With the increasing popularity of electric vehicles, people are paying more and more attention to the various components of electric vehicles and their working principles. In traditional fuel vehicles, the radiator is a very important component used to cool key components such as the engine. So, do electric vehicles also have radiators? This is a question that many people are concerned about. Electric vehicles are mainly powered by batteries. Although there is no traditional fuel engine, the batteries, motors, and other components of electric vehicles will also generate heat during operation. If this heat cannot be dissipated in time, it will affect the performance, safety, and service life of the electric vehicle. So electric cars do have radiators.
Types of Electric Vehicle Radiators
Due to their unique power system structure, electric vehicles have different types of radiators from traditional fuel vehicles. These radiators dissipate heat for different heat-generating components of electric vehicles.
Battery Pack Thermal Management System (BTMS)
Batteries are the core components of electric vehicles, and batteries generate heat during charging and discharging. The main task of the battery pack thermal management system is to maintain the optimal operating temperature of the battery:
-When the temperature is high, it needs to dissipate heat effectively to prevent accidents such as thermal runaway that seriously endanger safety;
-When the temperature is low, it needs to preheat the battery, increase the battery temperature, and ensure the charging and discharging performance and safety of the battery in a low temperature environment;
-At the same time, it needs to reduce the temperature difference within the battery pack, inhibit the formation of local hot zones, and prevent the battery from decaying too quickly at high temperature locations, thereby reducing the overall life of the battery pack.
Common heat dissipation methods include immersing the battery cells or modules in insulating liquids (such as mineral oil), or setting cooling channels between battery modules, or using cooling plates at the bottom of the battery.
Drive Motor Cooling System
The drive motor of an electric vehicle will also heat up during operation. The heat dissipation of the drive motor of a pure electric vehicle usually adopts liquid cooling, which is equipped with a cooling fan, a water tank radiator and a cooling water pump, and the motor heats up through the circulation of coolant. Cooling fans are divided into intelligent temperature-controlled fans and non-temperature-controlled fans. For better performance and energy efficiency, it is recommended to use a DC brushless fan, which does not require an electronic cooling fan for the ECU. When selecting the fan, you should also pay attention to the fan’s diameter, speed, temperature resistance, protection level, air exchange method and other parameters.
Heat Dissipation of Other Components
For example, IGBT modules (key components in power components for electric vehicles) have high heat generation. The quality of heat dissipation directly affects the reliability of the entire vehicle. Liquid cooling is often used, such as pin-fin water-cooled radiators.
There are various types of radiators for electric vehicles. Different heat dissipation methods are used for different key components such as batteries, motors and power components. These radiators jointly ensure the normal working temperature of various components of electric vehicles.
Radiator Materials and Design
The material and design of the radiator are the key factors that determine its heat dissipation efficiency. In the cooling system of electric vehicles, aluminum materials are widely used due to their many excellent properties. Different types and grades of aluminum materials play a unique role in various heat dissipation components.
