery, because in this case, no power drops through the stator winding, which is not converted into kinetic energy and is therefore lost when the vehicle is stationary.
[0020] Alternatively, the conductive connection between the inverter and the heating resistor is switchless, so that the at least one heating resistor is energized when a phase of the stator winding is energized. Preferably, the at least one heating resistor is connected in parallel with one of the phases of the stator winding. This eliminates the need for actuators, especially those with switches, at the expense of energy efficiency. Attached Figure Description
[0021] The specific embodiments of the present invention will then be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. Wherein: Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a motor vehicle's thermal management system is shown. Figure 2 Detailed diagrams of a first embodiment of a motor vehicle thermal management system are shown. Figure 3 Detailed diagrams of a second embodiment of the thermal management system for motor vehicles are shown; and Figure 4 A motor vehicle with a thermal management system is shown. Detailed Implementation
[0022] Figure 1A thermal management system 100 for pre-treating a motor vehicle 200 is shown. The thermal management system 100 includes a motor 10, a traction battery 11, an inverter 12, and a coolant circuit 13. The motor 10 has a stator 14 with stator windings 15 having three phases 161, 162, and 163. The traction battery 11 is designed as a high-voltage battery 111 and is electrically connected to the inverter 12. The inverter 12 is designed as a pulse inverter 121 and has three output phases 171, 172, and 173, which are connected to the three phases 161, 162, and 163 of the stator windings 15 of the motor 10 to generate a rotating magnetic field within the stator 14. A rotor 18 is rotatably supported within the stator 14 and rotates in response to the rotating magnetic field, transmitting rotational motion to a transmission 19 of the motor vehicle 200, which is force-transmittedly connected to the drive wheels (not shown) of the motor vehicle 200. This converts the electrical energy contained in the traction battery 11 into kinetic energy. A coolant circuit 13 extends partially within the housing 20 of the motor 10, which houses the stator 14 and rotor 18, and at least partially encloses the traction battery 11. The coolant circuit 13 houses three heating resistors 211, 212, and 213, which are electrically connected to the inverter 12 and arranged to release heat at a cooling medium 22, which in the illustrated embodiment is water 221. Thus, the traction battery 11 (which is a heat sink 23 in the illustrated embodiment) can be pre-treated before an upcoming trip or an upcoming charging process, in that heat is first released to the cooling medium 22 via the heating resistors 211, 212, and 213 and then immediately to the traction battery 11.
[0023] Figure 2 A detailed diagram of a first embodiment of a thermal management system 100 is shown, which includes a traction battery 11, an inverter 12, and phases 161, 162, 163 of stator windings 15, as well as heating resistors 211, 212, 213, arranged in a coolant circuit (not shown here). In the presented embodiment, the conductive connection between the inverter 12 and the heating resistors 211, 212, 213 can be switched by means of an actuator 24 such that phases 161, 162, 163 of the stator windings 15 are without current when the heating resistors 211, 212, 213 are energized. The actuator 24 is implemented by automatically switchable switches 241, 242, 243. Thus, even when the motor 10 is stopped (i.e., not rotating) and therefore when the vehicle 200 is stationary, the heating resistors 211, 212, 213 can be energized. This is particularly advantageous when the traction battery 11 is pretreated, since in this case no power drops via phases 161, 162, 163 of the stator winding 15, which is not converted into kinetic energy and is therefore lost when the vehicle is stationary.
[0024] Figure 3 A detailed diagram of a second embodiment of the thermal management system 100 is shown, which includes a traction battery 11, an inverter 12, phases 161, 162, 163 of the stator winding 15, and heating resistors 211, 212, 213, arranged in a coolant circuit (not shown here). In the presented embodiment, the conductive connection between the inverter 12 and the heating resistors 211, 212, 213 is switchless, such that the heating resistors 211, 212, 213 are energized when phases 161, 162, 163 of the stator winding are energized. Here, each heating resistor 211, 212, 213 is connected in parallel with one of phases 161, 162, 163 of the stator winding 15. This allows for the omission of actuators at the expense of energy efficiency.
[0025] Figure 4 A motor vehicle 200 with the thermal management system 100 as described above is shown.
[0026] Reference number list 100 Thermal Management System 200 motor vehicles 10 motors 11 Traction Battery 111 High-voltage battery 12 Inverters 121-pulse inverter 13 Coolant Circuit 14 Stator 15 Stator windings Phase 161 (stator winding) 162 (Stator winding) phase Phase 163 (stator winding) 171 (inverter) output phase 172 (inverter) output phase 173 (inverter) output phase 18 rotors 19. Transmission 20. Housing 211 Heating Resistance 212 Heating Resistance 213 Heating Resistance 22 Cooling medium 221 Water 23 Hot Exchange 24 Actuators 241 Switch 242 Switch 243 Switch
Claims
1. A thermal management system (100) for a motor vehicle (200), particularly a thermal management system (100) for pre-treating said motor vehicle (200), the thermal management system comprising a motor (10), a traction battery (11), an inverter (12), and a coolant circuit (13), wherein, The motor (10) has a stator (14) with a multiphase stator winding (15), the traction battery (11) is electrically connected to the inverter (12), the inverter (12) has a plurality of output phases (171, 172, 173) connected to phases (161, 162, 163) of the multiphase stator winding (15) of the motor (10) to generate a rotating magnetic field, and the coolant circuit (13) is configured to guide the cooling medium (22), characterized in that the coolant circuit (13) contains at least one heating resistor (211, 212, 213) electrically connected to the inverter (12) and arranged to release heat to the cooling medium (22).
2. The thermal management system (100) according to claim 1, wherein, The motor (10) has a housing (20) that partially houses the coolant circuit (13).
3. The thermal management system (100) according to claim 2, wherein, The at least one heating resistor (211, 212, 213) is arranged in a section of the coolant circuit (13), which is housed by the housing (20) of the motor (10).
4. The thermal management system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The coolant circuit (13) is connected to at least one heat sink (23) for heat removal.
5. The thermal management system (100) according to claim 4, wherein, The heat sink (23) is a traction battery (11).
6. The thermal management system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The coolant circuit (13) is configured to guide cooling water (221) as the cooling medium (22).
7. The thermal management system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The conductive connection between the inverter (12) and the at least one heating resistor (211, 212, 213) can be switched by means of an actuator (24) such that, when the at least one heating resistor (211, 212, 213) is energized, the phases (161, 162, 163) of the stator winding (15) are without current.
8. The thermal management system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, The conductive connection between the inverter (12) and the heating resistors (211, 212, 213) is switchless, such that at least one heating resistor (211, 212, 213) is energized when phases (161, 162, 163) of the stator winding (15) are energized.
9. The thermal management system (100) according to claim 8, wherein, The at least one heating resistor (211, 212, 213) is connected in parallel with one of the phases (161, 162, 163) of the stator winding (15).
10. A motor vehicle (200) comprising a thermal management system (100), particularly for pre-treating the motor vehicle (200), the thermal management system (100) including a motor (10), a traction battery (11), an inverter (12), and a coolant circuit (13), characterized in that, The thermal management system (100) is constructed according to any one of claims 1 to 9.