Thermal management systems, electric vehicles

Abstract

Several aspects of the present invention relate to a thermal management system for an electric vehicle. The thermal management system includes a battery unit (7) and electric drive units (5-1, 5-2). The thermal management system has a coolant network (17, 19) that supplies coolant to the battery unit (7) and the electric drive units (5-1, 5-2). The coolant network supplies coolant to the battery unit (7) and has a battery bypass conduit (21) for bypassing coolant from the battery unit (7). The coolant network also includes a second heat exchanger (15). The second heat exchanger (15) has a heat exchanger supply conduit that supplies coolant to the second heat exchanger (15) and a heat exchanger bypass conduit (27) that bypasses coolant from the second heat exchanger (15). The thermal management system further includes a coolant pump (55) that receives coolant from the second heat exchanger (15) and / or the heat exchanger bypass conduit (27) and supplies the coolant through the coolant network (17, 19); a control valve arrangement including a ratio control valve (39) configured to control the ratio of coolant flowing through the heat exchanger supply conduit and / or the heat exchanger bypass conduit (27) to control the circulation of the coolant through the coolant network (17, 19); a temperature sensor (ST1) that determines the temperature of the coolant upstream of the coolant pump (55) and downstream of the second heat exchanger (15) and outputs a temperature sensor output signal (ST1) indicative of the determined temperature; and a temperature sensor (ST1) that receives the temperature sensor output signal (ST1) and controls the control valve arrangement in response to the determined temperature to ensure that the temperature of the coolant at the coolant pump (55) is maintained at a required temperature level.

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